DUNBAR-NASMITH, Prof Sir James Duncan CBE 1927-2023
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He was s of Adm Sir Martin Eric DUNBAR-NASMITH VC KCB KCMG RN d 1965 and Beatrix Justina CBE DStJ d 1962 d of Cdtr Harry DUNBAR-DUNBAR-RIVERS of Glen Rothes.
Obit in the Times of 15 April 2023:
E VX T R A C T
Professor Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith obituary
Architect of the controversial Sunningdale Park country house for the Duke and Duchess of York
When James Dunbar-Nasmith was commissioned by the late Queen to design the first standalone royal property on a new site since 1879, the result was a big surprise.
Having worked as an estate architect at Balmoral for many years and having impressed with his sensitive country houses, Dunbar-Nasmith seemed the ideal appointment. Yet if many were expecting a neo-classical folly, they were disappointed. Sunningdale Park in Berkshire — given by Queen Elizabeth as a wedding present to the Duke and Duchess of York — was a two-storey redbrick reinterpretation of the traditional English country house.
To many it was a building fit for a royal soap opera, and Sunningdale was often referred to as “Southyork”, a play on words for the “Southfork” estate in the popular 1980s TV series Dallas, which the home resembled in its sprawling low-slung plan. It was also compared to Lego and mocked for its resemblance to “a Tesco-style supermarket”… For nine years it sat empty, the house fell into disrepair, windows were smashed and paving stones were stolen. It was demolished in 2016.
Dunbar-Smith’s work enjoyed a better reputation north of the border. When Leopold de Rothschild wanted a modern home for his Exbury estate in the New Forest he turned to his old school friend Dunbar-Nasmith. So pleased was Rothschild with the resulting Upper Exbury, completed in 1964 and now a listed building, that when he added a narrow-gauge steam railway, he again sought out Dunbar-Nasmith, who came up with a station modelled on Aviemore.
Queen Elizabeth, who twice rode on the footplate with Rothschild, was familiar with Dunbar-Nasmith’s work from the Balmoral estate, where he oversaw repairs to the castle’s tower and the creation of a new development.
Dunbar-Nasmith had won plaudits in 1960 for his bold design of Leuchie Walled Garden, a sleek, mid-century glasshouse near North Berwick, for the Dalrymple family…
…James Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith was born in Totnes, Devon, in 1927, the youngest of three children of Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith VC KCB KCMG and his wife Beatrix Justina Dunbar-Dunbar-Rivers CBE, who became a senior figure in the St John Ambulance service. His submariner father, who added Dunbar to the family name in 1923, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1915 for his notable success in destroying enemy vessels in the Sea of Marmara during the Dardanelles campaign of the First World War…
… Dunbar-Nasmith, a charming man who was unmarried, was devoted to architectural causes…
Professor Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith CBE, architect, was born on March 15, 1927. He died on March 18, 2023, aged 96
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/professor-sir-james-dunbar-nasmith-wj20b3mpm
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He has a peripheral connection to the families of whom we treat which is covered in the post about his late nephew Duncan Martin DUNBAR-NASMITH 1957-2018: https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/fK-bsQRV0fw/m/tAGV0Cv-CQAJ
colinp
Richard R
From the Telegraph of 3 May 2023: DUNBAR-NASMITH Professor Sir James, CBE. There will be a Celebration of the life of James Dunbar-Nasmith at 11.30 a.m. on Thursday 29th June at The Signet Library, Edinburgh... followed by a reception at The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh... Regrettably there is no wheelchair access to The Signet Library.