Stunning fortified Laird’s house, with gardens overlooking the Deveron Valley.

Description

Old Mayen is a stunning 17th century fortified laird’s house with a later 19th century wing, which sits in an elevated position above the Deveron Valley. There are coats of arms over a doorway and a dormer window, both dated 1680. It is utterly charming and still retains many of its original features with crowstepped gables, spyholes, stone loops, garderobes and a circular stair tower with a distinctive fish scale turreted roof. Thoughtfully restored, both inside and out, the older wing still retains its sense of history, while the later wing provides good sized and well lit rooms, looking out over the gardens.

The house is stone built and harled. The older wing has a stone slate roof, believed to have come from the Glens of Foudland, while the 19th century wing has a slate roof. It is built in an L shape, with the approach on one side, the garden on another and a charming courtyard on the other. The reception rooms in the tower wing, together with most of the bedrooms have cornices. It was acquired by the sellers in 2003, who have continued to maintain and improve the house. A new boiler was fitted in 2020 and a new shower room was created in 2005. The house sits within its own gardens and grounds, providing shelter and privacy. It is approached by a drive from the road leading to a gravelled sweep at the front door.

A wooden front door leads to a porch with an inner glazed door to a hallway with recessed display shelves and a wooden floor. The fine drawing room has a fireplace with carved wooden mantel, window shutters, French doors to garden and a wooden floor. Adjacent is the library which also has a wooden floor, together with a fireplace with marble mantel, window shutters, four wall lights and fitted bookshelves. There is a useful downstairs WC with washbasin. The dining room, in the earlier part of the building, has a large stone fireplace housing a wood burning stove, four wall lights, stairs to the first floor and a wooden floor. The cosy sitting room has five wall lights, stone fireplace with a Morso wood burning stove, fitted shelves and a garderobe in the corner. The spacious kitchen has wooden units with tiled splashbacks, plumbing for a dishwasher, two Armitage Shanks sinks and a four oven AGA. It also has two wall lights, stone flag floor and an entrance door to the courtyard. A useful pantry has an Armitage Shanks sink and fitted shelves.

The stone spiral stairs lead up to a landing. Bedroom one has two wall lights and a fireplace with carved wooden mantel, while bedroom two has a fireplace with a raised grate, wooden mantel and another garderobe. The family bathroom has a freestanding bath, washbasin, WC and two wall lights. Bedroom three has two wall lights, while a WC has a washbasin. A side landing has three wall lights. The shower room has a washbasin and WC, while bedroom four has a fireplace with mantel and window shutters and an en suite with freestanding bath, pedestal washbasin and WC. Bedroom five also has window shutters, while a further shower room has a pedestal washbasin, WC and window shutters.

Stairs lead up to the second floor with an attic room /workroom with three wall lights and a wall hatch to partially floored roof space.

Off the kitchen door is a charming paved courtyard with box hedges, a cheese press and a former bothy, stone built with a slate roof, and currently used as a workshop with concrete floor and a laundry with two Belfast sinks, Bosch washing machine and clothes pulley. Adjacent is a greenhouse with a productive vine as well as water and a stone flag floor. On the other side of the farm road is a block built and harled garage / shed with a corrugated roof, with power, concrete floor and an inner store again with power. Immediately below the courtyard is a kitchen / vegetable garden and a former hen run.

A stone paved terrace is linked to the drawing room. Beyond and below the garden has been laid out in terraced compartments, providing shelter with interlinking lawns and paths. Hedges and trees have been planted to ensure that the gardens are sheltered. There is a small pond, together with many shrubs and rhododendrons, and the garden leads down to a viewing spot, overlooking the valley below, with a rustic summerhouse.

Location

Old Mayen has a lovely rural setting within the Deveron Valley, close to the county boundary between Moray and Aberdeenshire, so benefits from all that both counties have to offer. Despite its rural location Old Mayen is not remote; the area has excellent communications, with the nearby A96 linking Aberdeen to Inverness via Huntly, Keith and Elgin. Aberdeen is a major city with an excellent range of shopping, leisure and business facilities. Secondary schooling is found both in Huntly and Keith, together with a range of local shopping and business services. There are railway stations in Huntly and Keith and a sleeper service from Aberdeen. Aberdeen Airport is easily reached and has a wide range of domestic and European flights.

