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On a cliff edge overlooking the Firth of Clyde about 15 miles south of Ayr in South West Scotland, Culzean was originally a rambling fortified L-shaped tower house. It had been built by the Kennedy family in the late 1500's, and was already nearly 200 years old when Sir Thomas Kennedy succeeded to the title Earl of Cassilis in 1762. Rather than move from his outdated and old-fashioned boyhood home to Cassilis House, he chose to stay put, and set about repairs and renovations to make it more comfortable.

But it was his brother David (Thomas died in 1775 and he succeeded to the title) who decided to be more thorough and drastic. He commissioned the foremost architect of the time, Robert Adam, to transform Culzean from a dowdy fortress to a grand, romantic and fashionable castle.

In 1754 the young Robert Adam had embarked on the Grand Tour of Europe. He had visited Rome, befriended Piranesi, and met his rival the Scottish architect William Chambers (who designed the pagoda in Kew Gardens). Exposure to the new wave of eclecticism and free-thinking in Rome was tempered by his disciplined study of Drawing and the Antique. On his return he began gradually but confidently to combine the Classical with the Romantic, evolving a grand style incorporating elements from Greek, Roman, Gothic, and even Egyptian architecture.

In common with other 18th century architects, for Robert Adam, interior decoration was of equal importance to the structure. For years the delicate plasterwork on the round ceiling had been whitewashed, until the discovery of a watercolour drawing, by Adam himself, of its original colour scheme. In the late 70's, after paint scrapes where taken, the ceiling was repainted as Adam had intended it to be. The Old Eating Room downstairs also has an Adam ceiling with roundels painted by Antonio Zucchi.

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