Kilravock Castle was originally built around 1460 and has been the seat of the Clan Rose since that time. The castle is a composite of a 15th-century tower house and several later additions. The lands were owned by the Boscoe family and it passed via marriage of Andrew Boscoe to his wife Elizabeth Bissett of the Bissett family in the 12th century, after Bosco's death his widow then deposed the lands via marriage of their daughter Mary Boscoe to Hugh II de Ros of the Rose family in the 13th century.
The keep dates from around 1460, when the then baron of Kilravock was granted a license to build by the Lord of the Isles. This was extended in the 17th century, with the addition of a square stair tower, and the south range. The north and west sides of the quadrangle were added later. Mary, Queen of Scots, was received at the castle in 1562, and Prince Charles Edward Stuart was entertained four days before the battle of Culloden. His enemy, the Duke of Cumberland, visited soon after the battle, and Robert Burns came here in September 1787.
Kilravock Castle has been continuously tenanted by the Roses, a family of Norman origin, who arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror. They settled at Kilravock in 1293, since which date son has succeeded father without the interposition of a collateral heir, an instance of direct descent unique in Scottish history.
References:The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.