Meet Lily and Sam, who have created a special tribute to The King to mark The King's Foundation's 35th anniversary 🎂
Lily Marsh, graduate of our Building Craft Programme, created a lifelike bust of His Majesty, which was unveiled here at Dumfries House earlier this month. Current student Sam Starsmore crafted the lettering on its stonecarved plinth.
To learn more about our 35th anniversary celebrations, visit https://kings-foundation.org/ 🎉
Dumfries House Tea Dances
On #BlueMonday, watch how our tea dances bring people together and help tackle loneliness🤗
At Dumfries House, we host monthly tea dances to help combat social isolation in the local community. Held in collaboration with East Ayrshire Vibrant Communities, the events bring joy to more than 1,500 people every year.
At our most recent tea dance, attendees were entertained by talented students from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Dumfries House Lodge is one of the first Michelin Key Hotels in the UK 🏆
Located on the edge of the 2,000-acre Dumfries House estate, the luxury bed-and-breakfast offers guests a beautiful country retreat in the heart of Ayrshire.
A Michelin Key distinguishes the best hotels in the world. The Lodge has been judged excellent for its sense of place, outstanding design and architecture, unique character, consistency, and value for money.
To book your stay, visit https://dumfries-house.org.uk/lodge
Happy New Year from The King's Foundation 🎉
Ahead of the clock striking midnight, enjoy a very special performance in our Pewter Corridor of Auld Lang Syne by Piped in by Bryce McCulloch, who regularly plays at weddings and events here at our Dumfries House headquarters.
Our Dumfries House Sewing Bee members have been hard at work handcrafting 24 Christmas stockings to donate to families of children affected by cancer.
The families access support from Ayrshire-based Calums Cabin, who offer respite breaks in holiday homes including our very own Dumfries House Lodge cottages.
Huge thanks to all involved 🤍🎅
🎄 It’s nearly Christmas, so we’d like to thank everyone who has visited Dumfries House this year.
🎁 To round-off the festive season, we were delighted to welcome the New Cumnock Primary School Choir to perform their rendition of The Scottish 12 Days of Christmas.
The estate itself will, as always, remain open for visitors to enjoy during the holidays, but please note that the main house, Coach House Café and Visitor Centre are closed from today. The house and café will reopen on Friday 3 December, with the Visitor Centre opening on Saturday 11 January.
⭐ Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!
Have you spotted our beautiful Pink Dining Room in Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas this week on Channel 4? 🎄
Learn more from our Collections Manager, Satinder, about this historic room and its famous chandelier, as featured in the show.
This month, we are welcoming over 1,500 guests to Dumfries House to enjoy our festive dining experiences, events and tours. All proceeds are invested into The King's Foundation's life-changing education and training programmes that benefit more than 15,000 people a year at Dumfries House, across the UK and around the world.
Visit our website to see what’s on offer this festive season https://dumfries-house.org.uk/blog/2/whats-on 🎄
Create a Christmas tree napkin with us🎄🌟
Here, Gavin from our Events team shares his technique for folding napkins into Christmas trees, a staple of our festive events at Dumfries House.
Gavin and his fellow front-of-house staff are currently serving up magical candlelit tours, gourmet dining experiences, and traditional festive feasts and banquets. There’s still time to book some of these events on our website at dumfries-house.org.uk.
Tune in to Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas on Channel 4 every week night at 5.30pm this week to see more from our teams at Dumfries House and The King's Foundation!
Hundreds of people from across Ayrshire welcomed Santa Claus, Mrs Claus and their team of elves to Dumfries House last weekend! 🎅
Christmas arrived on the estate in style, with the opening of Santa’s Grotto, which will welcome dozens of children in the coming weeks.
We had seasonal entertainment from pupils of New Cumnock Primary School and students of The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Santa’s sleigh was provided by Cumnock and District Round Table.
There’s still time to book a range of festive dining events at Dumfries House in the run-up to Christmas.
To book, visit the link in our bio.
🏴 Happy St Andrew’s Day!
👩🍳 To help you celebrate, Nicolle Bunten from The Coach House Café on the Dumfries House estate shares her simple recipe for delicious shortbread 👇
(Makes 10-12 biscuits)
Pre-heat oven to 150°C.
Dry mix:
Put 8oz of plain flour into a mixing bowl.
Add 4oz of cornflour.
Wet mix:
In a separate bowl, add 8oz of butter, cut into chunks.
Add 4oz of caster sugar to the butter.
With a spatula, mix the butter with the sugar to soften it and create a dough.
Add the butter/sugar dough to the dry mix.
Knead the mixture with your fingertips.
Nicolle’s top tip: don’t overwork it!
As the mixtures come together, start to form a ball.
Sprinkle flour onto a worktop or surface.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a depth of 1-2cms.
Cut out pieces using a cookie cutter.
Lay the cut-outs onto greaseproof paper on a baking tray.
Mark the top surfaces of each piece with a fork.
Place in middle shelf pre-heated oven for 18 minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle each piece with caster sugar.
Serve with Scotland’s national drink (whichever one you prefer!)
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…🎄🎅🌟
As we prepare to welcome more than 1500 guests through the doors for our various Christmas events, our team have spent the last week decorating the house for the festive season.
More than a thousand baubles, reused every year, now adorn more than a dozen Christmas trees throughout the house. They are joined by lifesize nutcrackers, exquisite garlands and wreaths, and beautiful floral arrangements.
Limited availability still remains for those looking to magical candlelit tours, gourmet dining experiences, and traditional festive feasts and banquets.
To book, visit https://dumfries-house.org.uk/book/tickets
Join us for luxury private dining here at Dumfries House this Christmas 🕯️
Experience our 18th-Century house dressed for the festive season and lit by candlelight as you enjoy a Christmas-themed guided tour followed by exquisite private dining for 8 -12 guests. We also offer bespoke Christmas packages for groups of more than 15 people to suit every occasion.
To book, or to find out more, contact our award-winning events team on [email protected] 🎄
Events, tours and education at our 18th-century house and 2,000-acre estate. 
