Greenbank House, Clarkston

Day off so come through to the west - here is Greenbank House near Clarkston.

The Georgian house was built in 1763 by a Glasgow merchant by the name of Robert Allason. Allason was a local man who had begun life as a baker, before setting up with his brothers in Port Glasgow as a trader. He made his fortune trading with Britain's American colonies, eventually becoming a land-holder in the Caribbean. The profits from trade in both tobacco and slaves, allowed him to purchase Flenders Farm (land his family had worked for centuries) and establish the house. However, Allason's trading interests later suffered during the American War of Independence.

Over the next two centuries, the house was owned by a number of families. In 1962 it was bought by W P Blyth who, with his wife, transformed the grounds from fruit and vegetable growing to the ornamental gardens that are seen today. Then, in 1976, Mr & Mrs Blyth gifted the house, walled garden, and the 16-acre (65,000 m2) estate to the National Trust for Scotland. Today, the Gardens are open all year round, and the house from March until October