Scotland is cold, quiet and cheap, Gian Carlo Menotti told friends in the early 1970s. They were virtues of which he approved: so much so that he set up home in East Lothian, in what one critic has called “one of the most perfect Scottish country houses”.

Today, 35 years after he persuaded Peter Morris to sell him the house and estate in Gifford — and a year-and-a-half after Menotti’s death at the age of 97 — Yester House is on the market for between £12m and £15m. It is a truly remarkable prospect — Category A-listed, and built between 1699 and 1728 by some of Scotland’s leading architects, including William and Robert Adam. It has five reception rooms and six bedrooms, and stands in about 500 acres.

The interiors of the 85 rooms are sumptuous, almost beyond description. The salon, for example, is 30ft x 45ft, and has a deep, richly decorated, coved ceiling and a series of paintings of classical fantasies by William De La Cour. It is lit by three, huge round-arched windows. The scholarly and dispassionate tome Buildings of Scotland describes it as “the finest room in Lothian, if not Scotland”.

However, it was the acoustics of this room that really appealed to Menotti.

Born in a town on the shores of Lake Lugano, Italy, in 1911, he was a musical prodigy. By the age of 13, he had written two operas, and when he was 16, his wealthy family emigrated to America, where he continued his training. By his mid-twenties, he was a sensation, having composed more than 20 operas, as well as film scores, piano concertos, Broadway shows and even television operas. His best known work is Amahl and the Night Visitors from 1951, a Christmas piece aimed at children that has been performed thousands of times.

As a teenager, he became romantically linked with the composer Samuel Barber, and they stayed together until the latter’s death in 1981. Menotti adopted a son, Francis, known as Chip. In 1958, he founded the international music festival in the Italian town of Spoleto, to which Francis was artistic director.

Although Menotti maintained homes in New York and Monaco until the end of his life, it was to his Scottish home that he came to compose, and to be with his son.

Yester has been settled since at least the 13th century — the ruins of Yester Castle lie in the grounds of the current house. It was not until the mid-17th century, however, that the 2nd Marquess of Tweedale had the wherewithal to start work on the fabulous house that stands to this day.

In 1697 he commissioned the architects Alexander McGill and James Smith to build him a home that would show off his wealth and political clout. No sooner was the house finished than William Adam was commissioned to give it a bit more flair — a job that his son, Robert, also took up. Indeed, the house continued to be tweaked until the late 19th century, when Robert Rowland Anderson worked there.

Lord Tweedale’s successors remained at the house until 1967, when they sold up — although they retained a handsome, 18th-century house on what was originally a part of the estate. It was some years later that Menotti spotted a picture of the house in a magazine, and persuaded the then owner to sell to him. To raise the funds, the composer sold a number of paintings — including works by De Chirico and Braque.

One of the house’s greatest appeals, then and now, is its seclusion. Gifford is among East Lothian’s loveliest villages, but even here, there is little evidence that the grandeur of Yester is close by.

When you get there, it is quite a house — and not just the 35,000 sq ft of the house itself. There are gate lodges, designed by William Adam, a B-listed stable block (currently derelict), a walled garden, glasshouses, a gardener’s house and, of course, the remains of the 13th-century castle, which includes the underground Goblin Hall, immortalised by Sir Walter Scott in his poem Marmion.

This room, 37ft long and 13ft wide, has a 19ft-high vaulted ceiling with a staircase leading to a well. It is a unique structure in Scotland, built by Sir Hugo Gifford, who was reputed to be a wizard. The space has the power to put the spooks up even the steadiest visitor to this day.

At one time the estate ran to 300,000 acres. The current holding still incorporates a drive that is more than half a mile long and 500,000 acres that include parkland, woodland, and a well-established pheasant shoot.

The custody of some of the wider estate did, however, cause Menotti a good deal of grief. There was an ugly spat over access to the Bothans Chapel, for example. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money were granted by Historic Scotland for the restoration of this building — on condition that it would be open to the public.

It took a furious row with Lord Tweedale’s niece, Lady Maryoth Hay, before access was granted. There was another row with Historic Scotland over the state of Yester Castle.

Just three years ago, the agency took issue over the Menotti family’s refusal to allow emergency works to be undertaken on the scheduled ancient monument.

Indeed, it is clear that maintaining the house consumed more of the composer’s wealth than he had expected. Despite public grants for both a new ballroom floor and work on the roof — which was entirely renewed over 10 years — it has clearly been a struggle to keep the fabric of such a large house intact. Even today, the estate agents can go no further than stating “the majority of the house is in good order”.

Perhaps it was the inevitable result of reaching such a great age, but as Menotti moved into his nineties, he appears to have grown ever grumpier. He complained that he was not appreciated in his adopted country — he was particularly bitter never to have been invited in recent years to participate in the Edinburgh Festival.

And when it was suggested that Elton John perform at Spoleto, he threatened to close the festival down rather than allow Watford’s finest to tinkle the ivories.

However, he also had great happiness at the house that he called home. In 1985, for example, Francis married Malinda, the daughter of the widow of the former American vice-president Nelson Rockefeller. The ceremony was at Gifford Kirk, followed by lunch and a concert at Yester. Menotti also entertained Prince Charles and the late Queen Mother as guests at his Scottish home.

Today, Francis, who became the legal owner of Yester in the 1980s, says: “This has been a beloved family retreat for many years, but now that I have turned 70, it is time to move on and allow the next generation to take it on with new vigour and enthusiasm. I only hope that they gain as much enjoyment from it as my family has.”

For any potential buyers who are worried about the cost of upkeep, there is a small possibility that the estate’s expenses could be underwritten. In the days of the Indian Raj, the Tweedales spent time on the sub-continent, and returned with an emerald-studded horse bridle — of a kind that would be almost priceless today. The bridle is said to have been hidden in the house, but has never been found.

Menotti engaged a medium to help him uncover the loot — but found only a secret room beneath the entryway. So if Historic Scotland’s enthusiasm for helping Yester’s owners with its upkeep has been exhausted, there is still a chance that the bejewelled tack might yet turn up.

Knight Frank, 0131 222 9600; Savills, 0131 247 3720

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