Old Place of Monreith is a typical, plain, lowland laird's house, still nominally fortified, at the end of a long track. It was once the home of the Maxwells, including the famous beauty Jean, later Duchess of Gordon, and the ancestors of Sir Herbert, historian and gardener, and of the author Gavin Maxwell, who wrote 'Ring of Bright Water', and spent his boyhood in the district. It had become derelict but was bought and restored by its present owners, The Landmark Trust.