Email Cortes House enquiries & reservations: bookscotland@madbookings.com
Other places to stay in and around
Fraserburgh
The elegance of a bygone era, blended with the best of today’s
living".
That may be a grandiose claim, but Cortes leaves visitors inspired and enthused, relaxed and invigorated. The Regency mansion is large, with 10 bedrooms in the main house (and two bedrooms available separately) but it is never overwhelming.
Cortes House Accommodation
Cortes House is a splendid Regency mansion, built in 1810. The reception rooms, with their delicate cornicing, their original fireplaces and their enormous windows, are both elegant and comfortable. The gorgeous, interior designed bedrooms all give onto an atrium bathed in light from a glass cupola above, and the grounds are the ideal place for true relaxation. What more could a guest ask for, to live like a Laird?
We have really gone to town with our ten bedrooms and nine bathrooms, choosing highly individual styles for each. They all have a name and a theme around a place, person or idea which means a lot to us.
It has recently been refurbished to the highest standard. The main house sleeps 24, with 8 individually designed double bedrooms, and 2 family suites. All but one of the bedrooms has en-suite or private bathrooms.
For particularly large parties two extra triple en-suite bedrooms plus their own kitchen/sitting room are available at extra cost. With this accommodation, the house sleeps 30 people.
The bedrooms with their luxury fabrics, designer rugs and high ceilings, give a sense of tranquillity and space.
The house also has 4 elegant reception rooms – a large drawing room with the original marble fireplace, a similarly spacious dining room with Regency wallpaper and cream drapes; a study to while away the hours with a good book and the homely “Red Room” which is a favourite for an after-dinner tipple.
There is also a large home cinema with comfy sofas and a table tennis room for the more energetic. The large modern kitchen has a solid oak table where guests often congregate. It is well equipped, with two hobs, two sinks, three ovens, two dishwashers etc.
If you ever felt like whipping up dinner for 20+ people, this is the place to do it! If you don't fancy preparing meals we can provide you with a chef and stewards who will be delighted to take care of all your culinary needs - whether a simple breakfast or an elaborate dinner. For large formal functions we can also recommend caterers who specialize in both local and international cuisine.
Cortes is only ever rented on an exclusive basis, so you know that your party will be the only ones there. Total privacy. Cortes is available throughout the year and is ideal for family get-togethers, holidays, parties, weddings, business functions and team building exercises.
The house is peacefully located in its own grounds of 5 acres. These include a children’s playground and woodlands which brim with wild flowers in the springtime. It is not unusual to spot deer, badgers, buzzards and foxes.
In front of the house is a large, elegant lawn, ideal for sunbathing. In early summer the lawn is surrounded on all sides by rhododendrons of pink and purple. To the side of a house is a "hidden-away" enclosed garden - perfect for total peace and quiet.
If the weather's particularly good, there's an elegant small patio for taking meals outside. For those with more energy, there is a lovely walk through the woods, leading down through the wild flowers to a bubbling brook.
If you'd like to remain nearer the house, there's croquet, and a giant chess set for playing outside. There is a large lawn outside the house, ideal for running about, but there are also specific areas for children - a small adventure circuit and swings hanging from the trees - one for toddlers and a tyre for larger, braver children!
Weddings
Cortes makes a splendid backdrop for a very personal wedding and indeed
around half of our rentals are specifically for celebrating the big day!
If the weather is good, the gardens are a perfect place to start the reception,
with drinks served on the lawn.
Even if the weather's not up to much, the glass cupola in the reception hallway and the size of the rooms and windows throughout the house ensure that your big day is one of grandeur, light and brightness.
The glamour from the Regency age adds a touch of sophistication to the proceedings, whilst the many rooms mean you can have separate areas for dinner, dancing and intimate chats. The dining room and Red Room (which interconnect) together seat 80 for dinner. Should you wish to cater for more, it is possible to erect a marquee in the grounds.
We hold a permanent wedding licence and there are several ideal locations within the house to tie the knot.
You may wish to accommodate many guests and family for the evening (or several evenings). At Cortes this is no problem as we can sleep up to 24 in 10 bedrooms. For particularly large parties two extra triple en-suite bedrooms plus their own kitchen and sitting room are available at extra cost. If these are taken, the total capacity of Cortes rises to 30 people.
For food we suggest our superb chef for smaller parties, or alternatively for larger gatherings we can recommend caterers for you.
