Steamie history
Converted wash-house has some tales to tell,
IT HAS TO be one of the most l i berating of the household appliances we use, day in, day out. A washing machine breakdown is a major inconvenience because how many of us would contemplate, let alone have the time, to do any washing by hand? It’s far easier to wait for the repair man, or even order up a new one online, such is the horror of being without fresh laundry.
But washing used to be a major occupation, with large country houses employing a sizeable number of washerwomen. Some estates even had a purpose-built laundry house where all the boiling, mangling, starching and ironing could be done.
The Laundry in the grounds of Cullen House in Banffshire could tell a few tales because it was here the Earls of Seafield would send their linen to be washed.
Their seat for 400 years, Cullen House, was converted into apartments by the architect Kit Martin in the 1970s
A local architect, Douglas Forest, who also worked with Kit Martin at Cullen, converted The Laundry for his own use in the 1980s. On the ground floor is an entrance hall with the original flagstones, a large dining kitchen, two bedrooms, a shower room and utility room.
On the first floor is the sitting room and the master bedroom, with its own bathroom and dressing room.
There are masses of period f eatures i n the house including the flagstones, stripped and polished floorboards, working shutters, ceiling beams and panelled doors.
The Laundry, which i s now B- l i sted, has i ts own private landscaped garden, but the owners are able to enjoy shared use of the 16 acres that surround Cullen House.
The property, which is close to the lovely beach at Cullen, is about an hour by car from both Inverness and Aberdeen and 12 miles from Banff.
Offers over £325,000 to Strutt & Parker in Banchory.