Pittodrie Estate on market with £11.4m guide price
The Pittodrie Estate has hit the market with a guide price of £11,400,000.
Property consultancy Strutt and Parker has listed the rural estate near Chapel of Garioch, which includes the Pittodrie House Hotel.
The listing's description outlines that the estate offers a mix of uses including commercial, residential and agricultural.
It states: "Pittodrie Estate is a mixed-use rural estate incorporating a diverse range of commercial, residential, agricultural, forestry, natural capital and recreational assets.
"There is significant potential for further commercial and residential development of derelict properties on the estate, as well as woodland creation and carbon sequestration."
The first lot incorporates Pittodrie House and measures in at 431 acres.
The description outlines: "At the bottom of Bennachie, Pittodrie House comprises the estate's lowland. It includes a four-star hotel, residential portfolio, agriculturally productive land, estate policies and woodland.
"Located at the estate's core, Pittodrie House Hotel is nestled in a secluded and tranquil setting, within extensive landscaped gardens and policies. It is approached via a long straight private driveway, flanked by amenity woodland.
"The substantial country house is B-listed and is mainly harled with sections of exposed granite. The roofs are shallow pitched finished in slate with chimneys featured on the gable ends.
"The house, which is complex in its design and construction, nods to four centuries, yet it is unclear when it first was built. It is known that the Erskine family who owned Pittodrie Estate (formerly part of the lands of Balhaggardy) since the early 1300s, commissioned the build following a fire that destroyed the principal residence, Maiden Castle.
"The earliest building fabric includes a wheel stair, believed to date back to 1490. The door panel above the entrance reads 1605, but it is unclear if this was re-used from elsewhere on Balhaggardy.
"The oldest section is set across an L-shaped floor plan and three floors. It is most typical of a 17th century laird's house with thick walls and an irregular arrangement of rooms.
"In 1841, the estate's heir, Mary Erskine and her husband Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Knight, commissioned Archibald Simpson, a leading architect at the time, to design and build a three-storey Jacobean extension to the east. It includes a single storey porch and formal entrance to the house."
The core of the house accommodation includes a reception, drawing room, dining room, orangery, bars, billiards room, library, commercial kitchen and 11 bedroom suites.
The description adds: "Following the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Knight, Mary Erskine and their son sold the estate. The purchaser, Captain George Smith, who generated his wealth through shipping and later became a councillor for Aberdeen County, was killed during WWI in the battle of Neuve Chapelle in France.
"In the late 20th century, Captain Smith's grandson, Theo, converted the house into a hotel. The house was extended to the west for this purpose, almost doubling in size across three floors.
"It incorporates a banquet hall, lounge, and an additional 16 en-suite bedrooms. This 20th century addition is excluded from the listing with Historic Environment Scotland.
"Externally within the grounds of the house there is a detached 18th century, two-storey gunroom, a small bothy, a squash court building and car parking.
"A short distance from the house, hidden amongst the trees, is a walled garden fully enclosed by a high granite stone wall. Thought to have been an improvement of Lieutenant-Colonel Knight during the 19th century, the garden incorporates extensive decorative gardens split into seven by hedgerows. It features fruit trees, a lean-to glasshouse and a central sundial mounted on a square plinth.
"Although the house is currently used as a hotel, it could be converted back into a principal dwelling."
Since 1992 Pittodrie House Hotel has been part of the Macdonald Hotels portfolio and in 2018, all bedrooms and suites within the house were refurbished.
Also included in lot one is the residential portfolio which comprises two detached cottages, a terrace of three cottages, a block of 18 self-contained flats and a derelict cottage. In addition, there are further derelict properties with potential to be converted or replaced.
The land is a mixture of arable, pasture and forestry, extending to approximately 431 acres (174 hectares) in total.
The second lot comprises Bedehouse and East Bennachie Forest and measures in at 931 acres.
The description states: "On the slopes of Bennachie and incorporating the fort located at the peak of Mither Tap, this lot comprises of a large block of productive conifer woodland and open hill dominated by heather.
"The land is a mixture of hill and forestry, extending to approximately 931 acres (377 hectares) in total.
"A prominent feature of the landscape on the lower slopes of Bennachie is the extensive and productive coniferous woodland, which reaches about 380 metres above sea level, wrapping around Mither Tap to the northeast, and creates a picturesque outlook from Pittodrie House and the surrounding area.
"The estate and Bennachie in particular are extremely popular with dog walkers, trail runners, cyclists and horse riders. There are two marked trails crossing the estate: Mither Tap Causeway and the Turnpike Trail, and a number of unmarked paths and trails which criss-cross throughout the estate and woodland, allow easy access to nature for those who love the great outdoors."
