Overview of Balnain House

Situated by the River Ness on Huntly Street, Inverness, Balnain House was built by a merchant in 1726. It was used as a field hospital for Hanoverian troops during the Battle of Culloden in 1746 and in the 1880s it became the Highland base of the Ordnance Survey. The building was saved from demolition by the Inverness Civic Trust in 1968. The Trust proceeded to renovate both the exterior and interior over the succeeding decade, with the Balnain House Trust formed in 1980 to complete the work. In 1993 the building was opened to the public as a music heritage centre, The Home of Highland Music. Owing to ongoing financial problems, the National Trust for Scotland bought Balnain House in 1996, letting it back to its occupiers. The Home of Highland Music closed in 2000 and the building is now used by the National Trust as office accommodation.