Tyndrum.com
Title
Strathfillan House Bed and Breakfast between Tyndrum and Crianlarich Guest House accommodation for West Highland Way
Description
Excerpted from the website description:
- Diane and Jim welcome you to the website of Strathfillan House in the Highland village of Tyndrum. We offer Bed and Breakfast accommodation in our family home and can assure you of a warm friendly welcome to this rather special part of Scotland.
Strathfillan House is the former Manse operated by the church of Scotland until 1969. We now run the house as a family home and have decided to open a few rooms for visitors. The house was quite grand for the area at the time and still retains most of the original features and is situated in its own grounds, the nearest neighbour being 500m away. Historic Scotland have given the house a Listed Building Catagory B Award. The rooms have recently been refurbished and offer relaxing accommodation suitable for anyone visiting this wonderful part of the country.
As well as the Guest House side of things we have a drying room and can offer laundry facilities, packed lunch and evening meals, please enquire if you require extra meal options over and above breakfast. If doing the West Highland Way we offer pickup services for those wanting to stay for more than one night and if you are having difficulty booking accommodation elsewhere.
The area around Tyndrum is fantastic for those collecting Scottish munros and with 15 within 10 miles of the house you are spoilt for choice. If your require, Diane can organise a day out including up to four munros and assist you with navigation etc.
Strathfillan is situated in the middle of nowhere but in the centre of everything. If it’s some of Scotland’s best scenery you are after then go no further. Within an hours drive you can see the lowlands or the splendour that is Glencoe. Local music festivals, highland games, golf courses, huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’ to name but a few of the things you can do. Not to mention all the outdoor pursuits that can be entered into.
We look forward to inviting you in. In the meantime please have a look round the site to see just how we can best accommodate you.
Cheers fur noo,
Diane and Jim
Languages
English
Contact
Additional Information
The house started life in 1873, built as a Manse for the resident Minister. The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge built the Church and Manse together with a small coachhouse and stable to replace the existing church at Dalrigh, 1km north of Strathfillan House. At a later date the original kitchens at the back of the house were demolished and replaced by a two story extension that included kitchen, laundry room, sitting room, toilet and store on the ground floor and two bedrooms, bathroom and store upstairs. Also in the depths of time the original slated tower was removed and replaced by a much smaller one.
The house appears to have been subject to a fairly extensive refurbishment in the mid 1980's, possibly following a significant dry rot outbreak. The owners then took the opportunity to 'fit' white melomine wardrobes and fitted cupboards all over the place. I suppose that stuff was 'in' then and the house would have looked pretty good after all the work was finished. When we bought the property in 2004 all these fittings were still here and starting to look pretty tired. So we took great delight in removing it all and fitting modern stuff which I'm sure in 25 years time..........
Fortunately during all this past work no-one took it upon themselves to remove the beading from the doors ( common practise in the '60's ), or to rip out the fireplaces. In most cases the fireplaces remain unmolested except the main living room one and the fire that was in the Vestry. These had been fitted with backboilers and horrible tiles. We've now taken them out and refitted timber mantlepeices and have installed wood burners.
The owners that put in all the melomine did several good things the main one being the removal of paint from the hall and staircase. Apparently the husband would work away for the week and his wife would remove a door, take it outside and painstakingly remove the paint. This is tiresome work and requires the patience of a Saint, but to tackle removing paint from the staircase was beyond the call of duty and an amazing job has been done. Thankyou.
The thing we regret most about the house is that someone decided to paint the tower and stonework around the windows white. WHY? ARGH. The house looks really good in the old pictures. I would like in the future to have this removed but in the meantime will just have to make do.
I have photographs of the house from the early 1950's taken by the resident Minister of his family. These were taken in the summer time and shows a very full garden not like it is today. The Minister's daughter has visited us a few times and has told us stories of as a wee girl going to the railway track ( Oban line )in front of the house, stopping the train ( steam of course ) and taking it to Tyndrum then returning by the Fort William line on the otherside of the Glen. Also the children would run to the garden wall when a car came past and wave frantically. The only comment I can make on that is that I'm glad the road has been moved!
In 1969 the Church decided to move the Minister into a new house in the Village and sold the Manse to Major Cruickshank who owns Auchreoch Farm just along the road. He used it for shepherds accommodation for a few years before selling on. It has changed hands a few times in the intervening years, mostly being owned by Cruickshanks.
The Church itself held its last service in 2001 and was offered for sale on the open market, however, due to there being no drainage facility from it no purchaser could be found, so it was purchased by the Manse owner. We came along 3 months later.
As of 2005 Strathfillan House, Church and Coachhouse are all now a listed building Category B by Historic Scotland. This is great and gives and indication of the importance of the building not only in this area but also in the Church of Scotland Architectural tradition.
External Links
- Alexa: Tyndrum.com
- WHOIS for Tyndrum.com
