The ‘strange and curious’ Scottish castle that inspired Walt Disney

After a long conservation battle, Scotland’s ‘most beautiful and unique castle’ is back in the pink

“There is no doubt the marvel you see before you is the Disney castle,” beams Craigievar Castle’s John Lemon, standing proudly in front of a striking pink edifice that he has just helped save through a remarkable 18-month long conservation battle. “They found an image of Craigievar in Walt Disney’s desk when he died.”
Craigievar may never even have caught Disney’s attention were it not for a card game. Legend has it that William Forbes, known as “Danzig Willie” due to his Baltic trading fortune, won the castle from the impoverished Mortimer family in a game of cards. The Mortimers even claimed the game was rigged (Willie insisted it was purchased fairly).
The additional three ostentatious floors Forbes commissioned in 1626 conjured up the fairy-tale magic. They are delineated from the more prosaic original by a thick band of graceful corbelling, with sweeping turrets, dormer windows and ornate decorative flourishes sprinkling more fairy dust, long before the Brothers Grimm were even born. A fairy-tale castle born before fairy tales. 
Queen Victoria was fascinated by Craigievar, but dubbed it a “strange and curious old castle”. It is gloriously, defiantly both. Victoria may have just been smarting at no one being around to welcome her on her first unannounced visit, or just because of how dreary Balmoral was in comparison.
Craigievar could never be accused of being dreary. The unmistakable pink exterior comes courtesy of Aberdeen architect John Smith’s 1826 makeover to “match the colour of the granite mouldings”. The recent “Pink Again” conservation project has succeeded where others have failed, including an ill-advised 1970s attempt to slap on concrete and a 2010 lime render that unfortunately trapped moisture. This time the multiple coats of pink limewash, a total of 13,000 litres – enough to cover all the courts at Wimbledon – look resplendent and the feedback has been “100 per cent positive since we re-opened for the summer season,” says Lemon.
The Disney hype and the impressive restoration risk distracting from just how special Craigievar is. Indeed when Lady Sempill was looking at selling Craigievar in 1962, the conservation architect Ian G Lindsay declared: “Craigievar is so important it must be preserved at all costs”. An appeal by the National Trust for Scotland raised the £30,000 purchase price, with a further £60,000 raised by local benefactors to open Craigievar to the public. 
John Lemon doesn’t lose sight of Craigievar’s uniqueness: “Craigievar is for me the most beautiful, the most complete and indeed the most unique castle in Scotland.” Indeed it stakes a fair claim to being Scotland’s finest intact tower house. Lemon talks of the 85 paintings of Aberdeenshire castles at Haddo House from James Giles two centuries ago. “In these paintings only Corgarff and Craigievar remain, uniquely, virtually unchanged,” Lemon enthuses. 
It’s not just the exterior that demands attention. I delve inside with tour guide Paul Cormack, who seems as excited as me, even though he has served here since 2016: “We’re now going up a staircase into the 17th century, into Scotland’s most beautiful castle. Even the entrance is unique as we enter the Great Hall through its surviving screens passage, unique in Scotland.” I’m struck across the multiple floors by the intricate Italianate 17th-century moulded ceiling plasterwork and the Jacobean wooden wall panelling. Both are rare in Scotland. And – like much of the interior – here they are brilliantly intact.
The preservation of the interior is in large part due to the passion of the Forbes family themselves, who insisted everything should be kept as it was when they left in 1963. Indeed, it looks like they have just departed: the walls still echo to childish giggles and drams by a fireplace where the family dog cosied in an old salt store repurposed as a snug bed. Forget dank, dour castle ruins – this preserved cocoon is warm, intimate and personal.
I say warm, though the Forbes family had no powered heating. Indeed, they didn’t bother with the modern machinations of electricity and in the 1960s sale made clear their wishes that it should not be added. They’ve relented somewhat over the years, with lighting in the ground-floor gift shop and a pioneering monitoring and humidity system through the castle that is becoming a model for conservation efforts across Scotland. Charmingly, the family still visits, including two octogenarian sisters brought up here.
Craigievar’s museum-worthy interior is worth preserving: it’s a veritable greatest hits of Scottish castles. My hairs rise in the supposedly haunted Blue Room, where a sturdy bed still blocks the window where a murdered rival clansman met his grisly fate. There are those family portraits that seem to keep a watchful eye – not just any portraits, with a brace by one of Scotland’s greatest artists, Henry Raeburn. Receipts show their £7 price tag.
Craigievar is the castle that keeps on giving. There are weapons, “bridle” torture helmets and the much-copied “Craigievar Table”. Chippendale devotees will be delighted too, as will anyone with a penchant for period pottery, Kashmir rugs or niche wooden stocking driers. The drama is incessant inside and out. Cinematic even. No wonder Walt Disney chose Craigievar. 
Free guided tours of Craigievar are included with entry. 
Craigievar is half an hour’s drive from the trim Deeside village of Ballater, where the Balmoral Arms tempts with plush tartan rooms and a restaurant stuffed with local produce.