A Wonderful Welcome -Doors Open Day success
Sunday 6th September 2026
Gunsgreen House opened its doors for a special Open Day recently for Doors Open Days Scotland 2026, giving visitors the opportunity to step inside this remarkable building, discover more about its history and hear about our plans for its future.
The day was a great success, with between 50 and 60 people visiting Gunsgreen House. We welcomed local visitors from Eyemouth and Berwickshire, as well as people staying in the area from Bath, Nottingham, Preston, Yorkshire, Edinburgh and East Lothian. We were particularly delighted to welcome a couple who had travelled from Newcastle specifically to visit Gunsgreen.
A taste of Gunsgreen
Visitors were treated to homemade scones and traybakes, which proved extremely popular and encouraged people to stay longer, enjoy the house and chat with members of the team. Donations from visitors more than covered the cost, for which we are extremely grateful.
The Open Day also gave us the opportunity to showcase some of the rooms in the house. Visitors were impressed by the furniture, the views across the harbour and the quality of the upgraded bathrooms and shower rooms.
And, of course, Gunsgreen’s famous tea chute was a particular favourite!
Discovering Gunsgreen’s story
Many visitors were fascinated to learn more about the history of the building and were keen to see as much of its original character retained as possible as our plans develop.
There was also considerable interest in our proposals to refurbish the building and create a new heritage centre. Visitors were very supportive of our plans and wished us well with our application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
For those who know the work of Scottish artist John Bellany, there was also an opportunity to see three original Bellany paintings at Gunsgreen.
Margot came to visit and discovered she was in a picture on the screen (right) when she worked in the house!
Memories of Gunsgreen as a guest house
One of the highlights of the day was a display looking back at Gunsgreen’s years as a guest house, created by Alaister and Tracy. A short video of the guest house years was also playing throughout the day.
In a particularly lovely moment, one older visitor from Eyemouth recognised herself in the video — she had actually worked at Gunsgreen House when it was a guest house!
Visitors also enjoyed handouts about Gunsgreen’s history and our links with this year’s Doors Open Days themes of Revive, Resist and Reimagine.
The recipe for Eyemouth Tart, which featured as one of the day’s traybakes, was another popular talking point and provided a lovely connection between Gunsgreen’s history, local traditions and the community.
“We had always wanted to visit…”
Perhaps the most frequently heard comment of the day was:
“We had always wanted to visit, but you haven’t been open for such a long time.”
It was wonderful to hear how much people still care about Gunsgreen House and how keen they are to see it open and accessible to the public again.
We explained the challenges we currently face, particularly the significant water ingress affecting the basement and cellars, and our plans to address these issues as part of the development of a new heritage centre.
We were also surprised by how many visitors didn’t realise that Gunsgreen Apartment and Nisbet’s Tower are currently available as self-catering accommodation. We were delighted to tell them more and point them towards our website for further information.
Looking to the future
The Open Day was a wonderful reminder of the affection that exists for Gunsgreen House and the important place it holds in the local community.
Thank you to everyone who came through the doors, shared memories, asked questions, made donations and supported our plans.
We hope this is the beginning of many more opportunities to welcome people into Gunsgreen House as we work towards securing its future and bringing its remarkable history to life for generations to come.
