Balnaboth House, Glenprosen, Angus

Entire home in Glenprosen, United Kingdom

  1. 16+ guests
  2. 12 bedrooms
  3. 17 beds
  4. 6 bathrooms
Hosted by Hector
  1. Superhost
  2. 11 years hosting

Listing highlights

Unwind in the hot tub

This is one of the few places in the area with this amenity.

Self check-in

Check yourself in with the lockbox.

Beautiful area

Guests love this home’s scenic location.
Balnaboth was our family home for over 30 years, it is a charming, rambling very old house (400yr+) full of character. It is very quirky and probably unlike anywhere else you've stayed. Tucked into the hills on the edge of the Cairngorms. The lawn is huge, with a discrete hot tub under the trees.

The space
Balnaboth was originally 4 separate houses, 13th Century hunting lodges in the Royal Forest of Glenprosen. It readily separates into 3 distinct self-contained units for families wanting their own space, but to come together in the large dining room.

Guest access
Pretty well everywhere (bearing in mind there's over 30 rooms). A few are shut up for storage. But we can also let the Nursery House (3 bedrooms, sleeping up to 6), or Logie Wing (4 bedrooms, sleeping up to 8) separately.

Other things to note
This is a very old house. Exactly how old, we don't know, but it was 1815-20 when the 4 existing houses were joined together and there has been some form of dwelling here since at least the 13th century. Though "Listed", and a Mansion House, it's not shiny smart, it has been a family house for hundreds of years. When an Ogilvy ancestor, the then Earl of Airlie, was exiled to France in 1746, his brother Walter Ogilvy kept his head down at Balnaboth, until he eventually succeeded to the Earldom. We still have his law books in the library. Australians may be interested that his son, the Hon Donald Ogilvy who succeeded to Balnaboth, appears to have been brother in law to Lachlan Macquarie an early governor of NSW; both married daughters of James Morley in India.
Sir James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, rented Balnaboth for 2 summers in the 1920's and wrote of it with great affection.
The house is about 10 miles north of Kirriemuir (20 minutes by car), and 1 1/2 hours drive from the Forth road bridge (Edinburgh). Aberdeen is just over an hour, and Glasgow 2 hours.
Being old, the house is quirky, or "full of character" (which also means that cleaning is a nightmare). The main wing has a Georgian Drawing room, dining room & large kitchen, even a library. The Logie Wing is similar (this was an 1820 addition), but the Nursery House is of a completely different and earlier era, with smaller, wood lined rooms, and generally more cosy and intimate. Both wings have separate external doors, but can be accessed from within if the whole house is taken.
There is no mobile phone reception within 3 miles. There is broadband, but it's satellite & only good for (email & light browsing) reception is fine (freesat satellite)
Private water supply (excellent & regularly tested)
Plenty of parking, also space (by prior arrangement) for marquee on lawn
Bear in mind that this is NOT a modern house, far from it. There is good oil fired central heating, but also a lot of draughts!

Registration details
AN-01249-F

Where you'll sleep

Bedroom 1
1 queen bed
Bedroom 2
2 single beds
Bedroom 3
1 queen bed

What this place offers

Kitchen
Wifi
Free parking on premises
Private hot tub
TV

Select check-in date

Add your travel dates for exact pricing

Rated 4.94 out of 5 from 101 reviews.

Guest favourite
This home is a guest favourite based on ratings, reviews and reliability

Overall rating

  1. 5 stars, 94% of reviews
  2. 4 stars, 6% of reviews
  3. 3 stars, 0% of reviews
  4. 2 stars, 0% of reviews
  5. 1 stars, 0% of reviews

Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars for cleanliness

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars for accuracy

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars for check-in

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars for communication

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars for location

Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars for value

Guest reviews mention

Where you’ll be

Glenprosen, Angus, United Kingdom
This listing’s location is verified and the exact location will be provided after booking.

Neighbourhood highlights

Balnaboth is the mansion house of a largish (6000 acre) highland estate. As such it has a (good) private drive of over a mile, with gate lodge (& open gates) and the bottom.
The house sits in the fork of the river Prosen & the Logie burn (probably accounting for the name, in Gaelic). It's quite high in the hills (850') and behind it the hills rise to Munro level (over 3000').
The outside landscaping was originally laid out by our Victorian ancestors with little bridges across the streams, huge lawn, and an imposing avenue of beech trees.
The place abounds with walks, through the woods, over grass meadow, or up into the heather hills.
Spring is beautiful with extensive rhododendron flowering beside the lawn; there is nothing like croquet on the lawn in summer; the autumn colours are magnificent; and the place is magical in winter snow.

Meet your host

Superhost
101 reviews
4.94 out of 5 average rating
11 years of hosting
Lives in Glenprosen, United Kingdom
Born & brought up in Glenprosen & lived in this house (Balnaboth) for much of my life.

Hector is a Superhost

Superhosts are experienced, highly rated hosts who are committed to providing great stays for guests.

Co-Hosts

  • Moira
  • Nandor

Host details

Response rate: 100%
Responds within a day
To help protect your payment, always use Airbnb to send money and communicate with hosts.
This listing is offered by an individual. Learn more

Things to know

Cancellation policy
House rules
Checkout before 12:00
No pets
Self check-in with lockbox
Safety & property
Pool/hot tub without a gate or lock
Nearby lake, river, other body of water
Carbon monoxide alarm