There is a primary school at Rothiemay and a local hotel. Numerous sporting activities are available in the area, including fishing on the adjacent River Deveron, whilst the Spey, Dee and Don are also easily reached. There are golf courses at Huntly, Turriff and Keith, as well as Duff House Royal and Royal Tarlair courses. Inland lie the Grampian Mountains. Walking and riding can be undertaken locally, along with Nordic skiing and mountain biking. Moray is home to some of the Scotland’s most beautiful scenery and finest whisky distilleries. The Moray coast is renowned for having a relatively mild climate and beautiful beaches. The coastal village of Portsoy is only 13 miles away. Elgin has an impressive range of shops and leisure facilities. Gordonstoun is only a short drive from Elgin and takes both day pupils and boarders. There is private schooling in Aberdeen including Robert Gordon’s, St Margaret’s and Albyn as well as the International School at Pitfodels. There are two universities and several colleges of further education.

Square Footage: 4,125 sq ft


Acreage: 1.62 Acres

Directions

From Aberdeen take the A96 northwards to Huntly. After by-passing Huntly take the turning on the right signposted to Portsoy and Rothiemay (B9022). Continue on the B9022 for 4.4 miles and turn right on to the B9118 signposted Rothiemay. In Milton of Rothiemay at the T junction turn left. After 0.3 miles turn right on the B9117 signposted Aberchirder. Proceed for 2 miles and Old Mayen is on the right.

If coming from the north on the A96 turn left on to the A95 in Keith, signposted to Banff and after 5 miles turn right onto the B9117 signposted for Rothiemay. Continue for 2.4 miles and at the junction with the B9022 continue straight over, signposted Milltown of Rothiemay. In the village turn left signposted Aberchirder (B9117) and proceed as above.

Additional Info

HISTORICAL NOTE
Old Mayen, or Mains of Mayen, is a fortified laird’s house dating from 1680 with a wing added in 1840. It is steeped in highland history. The lands of Mayen were granted to William Abernethy in the 14th century by King David II of Scotland. Old Mayen is believed to be the oldest dwelling in this part of the Deveron Glen and there was a dwelling here long before it was remodelled in 1680 for the marriage of a Hackett to an Abernethy. The house was built to guard the road from Marnoch to Rothiemay as there was a thriving trade in flint and peat which were carried along this ancient highway running past the house and on down to the river.

Charles McKean in The District of Moray, An Illustrated Architectural Guide (The Rutland Press 1997) describes the house as “from 1608, is chocolate-box picturesque. L shaped, crowstepped, one-and-a-half-storeyed farmhouse, a circular stair tower… later wing has a crow-stepped porch”.

From Scottish Country by Charles MacLean and Christopher Sykes (Thames and Hudson, 1992) we learn that “High above the valley… an old hall house commands the road, river and surrounding hills… The house of Old Mayen… was built in 1680 over the remains of an earlier structure. A farming Laird’s small house, typical of Scots vernacular architecture… its charm and interest now lie in the contrasts of scale between its modest size and massively thick, defensive walls. Like most tower and hall houses, built to withstand casual raids… by the end of the seventeenth century, though, the emphasis had begun to shift from defensive austerity to convenience, comfort and simple embellishments… Old Mayen’s tiny stair tower… between the two wings of the L shaped building afforded protection but also allowed such decorative flourishes as the fish-scale tiles on its pepper-pot roof”. The book continues that, “A hundred years or so after Mayen was built, the estate passed to the Duff family. Times became more peaceful and it was no longer necessary for a laird to live in a fortified house… who in 1840 added a more dignified and comfortable wing” and goes on to advise that previous owners, in the late 1980s “created a garden… and without structural alterations, they as far as possible restored he house to its plainer seventeenth century reincarnation… sensibly recognised that the rooms in the Victorian wing – light, well proportioned, and appropriately decorated – make more spacious and convenient living quarters. But the spirit of the house still resides in the fortified seventeenth century part”. The owner at that time was a celebrated garden designer.

Historic Environment Scotland in their listing describes there being three periods of building at Old Mayen – 1600, 1680 and the mid 19th century wing.