Calder House

This fine 16th Century mansion is located in Mid Calder next to the Kirk of Calder. It remains the home of the Sandilands family who were given the Barony of Calder in the 14th Century and created the Lords Torphichen in 1579. The original L-plan house was grand, but has been progressively extended and updated. Originally it was a distinctive landmark, having been harled and limewashed in the Scottish style with attractive rusticated quoined gables, but the harling was subsequently stripped off in the process of modernisation, probably in the late 18th Century. A somewhat incongruous Doric entrance porch was added c.1820. The internal decoration is a mixture of 17th, 18th and 19th Century in style.

It was at Calder House that John Knox (c.1513 - 72) celebrated the first Protestant communion in 1556. Another notable visitor to Calder House was the Polish composer Frederick Chopin, during his visit to Scotland in 1848.

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