The party paradise
Whisky family’s mansion is ideal venue for a good old-fashioned Hogmanay
THE perfect place in which to celebrate the onset of the New Year, Eden Mansion should really be renamed Hogmanay House. Not only is its ballroom decked in floorto-ceiling tartan drapes, it also boasts a roaring fireplace and a polished oak floor just crying out for a Dashing White Sergeant.
As if its Ne’erday credentials needed any further enhancement, the house near St Andrews, Fife, was originally built for the Haig family who gave us the legendary whisky.
Drams will doubtless be flowing when owner Chris Wood welcomes 26 guests tonight for the countdown to midnight.
They will celebrate beneath a coombed ceiling with elaborate strapping and cornice. The room also has original oak panelling with what’s described as an ‘integral Ionic columned chimneypiece’.
Mr Wood appreciates the grandeur of the place he has called home for the past four years. He said: ‘It is a beautiful house and I will be very sad to leave it.
‘It’s been a labour of love. Tradesmen spent 18 months restoring windows, woodwork and the roof to bring the house back to where it should be.’
FOR the best part of 100 years, Eden Mansion belonged to the Haig family, who opened a distillery at Guardbridge in 1810. By 1860, the Haigs decided the building would offer a greater financial return as a paper mill and at its height, employed 600 people from the surrounding area.
The scale and number of apartments at Eden Mansion reflect the owner’s status as one of Fife’s largest Victorian employers.
The ground floor consists of (deep breath) entrance hall, reception hall, drawing room, library, morning room, dining kitchen, pantry, utility room and back hall. There’s also a snug, Art Deco cinema room, inner courtyard, office, bedroom suite with dressing room and en suite bathroom.
Upstairs, the first floor offers no fewer than seven bedrooms, all of them en suite. A separate staircase leads to the tartan dining room, which becomes the ballroom when the table and chairs are removed. A tower room tops the building and a wine cellar sits in its basement.
In addition to the main house, the property also boasts a lodge house, with sitting room, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and dining room.
While Eden Mansion enjoys links to whisky royalty, it was once considered a possible home for a future British king.
When Prince William and Kate Middleton were studying in their final year at St Andrews University, it was reported that William wished to move out of his student accommodation to a more relaxing base in the nearby countryside.
Eden Mansion was touted as the most appropriate candidate but eventually William plumped for a cottage on the Strathtyrum Estate.
The house has, however, no shortage of admirers willing to pay top dollar to rent the property as a luxury holiday retreat.
When The Open was held at St Andrews in 2015, Rolex paid an eye-watering £35,000 to take Eden Mansion for just over a week.
Mr Wood confirmed the reason for his home being built in the first place. He said: ‘It is clearly a house designed for entertaining on a grand scale. ‘Pretty much every year we have been here we hold a big Hogmanay party. The ballroom is perfect for a Highland fling.
‘We use part of the building as a five-star B&B. When it comes to renting it out for special events, the money paid by Rolex shows the kind of premium you are able to charge.
‘That is the kind of thing I think would appeal to a foreign investor.’
Cheers!
Offers over £1.75 million to Jamie Macnab of Savills. Tel 0131 247 3738 or email jmacnab@savills.com