Description
Circa 1860 (possibly later). Tall 2-storey, 3-bay, U-plan, piend-roofed classically-detailed house. Stugged red granite with contrasting granite ashlar dressings, and long and short quoins. Deep base and band courses, eaves cornice. Segmental-headed openings; roll-moulded doorpiece. Stone mullions.
E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: centre bay with broad pilastered doorway, 2-leaf panelled timber door and plate glass fanlight under consoled canopy giving way to plain banded balcony at 1st floor bipartite window with column mullion; flanking bays each with canted window at ground giving way to plain banded balcony and widely-spaced bipartite window at 1st floor.
W ELEVATION: 2 dominant piended bays, each with tall single window at ground and bipartite to 1st floor, bay to left also with later porch to outer left and that to right with 2 additional small windows to left at ground. Low link to narrow centre bay with part-glazed timber door, tall tripartite stair window to set-back face above and single window to each return at 1st floor.
N ELEVATION: canted window (as above) to centre bay at ground, single window immediately to right and further windows to flanking bays; 3 regularly-disposed windows to 1st floor.
S ELEVATION: mirrors the above.
Largely plate glass glazing in timber sash and case windows, some multi-pane glazing patterns retained to W and S; coloured glass to stair window. Grey slates. Coped ashlar stacks with full-complement of polygonal cans. Square-section cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers and fixings.
INTERIOR: fine interior detail with good decorative scheme in place. Decorative plasterwork, marble (some pink Peterhead marble) and timber fire surrounds some with cast-iron grates and tiled cheeks; architraved doors, carved wood curtain pelmets, dado rails and timber shutters. Screen door, terrazzo floor, fireplace and marble columns in antis leading to stair hall with timber dog-leg staircase, decorative cast-iron balusters and oil-painted mural frieze depicting hunting scenes by C S Bull. Leaded and coloured glass to stair window incorporating monogrammed 'JBS'? to centre light. Library with painted frieze depicting hunting scenes, probably also by C S Bull. Some early bathroom fittings retained, including cast-iron bath with claw feet and shower cubicle.
ANCILLARY BUILDINGS: small courtyard to W with rectangular-plan, snecked rubble ancillaries, some grey slates retained. Cottage part-converted to garage; stable, tack room and byre retaining boarded timber walls, cast-iron fireplace and some tack room fittings.
WALLED GARDEN: semicircular-coped rubble walls (breached in places) enclosing garden of approximately 1 acre, and remains of circular ashlar fountain(?) at centre.
BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS: square-section stugged ashlar gatepiers and end piers, each on rock-faced base with chamfered arrises and moulded octagonal copes; truncated quadrant walls with rock-faced coping stones retained
Statement of Special Interest
After his succession in 1798, William, 16th Earl of Erroll, disposed of many family estates including Longhaven which, together with Gask, was purchased by William Erskine. Both estates were subsequently taken over by James Shepherd of Aldie, who left them to his daughter, wife of Rev George Brown, Free Church minister of Cruden from 1846-1857. After some time as minister of Free St Paul's inEdinburgh, Rev Brown retired to Cruden and built Longhaven House, described in 'A New History of Aberdeenshire' as "A large building, square in form, with pavilion roof, and some oriol windows, ... recently ..... erected on the lower part of Longhaven, in a very bare and uniniviting situation". Rev Brown's son-in-law, Free Church minister Patrick J Murdoch, was instrumental in building a new Free Church for Cruden before moving to other charges which included Regent Square Church, London. Patrick Murdoch was the grandfather of Rupert Murdoch, newspaper owner, who visited Longhaven as a child. The house was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force during WWII. Longhaven was originally known as Tillymaud. The circumstances and date of the name change have not been verified, but tradition says that the original family built a similar (though not quite as grand) house for their son in the Peterhead area, and that a subsequent family quarrel led to a fatal 'mishap' at the house. The current (2004) owner has a set of unsigned drawings showing original layout and elevations.