Steading, Clarack

This is a mid to later 19th-century steading and farmhouse complex located near Dinnet, within the Cairngorms National Park. The farmhouse is a symmetrical, three-bay building with a single storey and an attic. Immediately to the southwest sits a formal, classical, square-plan courtyard steading. Both the farmhouse and steading are constructed of coursed granite.

The farmhouse has a pair of distinctive, wide, gabled, tripartite dormers with deep timber eaves. A central timber gabled porch fronts the south side, and a single-storey lean-to has been added to the north (rear). The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, with a central four-pane sash and case window in each dormer, flanked by two-pane fixed lights. The roof is covered with grey slate, and features raised coped skews, skewputts, and gable stacks.

The steading, located to the southeast, is a seven-bay structure with a central segmental arched pend. Above the pend sits a full-height gable containing a triangular doocot. Gable ends are present on either side, with one incorporating a forestair. The southwest elevation is symmetrical, with slightly advanced gabled sections that break the wallhead, featuring large two-leaf timber doors at ground level and hoist doors above. Twentieth-century extensions have been added to the northwest. Various fenestration types are present, along with boarded timber doors, some of which are two-leaf.

To the north of the farmhouse stands a former dairy, an octagonal granite building with an octagonal roof (now lacking slates). The interior features white tiled walls, a red and white chequered tiled floor, and a continuous internal marble shelf. An original cheese press is located on an outer wall; the dairy is currently in a state of disrepair (as of September 2005). The interior of the farmhouse could not be viewed during the time of the visit in September 2005.

Clarack farm represents a good example of a post-improvement period classical steading and a well-appointed farmhouse. Although the farmhouse is relatively modest and reflects the local style of single-storey-and-attic cottages, it is somewhat overshadowed by the grandeur of the large, detailed steading, notable for its formal symmetrical principle elevation and central triangular stone doocot. The survival of the associated dairy and its cheese press are significant features of this agricultural complex. The site is documented on the 1866-7 Ordnance Survey map.