Monboddo House () is a historically famous mansion in The Mearns, Scotland. The structure was generally associated with the Burnett of Leys family. The property itself was owned by the Barclay family from the 13th century, at which time a tower house structure was erected. In 1593, the Laird was James Strachan, and thence it passed into the Irvine family and thereafter the Burnetts of Leys. There is a notable datestone adornment on the structure with the arms of Irvine impaling the arms of Douglas with initials R.E. and I.E. and dated 1635, representing the 17th-century couple who reconstructed the house, Robert Ervine (sic) and Ilizabeth Ervine (sic). Monboddo House, with its crow-stepped gable design, is situated in the Howe of Mearns near the village of Auchenblae approximately nine miles (14 km) from the North Sea. The original landholding of the Monboddo Estate was approximately . In 1714 the well-known judge and philosopher James Burnett, Lord Monboddo was born in Monboddo House. Lord Monboddo is renowned for his service as a member of the Court of Session, an author of several works during the Scottish Enlightenment and a precursive contributor to the theory of evolution. When he was appointed to the Court of Sessions, Burnett took the title of his father's estate, Monboddo House. In 1773 the author Samuel Johnson, accompanied by James Boswell, visited Monboddo House to call upon James Burnett. It is a category B listed building. Interior detail Monboddo House fell into a state of disrepair as of the 1960s; nevertheless, a number of notable features remain. With repairs made during the latter part of the 20th century and the good maintenance of the owner as of 2006, the structure is in excellent condition. A well-proportioned hall is on the first floor (second floor in the American vernacular), which has relics of early panelling. The hall is provided with two garderobes. While the basement has no vaulting, the westernmost basement chamber is the old kitchen, containing a very large fireplace arch. An interior stone spiral staircase is found in an ascending clockwise manner characteristic of defensive designs of towerhouses of the 14th century. Two eight-centimetre diameter gun loops are found within the 80-centimetre thick Old Red Sandstone exterior walls (Hogan, 2006). The front porch is extant, known for the location where Lord Monboddo would take his early morning cold water bath in the open air in the