Rossdhu Castle Gatehouse, Chevy Chase, Maryland part 2

 

Welcome back to Rossdhu Castle Gatehouse in Chevy Chase, Maryland. (In case you missed it, the downstairs tour is here.)

When we left off, we were just about to ascend the turret's spiraling 4 story staircase.

The second level is really meant for entertaining among the treetops, as it houses the formal living room, dining room, and kitchen:

In an earlier listing from 2014, the formal living room was decorated rather formally:

This is what it looks like today:

There are the leather recliners I referred to in part one. The stone fireplace seems a little rustic and out of place until you remember that whole Scottish baronial connection. It's said that one of the stones is from the castle of Robert the Bruce, a common ancestor of both Daisy and Clarence Calhoun.

If it were mine, I'd channel my inner modern baroness...and call designer Eric Ross:

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This is the balcony off of the formal living room:

This is its view:

Here is the dining room in 2014...

...and how it looks now:

The kitchen has remained stunning, no matter who's been cooking in it:

Technically still on the second floor, a tiny office is tucked away on the other side of the portico:

In 2014 they wished it was a little bigger (and blocked a window):

Nowadays everything is digital:

If it were mine, this secret hideaway is where I'd forget technology even existed:

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Up above the portico is the house's third floor, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.

Here are the 2014 and 2021 versions of the master bedroom, and the bathrooms as they are now:

The bedroom at the front of the gatehouse has had the biggest change in appearance over the years:

Finally, here is the third bedroom/den:

Well, maybe not quite finally, because we haven't been to the tippy top of the gatehouse yet.

And it's probably the best space of all:

As a reminder, here's how the main residence behind the gatehouse looked before it was demolished:

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How does the castle measure up to its inspirational cousin, Rossdhu Castle in Scotland?

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Hmm, not seeing it. This is the 1733 Georgian mansion version of Rossdhu. The 14th-century-ruins version is also still on the property... 

...which encompasses the Loch Lomond Golf Club, who have fantastic pictures of it:

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It apparently had a Boxing room, a Moor and Loch room, and a Chinese drawing room with hand-painted silk wall coverings. The newer Rossdhu had a large conservatory, a home theater to stage plays, and a great hall whose ceiling soared 4 stories high. 

All things considered, it looks like the newer Rossdhu was more inspired by Blair Castle than by the two original Rossdhus, especially as it features the family's historical artifacts. 

{Blair Castle, source}

It really doesn't matter where the inspiration came from, though, because I'm pretty sure Rossdhu Castle Gatehouse has always enjoyed being one of a kind. 

The listing is here.