Dunrobin Castle, Scotland

Dunrobin's pale walls and tall conical spires above terraced lawns, fountains and clipped topiary near Golspie, in Sutherland, overlooking the sea. It looks like a French château that has wandered to the far north of Scotland. An older castle lies at its core, but the storybook outline comes from a remodeling in the mid-nineteenth century for the 2nd Duke of Sutherland by Sir Charles Barry, architect of the Houses of Parliament, who drew on French château styles. The formal gardens below, completed around 1850, were inspired by Versailles. It is often described as the largest house in the northern Highlands, and it pairs naturally with Eilean Donan on a road trip through the north.