A Brief History of the House

Newton Don House as we see it today was built in the early 1800’s but there had been a house on this site for over 400 years. The estate was owned by the Don family since 1645 and it was Alexander Don who commissioned Robert Smirke to design a new structure in the Neo Classical style in the early 1800’s. A well known architect from that time, Smirke is perhaps best known for his design of the British Museum in London and Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire.

The estate was bought by the Balfour family in 1847, where they have remained until the present day.

Garden with pink and purple flowers, stone steps, an ornate bench, beside a historic building.

Aerial view of a historic stone mansion surrounded by lush greenery and rolling hills.

Decorative iron gate set in a stone wall and surrounded by lush greenery.

Two men standing by an ornate wrought iron gate with stone pillars

History of the Walled Garden

There has been a walled garden at Newton Don since the 18th century but the current garden was built alongside the remodelling of the house in the early 1800’s. The gardens were filled with herbaceous borders, greenhouses, rose and vegetable beds and the walls were lined with fruit trees to supply the house, with rose trellises lining the paths.

Today the garden has been redesigned in a contemporary style with lawns and a beautiful planting design of roses and nepeta, surrounded by the traditional 18th-century walls covered in fruit trees, climbing roses and white wisteria.

This sheltered, sunny space is a unique place for a wedding or event.