8. Monarch Country Apartments
This building was originally the Craig Mhor Hotel which built during the boom in the tourist industry in the village in the early 20th century. It was opened by Thomas Grant in 1906.
Only three years later such was the demand for summer quarters that he made extensive additions to the hotel which included taking in “Heathfield”, Mr Grant’s house next door, and adding the turret. The extension was designed by a local architect, Alexander Cattanach, and built by local contractors.
The enlarged hotel provided thirty-eight bedrooms, a large dining room and drawing room, two parlours, a smoking-room, lounge and “the usual modern conveniences”, which included acetylene gas lighting. The hotel had tennis courts where the two modern houses are now. It also had beautiful gardens which provided the best apples in the village.
The hotel closed in 2001 and the building was converted into apartments. The name “Monarch Country Apartments” is taken from the TV series Monarch of the Glen.
Sources
Local residents
Kingussie Record
J. Gifford (1992) The Buildings of Scotland: Highlands & Islands