For sale: is this Perthshire home the most affordable castle in Scotland?

A unique Perthshire home built using part of a castle has gone on the market. Little Culdees, which features turrets and a stately entrance, boasts features and history dating back to the early 1800s.

The striking four-bedroom property, in Muthill, near Crieff, was built using materials salvaged from part of the ruin of nearby Culdees Castle.

Little Culdees has a grand entrance

It is being marketed by solicitors and estate agents Lindsays for offers over £340,000.

Maurice Allan, managing director of residential property at Lindsays, said: “Little Culdees is definitely a one-off - an exceptional and unique home. 

The back of the house

“Its history is fascinating. It is a property which oozes charm and character. There is nothing quite like it on the market. It is fair to say that there are not all that many opportunities to buy a castle - or part of one, at least - in this price bracket.

“Little Culdees has been in the same family for the last 40 years. They are now looking for a new guardian to cherish and appreciate it as they have.”

The category B-listed property features a sandstone-flagged floor and staircase leading to its first floor.

An interior stone staircase

On the ground floor there is a large living room, a formal dining room, kitchen, utility room and bedroom with en-suite bathroom.

The upper floor consists of three further bedrooms and a large bathroom, as well as a room which could be used as a study / office.

Traditional features throughout the house include window shutters, cornicing, ceiling roses and fireplaces. There are also three cellars.

Little Culdees is currently unfurnished

Because part of Little Culdees was salvaged from the older building, it can trace its origins back to the 1400s.

The ground on which the Culdees Castle was built - now part of the Culdees Estate - was originally gifted to the Drummond family after the son of clan chief Sir Malcolm Begg fought alongside Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314. 

The gardens at Little Culdees

The latest incarnation of the larger castle has a foundation stone which was laid in 1810. Culdees Estate says it was designed for Lieutenant General James Drummond by notable Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham, who also designed St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow and the imposing Highland Tolbooth Church – now known as The Hub – in Edinburgh.

It was later bought by the Spier then Maitland Gardener families, the latter of which moved out in the late 1960s after discovering extensive damage. Much of the original castle was stripped. The Maitlands built a mansion house next door, with the family continuing to live there until 2019. It is now in new ownership.

A restoration project at the castle is underway.

For more information about Little Culdees, go to www.lindsays.co.uk