Eden House

Eden House

William Robertson designed this classical residence in 1828, remodelling an extensive earlier dwelling that dated back to at least the early 18th century. The house sits on a panoramic site on the east bank of the River Deveron.

The main east entrance front is a single-storey classical composition with harled walls and extensive polished Moray sandstone ashlar dressings. It features a pedimented tetrastyle portico with fluted Greek Doric columns, a centre door with moulded and lugged doorpiece, and a rectangular fanlight with decorative geometric glazing. Flanking the portico are round-headed shallow niches. The south and north return gables are expressed as shallow bowed bays, each lit by a pair of long aproned windows with moulded surrounds and original lying-pane glazing. The eaves are deeply string-coursed below a moulded cornice, with clasping angle pilaster strips.

Behind this front lies a much larger and rambling two-storey dwelling with a raised basement, containing earlier 18th and 19th century construction that has been considerably altered. The south elevation presents a rambling two-storey garden front with a symmetrical, off-centre gabled wing containing four windows (two on each floor). The gable has deep eaves and plain bargeboards returning to suggest an open pediment, as remodelled in 1828. Two pronounced bowed bay windows, added in 1903, rise full height and each lit by three windows on each floor. The rear elevation is irregular, revealing three storeys in the centre portion with a centre door in the raised basement surmounted by an armorial. The remainder of the house is harled with ashlar margins. Paired corniced chimneys are symmetrically placed; all chimneys date from the 1828 remodelling. Slate roofs cover the building throughout.

The entrance hall has a simple moulded cornice and corniced doorpieces leading to the drawing room (left) and dining room (right, formerly a billiard room remodelled in 1994). The drawing room retains an original simple white marble chimneypiece, panelled dado, and panelled doors, and is decorated with fine deep blue wallpaper in Chinese style, said to date from 1828. The dining room contains an original plain black marble chimneypiece similar in style to that in the drawing room. The remainder of the interior has been much remodelled during both the 1828 and 1903 phases. Simple mid-18th century stone stairs survive, though the balustrade was renewed in 1903 and further extended around 1990. A marble chimneypiece dating from 1828 stands in the present dining room.

The estate of Eden dates from at least 1308 when the land belonged to the Earl of Buchan. It later passed through the Meldrum family and to a branch of the Duffs, Earls of Fife. The core of the present house is said to have been a fishing lodge built in 1724; the armorial above the north doorway bears the initials ID and MD and is dated 1724. In 1824, Eden passed to James Cunningham Grant Duff, who had recently completed distinguished service with the East India Company. He undertook the comprehensive remodelling and enlargement of Eden House, developed the policies, drained the land, and constructed most of the estate buildings. In 1839, he founded a pedigree herd of Shorthorn cattle centred on Mains of Eden (by Eden Castle). This herd achieved national repute before being sold in 1854. Despite the small size of the Eden estate, it possesses a full repertoire of ancillary buildings, dating mainly from 1840–55, including a walled garden, coach house (former carriage house and stables), Bell Cottage, North and South Lodges, and Home Farm with farmhouse, steading, dovecote and mill.