Kemnay House

History

The tower house at the heart of Kemnay House dates from the 17th century, a period when many Aberdeenshire lairds built fortified stone towers along the Don valley for both defence and status. Later generations enlarged the original structure considerably, wrapping it in additional wings and reception rooms until the tower became just one element within a much bigger house. The building holds a Category A listing, recognising its historic and architectural interest.

Architecture

The core of Kemnay House is a 17th-century tower house, a common form in this part of Scotland, built tall and narrow for defence with thick stone walls. Subsequent additions in a later domestic style extended the house outward, so the original tower now reads as an embedded feature rather than the whole building.