Ballathie House
Ballathie House Hotel is a four star country house hotel in Perthshire, Scotland, originally built in 1886, it became a hotel in 1972.
History
Before 1886
The Drummond family, the Earls of Perth owned the Ballathie lands in the 17th Century and later sold to the forebears of General Richardson Robertson of Tullybelton. He undertook the building of the current house but died in 1883, 3 years before it was completed.
Country House 1886-1972
General Richardson Robertson's nephew, Colonel Edmund Robert F. Richardson took over the house, selling it in 1910 to Sir Stewart Coates from Paisley.
The house was enlarged by alterations to the servants quarters and a new entrance porch. Central heating and electric lighting were also installed. An army hut was erected for use as a dance hall after WW1 and dances were held for staff and locals. A 9 hole golf course was laid out by Ben Sayers but this was ploughed up as part of the campaign to provide more food in WW2.
Ballathie's fame as sporting estate led to many famous guests coming to stay during this period. These included:
- Duke Michael of Russia and his wife
- John Wolfe-Barry, civil engineer whose most famous projects included Tower Bridge and the District Line
- Arthur Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London
- The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII
- Duke of Westminster, the 2nd Duke, Hugh Grosvenor
In 1936 the estate was sold to Colonel Stephen Hardie, a chartered accountant in Glasgow and founder member of the British Oxygen Company. Hardie died in 1969 and the house was sold in 1969 and converted into a hotel in 1972 by the Maxwell family from the west of Scotland. [1]
Hotel 1972-present
John Milligan purchased the estate separately in 1998, then also the hotel in 2005. The estate is still used for farming and sports.
The Sportsman's Lodge was completed in 2003 within the grounds of the hotel [2]
Facilities
The Scottish Tourist Board rates Ballathie as a 4 star hotel. [3]
The hotel has 41 bedrooms, plus 11 at the Sportsmans Lodge.
The hotel's restaurant has 2 AA rosettes and received the Silver Award from EatScotland [4][5]
External links
References
- ^ Ballathie House Hotel History, Hotel history on Hotel's own website,
- ^ Sportsmans Lodge, Sportsmans Lodge info,
- ^ VisitScotland, Ballathie House Hotel info,
- ^ Ballathie on EatScotland, EatScotland's Ballathie profile showing the award,
- ^ Ballathie's EatScotland news story Ballathie news about Silver EatScotland award,