Broughton House & Garden

Broughton House is the Georgian townhouse on Kirkcudbright's High Street that the painter E A Hornel, one of the Glasgow Boys, bought in 1901 and turned into his home, studio and salesroom, at the heart of the town's artists' colony. The rooms keep his furniture and his paintings of children in flowery glades and his contemporaries' work, and his library holds one of the largest collections of Robert Burns material in the world, all cared for by the National Trust for Scotland. Behind the house Hornel laid out a garden inspired by his travels to Japan, running down to the Dee with ponds, stepping stones and a sundial lawn. Dogs on a lead are allowed in the garden but not in the house. Reviewers say the house wraps around you, single out Collecting the Flax and the working studio, and love the garden. Tips from visitors: parking is free on the street, only the studio, exhibition room and garden are wheelchair accessible, the house closes on Tuesdays with the garden reached by the side gate, and it shuts from November to March.