We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them or accept our recommended settings. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.
Options
Your preferences have been set. If you wish to change your preferences, you may do so on our cookies page.
The oldest house in Inverness and important example of 16th-century domestic architecture
Overview
View more
More
Alert
warning
Please note that Abertarff House will be closed from Sunday 13–Monday 21 July. The house will re- open on Tuesday 22 July and the opening hours will revert to 10.00 to 16.00 (last entry 15.30).
Overview
Built in 1593, the oldest house in Inverness has witnessed the Covenanting times, Jacobite risings and two world wars – if only the walls could talk!
Discover more about old Inverness in our free exhibition.
Look out for the original oak timber beams and a beautiful 17th-century marriage stone over the main fireplace.
Staff and volunteers are on hand to help you find out more about the Highland places in the Trust’s care.
Built in 1593, Abertarff is the oldest residential house in Inverness. Tucked away on Church Street (formerly known as the Kirkgate), it’s a 2½ storey town house with a projecting turnpike staircase. It was owned briefly by the Fraser of Lovat family, whose clansmen fought on the Jacobite side at the Battle of Culloden.
Eventually the Commercial Bank of Scotland acquired Abertarff House in the 19th century, but after being split up for housing the site fell into disrepair. It was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1963, and the building was restored by the Trust in 1966. Over the past 50 years Abertarff House has been used for many things including the headquarters for An Comunn Gàidhealach (The Gaelic Association), a shop and the Trust’s regional headquarters.
The house is a classic example of 16th- and early 17th-century Scottish architecture with crow-stepped gables. Currently, two downstairs rooms are open and incorporate a history of Inverness in the 17th century.
Staff are available to tell the story of the house and what life was like in the 1600s, as well as being able to help visitors plan their visits to our other places in the Highlands, including Culloden Battlefield, Hugh Miller’s Cottage, Brodie Castle and many others.
Hold your noses and journey back in time to Inverness’s not-so-fragrant past in a new exhibition, which explores the city before clean water and sanitation.
