Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

£4.5million revamp of north-east trust’s historic estate

Douneside House, near Tarland
Douneside House, near Tarland

A charity set up in memory of three airmen brothers killed before and during World War II has announced plans to invest £4.5million at the home of its founder and create a luxury country house hotel.

The MacRobert Trust’s Douneside House, near Tarland, will be completely refurbished and reopened as a hotel, leisure club, wedding venue and conference centre next Spring.

The building is the ancestral home of the MacRoberts, whose line was eradicated when brothers Alastair, Roderic and Iain were wiped out by air accidents within three years of each other.

Eldest son Alistair was killed during a civil flying accident in 1938, whilst Iain and Roderic died on active duty with the RAF during World War II in 1941.

After their deaths, their mother Lady Rachel MacRobert, donated £25,000 to the nation to purchase a Stirling bomber named MacRobert’s Reply and set up the MacRobert Trust – which has since donated millions to charitable organisations.

She died in 1954 and her wish was that the Aberdeenshire estate become the base for the trust to carry on her family’s legacy through retaining links with the armed forces and a commitment to education, technology and farming.

All business profits from the new-look Douneside House will be donated to a number of charities.

The restaurant, guest bedrooms, interior and exterior facilities and other areas of the main house will be renovated, whilst on-site holiday cottages and apartments are being upgraded.

New leisure facilities including a gym, swimming pool, aerobics studio, jacuzzi, steam and sauna rooms will also be built.

Douneside House – currently closed for business – was previously used as a private country house for serving or retired armed service officers and their families.

A six-week period of the summer and one week of Christmas will be retained exclusively for military guest use.

The MacRobert Trust’s chief executive, rear admiral Chris Hockley, said the revamped estate would maintain its “close and hugely valued relationship with the arm forces” whilst opening its doors “to everyone”.

“This major investment heralds the beginning of a very exciting period of opportunity where we hope, ultimately, to increase the trust’s ability to support charitable activity whilst, together with the local community, building on the profile of Tarland and our local area.

“The work on the house and leisure club is already well underway, and we are looking forward to welcoming back guests in the Spring of 2016 and sharing the special experience that a visit to Douneside can offer.”

Bookings are already being taken for spring 2016 onward.