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Keir House is a large country house near Stirling in central Scotland. The estate was acquired by the Stirling family in 1448, and a house was built on it in the 16th century. The Stirlings supported the Jacobites during the 18th-century rebellions, and the estate was forfeited. However, they continued to live at Keir, and built the present house in around 1760. Income from the family's estates in Jamaica funded agricultural improvements and landscaping of the grounds. Additions were made to the house, including the south-west wing to designs by David Hamilton, completed in 1831. In 1847 Sir William Stirling Maxwell inherited the estate, and began a remodeling of the house and grounds. Architects Alfred Jenoure and William Stirling II worked on the house, while formal gardens were laid out by James Niven. A chapel was added in 1912, designed by Rowand Anderson and Paul, and with interior mosaic decoration by Boris Anrep. Sir William's grandson David Stirling, founder of the Special Air Service, was born at Keir in 1915. In 1975 the house, together with 15,000 acres was sold by the Stirling family for £2 million to Mahdi Al Tajir, a businessman from the United Arab Emirates. Archibald Hugh Stirling, (born 18 September 1941), was the last Laird of the Keir. He is a theatrical producer and a former officer in the Scots Guards.
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