The Prince of Wales has stepped in at the eleventh hour to save an important Scottish stately home for the nation. His intervention is being called one of the heritage “saves of the century”.

As part of the £45 million deal, the Prince is to build a community near Dumfries House, on the lines of his model village, Poundbury, in Dorset.

Although he is thought to have become involved only a month ago, the Prince brought together a large consortium of organisations, including Historic Scotland, the Art Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Monument Trust, The National Heritage Memorial Fund and Save Britain’s Heritage, which together committed £25 million.

The funding also included £1,250 raised by residents in the nearby community of Cum-nock, East Ayrshire, one of the most deprived areas in Scotland.

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The deciding factor in Tuesday night’s deal, however, was the £20 million borrowed by the Prince’s Charities Foundation. It was put in place just two weeks before Christie’s was due to auction the house’s glittering contents. Savills had also put the estate on the market.

Dumfries House, the property of the Marquess of Bute, was built and furnished in the 1750s by the Adam brothers and contains some of the finest Chippendale furniture in the world.

Rarely lived in and never seen by the public, the house has been described as a time capsule of the Scottish Enlightenment.

“We’ve pulled off a little miracle,” said David Barrie, director of the Art Fund. “Only yesterday, at the 59th second of the 59th minute of the eleventh hour, did we get agreement to the sale from Johnny Bute.”

The Prince said that he was “very relieved” that the house had been saved for the nation and was grateful to those who had worked so hard to make it possible.

The venture represents one of the most ambitious steps by the Prince in his efforts to promote British heritage and to help to drive regeneration. A 66-acre site close to the estate is to be developed with new homes and community services along the same social principles as Poundbury — but built in the Scottish vernacular style.

Subject to planning permission, and after bringing everyone together to find the best solutions, the new settlement would consist of affordable rental and private housing, the Prince’s spokesman said. So far it does not have a name.

The 49-year-old Marquess of Bute, who raced cars under the name Johnny Dumfries, announced his intention to sell Dumfries House three years ago.

He praised the efforts of many people in concluding the deal. “However, there is no doubt that the person responsible for galvanising the heritage funding bodies and who also generated separate finance is Prince Charles,” he said. “In my opinion, the new package would have failed without his intervention.”

From about 1790, when the Dumfries and Bute families married, Dumfries House ceased to be a principal residence. In it, almost untouched, are many pieces from the famous Scots furniture makers William Mathie, Alexander Peter and Francis Brodie.

It is, as one enthusiast put it, a sleeping giant, and all the more wonderful because only a tiny number of people have ever seen it.

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