Bonnington House is a 19th-century country house near Wilkieston. The house was built in 1622, and was the home of the Foulis Baronets of Colinton. Sir James Foulis, 2nd Baronet, served as Lord Justice Clerk from 1684 to 1688, taking the title Lord Colinton. Bonnington later passed to the Wilkies of Ormiston.
The house passed from the Scott family to Hugh Cunningham, Lord Provost of Edinburgh around 1702. It is said to have been doubled in size c.1720. In 1720 the house was owned by Hugh's son, Alexander Cunningham.
In 1858 the house was completely remodelled in a Jacobean style. The house and its 100-acre (40 ha) estate was bought by the present owners in 1999, and in 2001 the house was refurbished by Lee Boyd Architects. Two new wings were designed by Benjamin Tindall Architects, granted planning consent in 2010 and completed in 2015. The grounds of the house have been developed as a sculpture park, now open to the public as Jupiter Artland.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.