Abbey St Bathans House
The house began, probably in the early 19th century (a datestone of 1694 is of unknown provenance) as a thatched cottage ornée, set at the base of a knoll with the ground falling away steeply to the north to the Whiteadder Water. It was built for the Turnbull family. This earlier core is identifiable at the centre of the entrance front as a two-bay section with first-floor dormers rising through the eaves, and with a salient gabled section at its northern end terminating the north-west range.
Later extensions, especially in the 1870s, retain something of the original character, if not the scale, in the plethora of traceried bargeboards, dormers, and barley-sugar chimneystacks. The detailing of the north-west front is more overtly Baronial, having a central tower-like pavilion with chamfered corners at the upper levels, a tall pyramidal roof, and a quadrant bartizan at the north-east angle. There are attractive interiors, particularly the stair with twisted balusters and timber arcading. Many fittings were moved here in the 1880s by Dorothea Veitch from Bassendean House.
On the estate are a picturesque lodge, stables and groom’s cottage, and an artfully composed Z-plan complex including gamekeeper’s cottage and kennels.
In 2006 the house was in multiple occupation.
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—Garrett Fort (1900–1945)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)