First minister's residence Bute House reopens after five months of repairs
- Published
Bute House is an A-listed building owned by the National Trust for Scotland
The first minister's official residence has reopened after being closed for five months of repair work.
Work on Bute House, on Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, began on 17 April.
The grade A listed Georgian townhouse has now had stonework and roof repairs completed while a number of windows were refurbished.
Essential fire safety work was also carried out on the building, which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
The cost of the repairs will be revealed later this year, the Scottish government said.
Humza Yousaf held his first cabinet meeting at Bute House before it closed
The closure of the building came just weeks after Humza Yousaf succeeded Nicola Sturgeon to become Scotland's sixth first minister.
While it has been out of commission, the Scottish cabinet has been meeting in the Scottish government's headquarters at St Andrew's House.
Temporary living arrangements were made for the first minister during that time.
As well as the first minister's official residence in the capital, Bute House is frequently used to hold press conferences, media briefings and cabinet meetings.
Bute House - a brief history
The main drawing room, with its grand chandelier, hosts VIP visits and media conferences
The plot where Bute House now stands at 6 Charlotte Square was sold in 1792 to a shoemaker, Orlando Hart, for £290
It has many links to the slave trade. It was home between 1796 and 1800 to John Innes Crawford, who inherited his father's estates in Jamaica including the Bellfield sugar plantation
The townhouse was turned into a hotel for over 20 years from the 1820s. The fixings for the letters of the hotel's name can still be seen on the outside wall above the front entrance
John Crichton-Stuart, the 4th Marquess of Bute, acquired the property in 1922, having previously bought No 5 next door. He later acquired No 7 in 1927
After the death of the 5th Marquess of Bute, the three houses became the property of the National Trust for Scotland in 1966
Between 1970 and 1999 it served as the official residence of the Secretary of State for Scotland
Since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, it has been the official residence of the first minister
A portrait of each first minister - the late Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish, Jack McConnell, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon - is displayed in the main staircase
The second and third floors of the four-storey house contain the private residence of the first minister
In 2002, a drunken woman entered Bute House and attended a private function. But neither then-First Minister Jack McConnell nor his wife were in residence at the time