Kinrara

A country house in Strathspey, Kinrara occupies a fine situation beneath the wooded hill of Torr Alvie on the left bank of the River Spey, a mile (1.5 km) southeast of Alvie and 3 miles (5 km) south southwest of Aviemore. Built c.1800 as a summer residence for the noted Jane, Duchess of Gordon (1748 - 1812), it is a rambling two-storey mansion which was extended c.1814 and again in 1839. The Duchess, who was estranged from her husband, lived here from July to November, spending the remaining months of the year in London. She laid out the picturesque landscape around the house and is buried a half-mile (0.8 km) to the southwest, the spot marked by a fine monument.

Tenanted by Sir George Sitwell in the 1830s, Kinrara passed to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. The Earldom of Kinrara became a subsidiary title of that Dukedom. In the early 20th century, Kinrara was let to the Earl of Zetland, and eventually sold in the 1930s. Its current white-harled appearance derives from alterations made by Reginald Fairlie in 1939. There is a fine verandah on the garden front.

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