Offers over £5.65m for this beautiful residential, agricultural and sporting estate in the valley of the River Don

Ardhuncart Estate is a first class mixed-use rural estate on the Highland fringe of Aberdeenshire that is being offered for sale for the first time since the 1950s.
Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire. All pictures: Strutt & ParkerArdhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire. All pictures: Strutt & Parker
Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire. All pictures: Strutt & Parker

Built in the Arts and Crafts style which was popular at the turn of the last century, the estate was built as a traditional sporting lodge in 1901 and occupies an exceptionally peaceful position and extensive grounds on the north bank of the River Don with outstanding views towards the foothills of the Grampian mountains.

Situated just off the road connecting the towns of Alford and Huntly in an area sparsely populated and within the top 30 most remote zones of mainland Scotland Ardhuncart Estate is secluded yet accessible.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Donside is much less frequented by visitors to the northeast of Scotland and the particular stretch of the river straddled by Ardhuncart Estate can be regarded as one of rural Scotland’s hidden gems.

Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire - Principal house.Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire - Principal house.
Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire - Principal house.

The estate is currently owned by a Trust having been purchased by Colonel Harold Phillips in 1952 as a summer retreat for his wife Georgina (who subsequently became Lady Kennard) and five children from their principal home in Leicestershire. Lady Kennard was a member of the British aristocracy, described as “one of the best connected women in the country” and a distant cousin and close friend of the Queen.

The Phillips family enjoyed happy holidays fishing for salmon on the River Don, shooting grouse on the Ardhuncart moor, playing tennis, hosting parties and generally enjoying the wonderfully peaceful and bucolic setting of Strathdon. Ardhuncart remained the home of Lady Kennard until her death in 2011.

The estate is now being offered for sale in nine lots by the trustees of the Ardhuncart Trust to provide a range of purchasing opportunities for buyers across the full spectrum of the rural property market including mixed-use estate buyers; farmhouse and cottage buyers; forestry and ecological restoration buyers and residential development buyers.

The price for the entire estate is offers over £5,645,000, however, prices for lots range from ‘offers over’ £50,000 (for a redundant range of farm buildings with development potential) to ‘offers over’ £2,950,000 for the main mixed-use estate extending to more than 900 acres, which includes a nine-bedroom early 20th Century principal house with extensive gardens and grounds; a three-bedroom cottage; in-hand and let farms, arable and livestock farms; forestry and woods; game shooting; roe-deer stalking; salmon/trout fishing, and income from a telecoms mast.

Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire - Principal house.Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire - Principal house.
Ardhuncart Estate, Aberdeenshire - Principal house.

Robert McCulloch, head of estate and farm agency in Scotland at Strutt & Parker, who are marketing the property, said: “The combination of the range of lots available for sale at Ardhuncart together with its glorious Highland fringe location makes this a flagship sale for our firm in 2021.

"With the extraordinary increase in demand for rural residential property in Scotland since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic combined with a huge appetite for environmental investment opportunities, we are particularly excited about this instruction and expect to be rushed off our feet accommodating enquiries and viewing requests during the 8 to 10 week marketing period.”

Find more details about this stunning estate and lots more photographs HERE.

Related topics: