Gosford House

Gosford House is a large neo-classical mansion on the Gosford Estate in East Lothian, Scotland, close to Longniddry and east of Edinburgh. The house was designed by Robert Adam for the 7th Earl of Wemyss and was completed in 1800, after Adam’s death. The estate combines parkland and coastal landscape, while the house itself is known for its grand interiors, including the Marble Hall, large dining spaces, drawing rooms, corridors, staircases, basement rooms, outbuildings and extensive grounds. Its scale, classical architecture and varied interiors have made it useful for period dramas, aristocratic houses, royal residences, schools and fictional European estates.

Gosford House has appeared in The Awakening (2011), Outlander (2014–), The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020), The Buccaneers (2023–) and Frankenstein (2025). In these productions, the house has stood in for boarding-school interiors, Versailles stables, the Helwater estate, Ellesmere Manor, Montenaro Palace, a New York mansion and the Frankenstein family home.

In The Awakening (2011), Gosford House appears as part of the boys’ boarding school where Florence Cathcart investigates a reported haunting. The film uses several grand Scottish and English country-house locations to create the school, and Gosford House provides some of the interiors connected to the classrooms and dormitory areas. The building’s large rooms and institutional feel help form the isolated school environment at the centre of the ghost story.

In Outlander (2016–2017), Gosford House is used for several different locations across the series. In season 2, the estate appears as part of Versailles, including the royal stables. In season 3, it is used for Helwater, the estate where Jamie Fraser works after Ardsmuir, and for the interior of the Earl of Ellesmere’s home. The Marble Hall is especially associated with the Ellesmere material, including the storyline around William Ransom, Jamie’s son. Gosford’s interiors and grounds allow the series to move between French court settings and English aristocratic estates while filming in East Lothian.

In The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020), Gosford House appears as part of Montenaro Palace. The house is used during the Christmas and palace material connected to Duchess Margaret’s return to Montenaro and her preparation to take the throne. The Marble Hall and grand staircase are among the recognisable interiors, with the house decorated to fit the film’s royal Christmas setting.

In The Buccaneers (2023), Gosford House appears as Closson Mansion. The house is used for the New York high-society world surrounding the St. George family, even though the real location is in East Lothian. The series uses Gosford’s interiors and exterior steps for scenes involving Nan, Jinny and the social world they are expected to move through. One scene outside the ball uses the east façade, where Nan and Jinny argue at the top of a flight of stairs.

In Frankenstein (2025), Gosford House appears as part of the Frankenstein family estate. The exterior of the mansion is used for the family home, while the entrance hall and Marble Hall are also visible in interior scenes. One of the key scenes filmed at Gosford shows Victor as a child playing cards with his mother before she is taken ill. The house forms part of the larger screen version of the Frankenstein estate, which combines several real country houses into one fictional family home.

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