Corporate Events
Cortes has been renovated with the needs of corporate guests firmly in
mind. The large reception rooms are ideal for board meetings, team building
sessions or breakouts. The drawing room will hold up to 80 people seated
theatre style. The cinema room in the basement also lends itself very
well to presentations and plenary sessions.
The projector is designed to take PowerPoint presentations and the room will seat up to 40 people comfortably. Wi-Fi will be available throughout the house.
For incentive trips, Cortes is also ideal, thanks to the luxury of the mansion, the fact that your party will enjoy exclusive use of the house, not to mention the many activities available in the grounds or in the local area – world class golf, clay pigeon shooting, stunning beaches, derelict castles, whisky trail, dolphin watching etc. Please click here for more on activities.
The Local Area
Beaches
Fraserburgh beach is just 5 minutes drive from the house up the A90. It
forms a 3 mile crescent of golden sand. The beach is said to be one of
the finest in Scotland.
Golf
The North east corner of Scotland is a paradise for golf lovers. Within
a half hour drive of Cortes House there are several golf courses, including
the Royal Tarlair at Macduff and the internationally renowned Cruden Bay
course. For tailor made luxury golf packages, we recommend Golf Vacation
Scotland.
Cycling
Just up the road there is a fabulous disused railway track (the Formartine
and Buchan Way). The last passenger train ran on the 4th October 1965.
It stretches for 50 miles from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh and makes an ideal
cycle track.
It passes by fields of sheep and cows with distant views of the sea. A particularly good choice for cycling with children. Bikes can be hired from the Waterside Inn at Peterhead.
Walks
The beaches and cycle track provide lovely opportunities for walks, but
you can stay within the grounds of Cortes House and still enjoy a walk
through the woodlands.
Dolphin Watching
There is a lovely 2-3 hour trip you can take from Macduff, 20 minutes
away. You sail with skipper John along the coast towards Pennan, passing
pretty seaside villages, or cruise west towards Inverness. On the occasion
that we took the trip in May, we saw 20+ seals, puffins, a breeding colony
of guillemots and a porpoise.
Celtic Stone Circles and Cairns
The area around Cortes is a favourite with archaeologists (Cortes means
"circle" in Celtic) with many stone circles dating back to prehistoric
times. The nearest is at Memsie (2 miles away). This great cairn of bare
stones (24 metres in diameter and 4 metres high) is the sole survivor
of 3 huge cairns.
Another example can be seen at Strichen where the circle apparently dates back to the second millennium BC.
Places of Beauty
Aden Country Park - Explore the unique story of farming and life on a
country estate in north east Scotland over the past 200 years. Pitmedden
Gardens - glorious formal gardens dating back to 1675.Pennan - a picturesque
village nestling at the foot of steep cliffs.
The film "Local Hero" was filmed here in 1983. Bizarre fact - the telephone box used in the film is now a historic monument! Banff (20 miles away) - famous as the best preserved 17th/18th century town in Scotland.
Whisky Trail
We are about half an hour away from the famous whisky trail. The nearest
distilleries are the Strathisla at Keith or the world famous Glenfiddich
at Dufftown. In total there are seven distilleries to discover.
Castle Trail
The castle trail in Aberdeenshire brings together 13 of the world's most
unique castles. There is a clearly signposted tourist trail which will
take you from castle to castle, taking in the romance of Craigevar to
the grandeur of Kildrummy Castle.
Elvis Presley
Amazingly, it has recently come to light that the ancestors of Elvis Presley
came from the village of Lonmay, the local village to Cortes House! A
blacksmith called Andrew Presley who married in Lonmay and emigrated from
here in 1745 is a direct ancestor of the King!
Elvis fans in Scotland now have a new shrine to visit beyond Prestwick where the star made an appearance in the 60's. When Elvis's Scottish roots emerged early in 2004 the world press went mad!
Shopping
There is a huge Tesco 4 miles away at the entrance to Fraserburgh, which
also delivers. In town there is also a smaller Safeway store with good
parking. Fraserburgh is well equipped with shops.
There are many national chains such as Boots, WH Smith, Thorntons and Woolworths and a plethora of locally owned stores where you can get anything from stunning flower arrangements at Floriana's through to artist's materials, if you're feeling inspired.
Email Cortes House enquiries & reservations: bookscotland@madbookings.com
