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Summary

Description

Built in 1823, Murtle House was designed by Archibald Simpson in a Greek Revival style and built for John Thorburn. Additions were made by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie in 1891. It is a two-storey and basement, stuccoed, roughly H-shaped country house.

The front and rear elevations of Murtle House have flanking, pedimented wings that are two bays wide. The east (entrance) elevation has a pilastrade and a central, pedimented doorpiece and the west elevation has a Greek Doric, low-domed, portico to the centre.

A multi-purpose, irregular-plan, single-storey, Modernist community hall (known as Camphill Hall), dating from 1961-2 and designed by Gabor Tallo, is attached to the north end of Murtle House. It is constructed in rendered brick and has a sweeping roof. The hall comprises a large rhomboid auditorium and stage with a semi-circular chapel to the west and ancillary spaces.

At the time of listing in 1971, the interior of Murtle House was described as completely redesigned and only the Treatment Room surviving from the original interior (information taken from the previous listed building record). The 1962 hall has Expressionist stained glass by Hermann Gross and decorative interior timberwork.

Statement of Special Interest

The Murtle estate (formerly Murthill) was historically in the possession of the Provosts of Aberdeen. John Thorburn, a retired overseas merchant, bought the estate in 1821 and commissioned Archibald Simpson to built a new mansion house (plans dated April 1823, G M Fraser in Aberdeen Weekly Journal).

The 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1865 shows a typical 19^th century country estate. Murtle House is set within landscaped grounds with a walled garden to the west and estate offices/coachhouse to the northeast and a gatelodge. By 1899 two rectangular plan extensions were added onto the northwest elevation of the house (as shown on the 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1899).

The house was used as a private residence until it became an auxillary hospital during the First World War. In the 1940s, Murtle estate became a school founded by Dr Karl König and based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Dr Karl König (1902-1966) founded the Camphill Movement, an international movement of communities for children and adults with complex needs or disabilities.

The late-19^th century extensions were removed and a community hall was added onto the northwest elevation of Murtle House in 1961-2 to designs by Gabor Tallo (1910-1978), a Slovakian-Hungarian architect (Aberdeen Evening Express; Dictionary of Scottish Architects). Camphill Hall was Tallo's first major commission in the United Kingdom (Wheeler, p.2). The style of architecture has some similarities to the Goetheanum in Switzerland, designed by Rudolf Steiner, with its abstract and organic form, sweeping roof and its interior timberwork and stained glass windows.

The estate remains is use as a Steiner school facility today, operating as Camphill School Aberdeen (2026). A number of educational buildings have been added across the estate. The walled garden, gatelodge and elements of the former offices survive within the landscape.

Supplementary information in the listed building record revised in 2026.

References

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