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Summary

Description

A G R Mackenzie, 1956, retaining fabric of fire-damaged 1835 Jacobean House by John Smith of Aberdeen, which had incorporated an earlier house. W wing George Gordon of Inverness, 1900, partly remodelled 1956. Well-detailed, 2- and 3-storey, L-plan Jacobethan house sited at N estate boundary and overlooking policies to River Don at S. Harl with stone margins, some chamfered; coursed squared rubble with ashlar dressings to rear. Base course. Conical-roofed round towers, decorative stone windowheads and vaulted cellars. Stone transoms and mullions.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: asymmetrical elevations. S entrance elevation with broad door to squat round tower in re-entrant angle set back at right and ostrich emblem (see Notes) to gabled bay at right; advanced block at left with 4 stone-pedimented windowheads breaking eaves and conical towers to SE and NW angles; W wing with transomed windows to broad canted bay.

Largely multi-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows. Graded grey slates. Coped ashlar stacks; ashlar-coped skews with block skewputts. Cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers. Decorative ironwork weathervanes.

INTERIOR: some fine early interior detail retained. Moulded cornices; classical detail to dining room including broken pediment doorpieces and cornices; panelled sitting room with fine strapwork ceiling and Tudor-arched stone fireplace with 2-tier carved frieze. Early linenfold panelling and door with relief carved detail (possibly imported) in earlier E wing. Oak studded door to 1st floor room (see Notes).

Statement of Special Interest

Retaining much of its fine early character, Candacraig, described in the New Statistical Account as a mix of Elizabethan and Scotch manor-house, has evolved from simple origins. Holding an important position in Strathdon, the lairdship was granted to the Anderson family, whose crest is the oak tree, in 1620, but there has been a house at this site since 1579. A painting thought to be dated 1760, by S Leith of Banff, shows a good size 3-bay cottage-type dwelling with another slightly lower range set at right angles, and nearby a rather fine 2-storey steading with arcaded front. This is without doubt the building now known as Candacraig Square (separately listed). Some years later, a more sophisticated view shows a perfectly planned picturesque landscape with dovecote (separately listed) to one side and a large house with square central tower on rising ground in the middle distance. A squat re-entrant tower, lower (east) wing and conical-roofed tower are the sole recognisable features. John Smith's 1835 design, much as it is today, used granite fortuitously located in a nearby quarry, and plans (within Candacraig Estate Office) of 1900 by George Gordon show the house before the fire of 1955, and after reconstruction. A collection of carved stones from the earlier building have been laid out as terracing immediately to the south of the principal elevation. The studded oak door mentioned above was salvaged from Corgarff Castle in 1923 (prior to restoration).

Candacraig House was sold into separate ownership from the estate during the 1980s. It had been purchased by Mr A F Wallace in 1900, having previously been held on a long lease. During that period the Wallaces had 'built 7 houses and rehabilitated over 50 since 1945 on Candacraig estate' (New Statistical Account, p285). The Wallace family crest, 'An ostrich in full flight proper', can be seen on many of these buildings throughout the glen. From 1866 until 1900, the estate was in the ownership of the Forbes family, also connected with Bellabeg, Skellater, Inverernan, Auchernach and the Newe Estate. Duncan Anderson, the 6th laird, had married Agnes Forbes, daughter of Alexander Forbes of Invernochty. After her death he married Helen Forbes and subsequently the estate passed to the Forbes clan.

References

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