Frendraught House

King James V of Scotland visited Frendraught for a week in November 1535. The Gordons gathered the 'ashes and brynt bones' of the victims and buried them at the Kirk of Gartly. While it is said that he was captured and died soon after, The Crichtons held the property from around 1460 until 1676, when it passed through marriage to the Morisons of Bognie. Incorporating parts of the original castle, the present house was built in 1656, remodelled in 1753, and extended in the 1790s, 1840s and 1880s. The house, which was restored fully in the 1990s, is still occupied.

The present structure has been described as an extended house of considerable complexity and charm. Cellars in the west wing probably belong to the original building, while two small chamfered windows in the west gable seem to be the oldest features. There are fragments of the adjacent tower, which was demolished in 1947, adhering to the east elevation. The rebuilding in the 17th century consists of an imposing seven-window harled front with an ashlar-faced three window centre, which is topped by a semicircular pediment, slightly advanced. The porch, which had a 1688 datestone, was added when the angle tower was embellished with battlements and bartizans, probably during the 1880s. There…