Culter House (PeterCulter/Milltimber) Aberdeen

Culter Estate was the Main Estate in PeterCulter on which both Milltimber Livery Yards stand on. The old Milltimber yard owner (back in the 1930’s very approximately) purchased the land from the Estate along with the land that was subsequently sold to accommodate the original American (later named the International) School. Also the land that is now occupied by Kippe Lodge and its Golf Corse. Both on the North Deeside Road at the Top of Milltimber Brae.

TillyOch Livery and Strawberry Grange also stands on land that was once part of Culter Estate – and some of the woods around there are still owned by Cordiners who purchased a lot of the forestry from the Estate.

Originally a large part of the Culter Estate belonged in early times to Alan the Durward. In 1247, by royal grant, it came into the possession of the Allans of Wauchop. It’s thought that it is built on the site of a castle dating back to the 12th century.

Through marriage the estate passed to the hands of the Cumins of Inverallochy. The oldest part of Culter House are said to have been built by Sir Alexander Cumming, around 1650, in the reign of Queen Mary. His extravagance was legendary and he had his horse shod, for Queen Mary’s wedding, with silver horseshoes. Unfortunately, as the horse turned they fell off to be lost to the following crowd.

A baronetcy of Cumming of Culter was created in 1672 but has since fallen out of use. In 1726, the estate was sold by Sir Alexander Cumming to Patrick Duff of Premnay. Sir Alexander, the 15th Cumin laird of Culter was persuaded by his wife, after a dream, to go to America to visit the Cherokee Indians. By the time he returned he had been made Chief and Lawgiver of all the Cherokees but was now hopelessly in debt. Patrick Duff married Margaret, the daughter of the Duke of Braco, when she was only eleven years old. He was to lease the Waulkmill on the Leuchar Burn to the Englishman Bartholomew Smith for a paper mill.

Culter House passed through the ownership of the Duffs of Fetteresso to Theodore Crombie, senior partner in the Granholm Woollen Mills.

As the house was being renovated, in 1910, a disastrous fire broke out. On his death, in 1922, the house was sold to an architect, Marshall McKenzie. It was apparently also used as a temporary hospital during the Second World War but I could find no record of that.

The house and grounds passed to St Margaret’s School for girls to be used as the girls’ boarding house.

It then lay empty and derelict for a number of years in the early turn of 2000.

Culter House is now privately owned and undergoing extensive renovation work. It was bought apparently for over £1.5 Million.

It has a beautiful secret garden, which I sneaked into some years ago when it was empty. Whilst over grow at the time it still looked very nice.