Easter Elchies

Easter Elchies is a Laird's house dating from 1700, with minor alterations made in the mid-19th century and an extensive restoration in 1985. The main building is three storeys and an attic, with a regular four-bay west front and a rear wing extending to its full height, creating a T-plan. A modern, single-storey, octagonal glazed office block is linked to the south gable by a glazed corridor. The exterior is finished with modern harl, polished ashlar dressings and margins, with some rendered margins. The central two bays rise above the wallhead to form a crowstepped gable, featuring two small attic windows, a datestone, and an apex stack. The main entrance has a moulded doorpiece, and the outer ground floor windows have been enlarged. Two outer second-floor windows break the wallhead and are set beneath mid-19th-century gablets. There is a separate entrance in the east wall of the return gable. A corbelled stair turret, either of mid-19th-century construction or a mid-19th-century remodelling, rises from the first floor at the northeast re-entrant angle and is topped with a conical, bellcast slate roof. The windows are fitted with 12-pane glazing, and the roof is covered with Banffshire slate, with a moulded eaves cornice. A 1985 octagonal, single-storey glazed office block is linked to the south gable by a single-bay corridor with its own entrance, and also has a Banffshire slate roof.

The interior was largely remodelled in 1985. In the mid-19th century, substantial additions and a new entrance were designed by A and W Reid (plans dated 1848, 1856, and 1893 are displayed within the house). These additions were later demolished, and the house, as restored in 1985, closely reflects its 1700 original appearance. The datestone reads ‘1 JPG 700’, likely commemorating John Patrick Grant. Easter Elchies House now serves as offices and a visitor centre for the Macallan Distillery.