Estate, Enochdhu, Blairgowrie, Perthshire

HISTORICAL NOTE

Balvarran was the ancient home of the Barons Reid, also known as the Robertsons of Straloch. On 14 February 1554, the Earl of Atholl granted a charter to the lands of Inverchroskie to John Reid, the 4th baron (Inverchroskie or Easter Inverchroskie being the archaic name for the land now known as Balvarran). John Reid built his house on this land, naming it Balvarran, meaning
‘’Township of the Baron’. Notably his grandson, the 6th baron is documented to have been brave at ‘supressing robbers’ and on ‘Lord’s Days’, had his piper playing before him”.

The 7th baron, “a genteel, handsome man of medium stature”, built the oldest part of the existing house completing it in 1641. The date remaining clearly visible on the lintel over what
would have originally been the front door. Reid was arbitrarily fined when King Charles I came to the throne and allowed a mercenary English Parliament to impoverish many Scottish families. Despite paying his dues to the Royalist supporting Earl of Atholl, Balvarran was ‘burnt to the ground’ by the Marquess of Montrose in 1644.

The last member of the Reid family to own Balvarran was the 15th baron, General John Reid, the composer of several military marches including ‘The Garb of the Od Gaul’ for the Black Watch.
Upon his death in 1807, he left an endowment specifically for the purposes of establishing a chair of music at Edinburgh University with both the Reid Concert Hall and School of Music named in
his honour. During the life of General Reid, Balvarran was put into a Trust with James Stormonth of Lednathie being one of the Trustees. The other Trustees died and, as surviving Trustee
with the authority to sell, James Stormonth (himself a noted lawyer in Edinburgh) sold Balvarran in 1776 to an Edinburgh lawyer, Alexander Macdonald, retaining an option to repurchase Balvarran, which was duly exercised in 1781.

In 1805, James Stormonth settled Balvarran into another Trust for the benefit of the children of James and Margaret Darling. Their daughter Agnes and her husband Archie Horne purchased
Balvarran from the Trustees in 1837. Following their deaths, the estate was sold, in 1864, to Patrick Small Keir of Kindrogan.

The estate returned to the ownership of the descendants of James Stormonth when in 1894 it was acquired by his great great-nephew Moir, Lord Stormonth Darling, a former Solicitor General for Scotland and by this time a Lord of Session. It has
remained in the ownership of the Stormonth Darling family to this day.

The expansion and embellishment of the existing house was immediate with the addition of a new porch and billiards room together with new kennels and stables in 1895 to designs by the
renowned Scottish architect noted for his Scots Baronial and Gothic revival style, Sir Robert Lorimer.

In 1947, Balvarran was inherited by Moir’s nephew, Patrick and thereafter – in 1960 – by Patrick’s elder son, Robin Stormonth Darling. Substantial reconfiguration of the interior and
modernisation of the décor and services followed during the 1960s with further extensive improvements – to include the addition of a further reception room in 1988 and a swimming pool completed in the early 1990s.

The current owner inherited Balvarran in 2013 and has occupied the house and estate as a much adored and appreciated family home.

DESCRPTION

Extending to about 2,018 acres (817 ha) in total, the component assets and attractions of Balvarran Estate can be described and summarised as follows:

Balvarran House and Grounds
Balvarran House is an exceptionally positioned B-Listed mansion house that was remodelled and extended by the renowned architect, Sir Robert Lorimer, in the final years of the 19th Century. It occupies a commanding and attractive position
at an elevation of just over 1,000 feet (370m) overlooking spacious lawns fringed by rhododendrons and azaleas with the main façade facing southwest across Strathardle.

The house is approached by a private wooded tarmac drive which continues gently uphill through electric wrought-iron gates before terminating at either a gravelled parking area at the front or a further spacious gravel courtyard behind the
house. The original coach house lies a short distance from the house on the north side and provides a combination of living accommodation, stabling and general storage.

Dating from 1641, the house is category B-Listed by Historic Environment Scotland and is of stone construction beneath pitched slate roofs. As stated in the Historical Note above, the house has benefitted from remodelling, extension and
improvements to décor and services in three main phases being the 1890s, the 1960s and the late 1980s. A feature of its appearance is the property’s colour which reflects its original iron oxide lime-washed render of the exterior which is
particularly attractive and unusual amongst Scottish country houses.

As shown on the floor plans within the particulars of sale, the accommodation is over two main floors and an attic level and includes a large kitchen with breakfast room/bar, several excellent reception rooms including a billiards room, 9 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and a variety of additional rooms
including office, gun room, flower room, larder, wood store, plant/boiler room and a temperature controlled wine cellar.

The house is served by a wood pellet biomass heating system which was installed in 2015 and qualifies for subsidy income under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) with an unexpired contract term of nine years. Oil-fired boilers remain connected to provide back-up heating and hot water if/when required. There is also an oil-fired Aga in the kitchen.

Adjoining the house is an indoor swimming pool (5m x 11m) with associated changing facilities and sauna which was completed in 1990 and provides indoor recreation during the winter months and on days of inclement weather. The pool has French windows which open onto a terrace overlooking the sunken garden. A paved terrace, accessible from the dining room and kitchen, provides one of the property’s settings for al fresco dining in
warm weather. A further elevated dining terrace overlooking the sunken garden is accessed via the billiards room.

The house sits at the heart of an extensive garden which combines formal lawns (on which stands a Lorimer designed sundial) and flower garden with a wilder arboreal garden featuring a network of paths and five enigmatic concrete cattle sculptures by Callum Gordon known as the “Beasts of Balvarran”.

The native woodland behind the house provides both shelter and a valuable habitat for abundant birdlife and red squirrels, which are frequently seen scampering across the lawn.

The outbuildings immediately adjoining the house include a game larder, potting shed, double garage, biomass plant room, pellet store and two further built in sheds/stores.

A short distance from the house are the stables which include looseboxes (recently redundant but still capable of housing horses/ponies) and associated stores providing tack, machinery and equipment storage.

Additional Houses and Cottages

Each labelled on the sale plan accompanying the particulars of sale, Balvarran Estate includes six additional dwellings as follows:

Coach House Cottage
A 2-storey, 2-bedroom cottage situated within the stable range, renovated in recent years to a high standard and retained with vacant possession for family use/as overflow accommodation together with Balvarran House.

The Old Laundry
An open plan single bedroom maisonette within the stable range. Let under a Short Assured Tenancy (SAT) but available with vacant possession from mid August 2026.

Milton of Balvarran Farmhouse
A 3-bedroom traditional detached farmhouse at the foot of the drive beside the public road with
large garden and outbuildings to the rear let under SAT.

Mill Cottage
A 3-bedroom cottage situated between the public road and the River Ardle let under SAT.

Milton Cottages 1 and 2
A pair of semi-detached cottages between the public road and the River Ardle let under SATs in each case.

The cottages are each served by mains water supplies and have a combination of oil-fired and electric heating systems.

A summary of their services and EPC ratings is included within the particulars of sale under the Additional Information section.