When Dumfries House was rescued in a dramatic feat of fundraising in 2007, simply saving the historic estate seemed astonishing enough. Few could have predicted the enormous bounds that would be made in the decade that followed, from the creation of ambitious and extensive education facilities, to the redesign of a jaw-dropping garden and the restoration of buildings, furniture and tapestries to their original 18th-century splendour. Dumfries House enjoys 24,000 visitors a year, and has an important and lively relationship with the community of Ayrshire. Here’s how that remarkable journey unfolded.

Photography: Simon Brown & Kimberley Grant