Aldourie Castle

Aldourie Castle on Loch Ness was first recorded as a laird's house in 1625 as a property of Mackintosh of Kyllachy in Nairnside. Lying close to the small, crofting village of Aldourie, it originally consisted of a rectangular main block, with a round tower at the south-west corner, and was extended to the west in 1839 with a two-storey wing. In the 1860s, William Fraser-Tytler was responsible for transforming Aldourie into the historic castle it is today. He commissioned Mackenzie & Matthews to extend the house “in all directions, parading the full repertoire of early 17th-century baronialism, including a balustraded round tower cribbed from Castle Fraser, Grampian, oriel windows,…

Aldourie Castle is now classed as the only inhabitable castle on Loch Ness and it is now used primarily for private use castle stays. On site activities include clay pigeon shooting, archery and chartered boat tours. Now a Category A listed building in Scotland, Aldourie Castle underwent extensive restoration work between 2002 and 2010 under the ownership of Roger Tempest, to restore specialist paintwork, murals and metalwork fixtures throughout the Castle. An extensive Estate Conservation Project started in 2017 to revive the original walled Victorian kitchen garden and surrounding grounds, involving renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart Smith with help from students from the National…