b'TRAVEL A family affairSkibo is the perfect spot for members young and old to make magical memories togetherWORDS Jane FulcherILLUSTRATION Christina Gliha 6 1 FAMILY HAS BEEN at the heart of Skibowho came to Skibo in 1786. A member ofher American mothers. Skibo was, for for centuries, and for generations the estateparliament, an agricultural reformer, andMargaret, a fairyland of a childhood.has been a site of residence, retreat anda key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment,Today, Skibo is under the stewardship reunion. It is a place that brings peoplehe made a home at Skibo with his wife Rose.of Ellis and Eve Short. Their tenure has seen together, where memories are made, andAs they had no children of their own, hethe castle and estate benefit from huge traditions founded.entailed the estate to Harriet, the daughterinvestment, and The Carnegie Club has gone Walk its halls, and there are remindersof his deceased half-brother, Captain John.from strength to strength.everywhere of the families who once calledThis would have been unusual enough inOur members have always shared Skibo Skibo home. In the Museum, a framed familythe Regency era given her gender, but Harrietwith their families, says Xavier Schwanen, tree charts the lineage of the Grays of Skibo,was illegitimate (the result, reputedly, ofHead of Membership and Strategy. But over who for 200 years shepherded the estatea short-lived romantic dalliance aboardthe past few years weve seen them joined by through one of Scotlands most turbulenta voyage to India). For George Dempster,their extended family more and more, and periods, their tenure bookended by thefamilial bonds trumped social convention. were regularly welcoming members along Reformation in 1545 and the JacobiteIn 1898, Andrew Carnegie and his wifewith their children, parents, grandparents, Rising in 1745.Louise arrived at Skibo with their infantsiblings, aunts, uncles and beyond! In the corridor outside, a portrait ofdaughter Margaret. The estate was bought soThe Carnegie Club is not alone in one of the estates most beloved proprietorsthat the little girl could grow up feeling justwitnessing this trend. Walpoles 2023 report hangs: that of Honest George Dempsteras comfortable in her fathers homeland ason The Art of British Luxury Hospitality'