History of Hospitality
Kinnaird opened its doors as a hotel in summer 1990. The estate, however, has been in the Ward family since the 1920s when the house parties hosted by Sir John and Lady Ward were the talk of the country. The Wards were largely responsible for the house as we see it today, revealing the original 18th century front and adding the wing which contains the Cedar and billiard rooms in 1928.
Previously, Kinnaird was part of the Duke of Atholl’s estate, first as a Dower House for Lady Emily Percy, a prolific sketcher of the house and its surroundings, and later as home to a succession of tenants.
Among the tenants were the Buller family. They hired Thomas Carlyle as tutor to their son Charles. The writer spent two years at Kinnaird and wrote fondly of the silence here which he describes as ‘not to be surpassed above ground’.
‘I lodged and slept in the old mansion, a queer, old-fashioned, snug enough, an entirely secluded edifice sunk among trees’ Thomas Carlyle.
The Duke of Atholl had purchased the estate from the Stewart family who seem to have been in possession, on and off, since the 1600’s. It was an Edinburgh hatter, however, one Chalmers Izzett, who began work on the house during his period of ownership at the turn of the 19th century.
Prior to the 1600’s, the history of Kinnaird is lost in the proverbial mists of time. From archaeological remains on the estate, however, it is quite clear that this fine place has attracted man since prehistory.
