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Local places of interest
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.
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. We have
negotiated a 10% discount with John. www.puffincruises.co.uk
- Please mention Cortes House when booking.
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 her 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 Duff town. In total
there are seven distilleries to discover. All information
can be found at www.maltwhiskytrail.com
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. http://www.castlesandwhisky.com/scottish-castles.htm
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!
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Introduction
A five
star luxury ten bedroom Regency house sleeping 24
set within five acres of lawns and woodland.
Cortes
makes a splendid backdrop for a very personal
wedding and indeed almost 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
en-suite bedroom plus their own kitchen and sitting
room are available at extra cost.
For food we suggest our superb chef who will prepare
a feast for you and your guests. She is very
flexible and happy to tailor her menus to your
tastes.
We are sure that the individuality, beauty and calm
of Cortes, coupled with complete privacy for your
party, will make it the ideal choice for your big
day. Truly unforgettable!
Facilities
Guestroom facilities
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. There are six elegant
bedrooms (five doubles and one triple) on the first
floor with high ceilings and a further four bedrooms
on the attic floor - two cosy doubles* and two
family rooms which sleep four each. One of the
family rooms has been specially designed with
children in mind. There is also a double bedroom
available in the lower ground floor. The bedrooms
are dressed with sumptuous fabrics and their own
personalised decor. Many have open log fires and
original cornicing. For example, there's the
Highlands room, with unusual tartan curtains,
matching bedside table and a huge matching mirror
above the open fireplace. To crown it all, a wrought
iron stag peers down from the main light!
All but one bedroom has an en-suite or private
bathroom. These, too, have individual decoration -
one has stone tiles, a hand painted mural, a log
fire and a double bath with Jacuzzi. Another has an
equally huge bath and blue mosaics, with an artist
designed scene of two dolphins frolicking. A third
has a corner bath, a separate shower cubicle and
butterflies created from mirrors and pebble tiles.
There's also a separate shower room with an enormous
walk-in shower with single or multi-jet options and
dramatic slate tiles.
Reception capacity
Wedding season availability
All year round
Directions by road
Directions to Cortes House, Lonmay, Near
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire AB438UU.
Directions from the airport
Cortes is 36 miles
north of Aberdeen airport, a journey of about 40
minutes. Follow signs at the airport to
Aberdeen, and after about 3 miles, turn left at
a roundabout following signs towards Fraserburgh.
This will take you to the A90, a fast road (dual
carriageway in parts) that forks after about 20
miles. Take the road towards Fraserburgh (the
A952). Carry on up this road for about 12 miles
until you come to the Cortes junction between
the A952 and the A90. The drive to Cortes House
is about 300 yards further on the left following
the junction (about 30 yards after a sign on the
left saying 5 miles to Fraserburgh).
(NB There is another sign saying Cortes about
500 yards before the actual house (coming from
Aberdeen) . This is nothing to do with the house
now but used to belong to it decades ago. The
way you can tell that you have the correct
turning is that the drive to Cortes House is
signposted with a white sign with the Cortes
House emblem of an archer on it, whereas the
wrong turning has a sign with a small dog on
it!)
Directions by rail
Aberdeen is the nearest railway station. This is 45
minutes away.
Directions by Air
Aberdeen airport is the closest airport. It is well
served from London and many other major cities.
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