The Earl of Aberdeen has condemned the National Trust for Scotland for its proposed penny pinching closure of the 18th century Hadddo House mansion to the public.  While, in Edinburgh's Heriot Row, an A listed townhouse, Number 44, built in 1817 was bought outright by  RBS  for £1.6m in June 2006 for the exclusive use of its chairman, an action now slated as "part of an age of excess, now wholly unacceptable."

Haddo House and its country park attracted 250,000 visitors last year, making it one of the most visited sites in Scotland.  But under new plans unveiled by the Trust, only the tearoom, shop and garden areas will remain open to the public. The  mansion is to be used for hosting functions and pre-booked tours in a cost-cutting move, which could also result in the closure of another 10 properties and the loss of almost 100 jobs.

The earl still owns the extensive Haddo estate. But its mansion was handed over to the trust by the 4th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, and 180 acres of landscaped grounds went to the then Grampian Regional Council to be used as a country park. Both opened to the public in 1979.

Lord Aberdeen said neither he nor his wife, Lady Joanna, nor the Dowager Lady Aberdeen, June Gordon, who lives in a wing of the mansion, had been consulted over the trust’s proposal.

“If the family had visualised this happening, there would have been no question of Haddo House having been handed over,” the 54-year-old earl said. “My wife and I have been trying to persuade the National Trust to invest in the facilities at Haddo for 12 years, but the house reeks of a lack of investment.

"It is the only stately home of its stature open to the public north of the Forth and the whole complex should be buzzing. The current situation is indicative of years of neglect by the trust. This organisation has failed the area catastrophically. Haddo attracts four times the numbers that visit Crathes Castle, yet they have reduced Haddo to a rundown facility.”

In Edinburgh
The Edinburgh the town house at 44 Heriot Row (above)  which has five double bedrooms, three bathrooms and commands beautiful views over the Firth of Forth and Queen Street Gardens, is available only to the current chairman, Sir Philip Hampton when he is in town on RBS business. For the rest of the year it stands empty. According to RBS's annual accounts, the chairman has about 12 scheduled board meetings each year.

The street is claimed as one of the most desirable in Edinburgh. Robert Louis Stevenson grew up at number 17, and Scotland's most senior judge, the Lord President, lives a few doors along.

After the bank bought the house, it spent tens of thousands of pounds on restoration, furnishings, and works of art. The renovation was carried out by the award-winning Michael Laird Architects, who designed the £240m RBS Gogarburn headquarters near Edinburgh. Neither the house nor its functions were itemised in RBS accounts, but rolled up into the bank's vast asset and investment portfolio.

Sources: Sunday Herald
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