About Douneside House
A country house with a special atmosphere and history
Douneside House is the splendid former home of the MacRobert family and was built in 1907 by Sir Alexander, the first Baronet of Cawnpore and Cromar.
The MacRobert Trust [link to Trust site], which owns the House, was established by Sir Alexander's second wife, Lady Rachel MacRobert in memory of their three sons who were all killed as aviators, the eldest in a civil air accident in 1938 and the middle and youngest as officer pilots in the Royal Air Force on operational sorties in 1941. In memory of her sons, Lady MacRobert donated £25,000 to the nation to purchase a Stirling bomber, which she asked to be named "MacRobert's Reply". A replica sits in the grounds at Douneside.
As well as maintaining Douneside House and the surrounding 7,000-acre estate, the Trust provides grants for a wide range of charitable purposes.
Income from conferences helps off-set the Douneside House running costs which are subsidised by The MacRobert Trust. This in turn enables the Trust to give away more generous charitable grants than would otherwise be possible.
Douneside House serves principally as a holiday country house for officers (serving and retired) of the Armed Forces from May to mid-October. For the rest of the year it operates as a conference centre.
