Tyenabruich And Tyenabruich Cottage, Auchendryne Square, Braemar

Circa 1880, Tyenabruich is a single-storey and attic, three-bay house with a smaller cottage located to the east. The house is constructed from squared and coursed granite with a symmetrical principal elevation featuring a central door and flanking canted bay windows; two piended and canted dormers are set into the attic. A rear, gabled wing extends from the main body of the house, also with attic dormers, and a weatherboarded lean-to porch. Timber four-pane sash and case windows are fitted throughout, under a grey slate roof with deep eaves, projecting rafters, and coped gable stacks topped with octagonal flues.

The cottage is a three-bay, single-storey structure built of corrugated iron. Its west elevation incorporates a central two-leaf door flanked by windows, and a small, corrugated iron-roofed lean-to extends to the south. The cottage has timber four-pane sash and case windows and a masonry stack to the south.

Tyenabruich occupies a prominent, raised location on Auchendryne Square and is an important part of the streetscape, exhibiting characteristic local features such as overhanging eaves and piended, canted dormers. The building uses traditional, locally-sourced granite. The “wee house,” an unusual survival constructed of corrugated iron rather than timber, demonstrates the historical development of the village related to tourism.

During the 19th century, the Deeside area became increasingly popular as a health resort, attracting visitors drawn by the landscape’s beauty and perceived similarities to Switzerland. The Royal Family’s visits from the 1840s, and the arrival of a railway to Ballater in the 1850s, led to an increase in wealthy tourism. Consequently, residents of Braemar built small “wee houses” in their gardens to occupy during the summer months, allowing them to rent out their cottages to visitors.