Monument record MHG22612 - Windsor Lodge, Strathpeffer

According to research undertaken for the Highland Museum of Childhood exhibition in 2000s, this house was built in 1890 by Donald MacRae, a joiner and cabinet maker from Garve, as a boarding house with 20 bedrooms, and run by his wife Helen MacLennan. Donald specialised in staircases, and examples are said to survive at Windsor Lodge, Holly Lodge, Brunstane Lodge and in the Highland Hotel. Windsor Lodge is notable for its ‘interesting half-timbered projecting bay windows’ (Murray 1985), which must also reflect MacRae’s joinery skills. The boarding house was run by Helen MacLennan until the 1950s. After her death, Windsor Lodge was divided into flats in which members of the family lived. Their former housekeeper, Jean (Shine) MacLean was given Windsor Cottage and the entrance between the now flattened house and cottage was sealed up.

Information from Fiona Newton, ARCH Remembering Strathpeffer Project, 2011.

Murray, D., 1985. Victorian Strathpeffer. A walk around this unique highland village. Inverness
Highland Museum of Childhood exhibition ‘Hands across the Sea exhibition’ (2009) <1>