Board meetings and away days for up to 60 people, private dinners for up to 50, and weddings in the house or in a marquee on the lawn are all on offer at Traquair House, near Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders. The house is billed as Scotland's oldest inhabited house and is still home to the family that has owned it since 1491. Conferencing runs from November to April, with other dates on request.
Seminars and company events
Five historic rooms are used for meetings: the High Drawing Room, the 18th Century Dining Room, the High Gallery, the Second Library and the Still Room. The High Drawing Room seats 60 theater style or 36 around a boardroom table, and AV equipment can be hired. Activities can fill the rest of the day: a tour of the brewery with a tasting of Traquair House Ale, guided tours of the house, and team challenges or treasure hunts in the maze and woodland. On the Wine Glass Lawn and the 16-acre Avenue Field, past groups have staged mini Highland games, falconry, clay pigeon shooting and quad biking, and fishing on the River Tweed can be arranged in season. Lunches can be served in the Old Walled Garden Café, and A Scottish Evening adds a six-course dinner with music.
Weddings and receptions
The house holds a license for civil ceremonies, and its chapel is Catholic. Ceremonies take place in the Lower Drawing Room, the High Drawing Room, the chapel, Cupid's Garden, the Yew Tree Circle or the Walled Garden. Dinner for up to 34 is served in the 18th Century Dining Room, or up to 50 with the Lower Drawing Room next door. The High Drawing Room takes drinks receptions for up to 50, and the Old Walled Garden Café turns into a dance floor with a bar for larger parties. Above 50 guests, a marquee goes up in the Walled Garden or on the Wine Glass Lawn. The Walled Garden Party package covers 15 to 60 guests outdoors from May to September. Bars run until 11 pm.
Rooms and capacities
High Drawing Room: theater 60, cabaret 45, boardroom 36; the venue's text gives up to 70. 18th Century Dining Room: theater 43, cabaret 34, boardroom 24. High Gallery: theater 40, boardroom 28. Second Library: theater 24, boardroom 22. Still Room: theater 15, boardroom 12.
Accommodation
Three bed and breakfast rooms in the house, the Pink, Blue and White Bedrooms, go to the couple at every wedding, and all three are included on the wedding night for weddings of 25 guests or more. Howford House, 1.2 miles away, sleeps up to 18. Hotels and B&Bs in Innerleithen are about two miles away.
Catering
An in-house chef cooks for dinners in the house. Marquee weddings can choose a hog roast, a barbecue or a seated meal, and garden parties a barbecue or a buffet.
History and setting
Alexander I signed a royal charter at Traquair in 1107, and Mary Queen of Scots visited in 1566. The Bear Gates at the top of the main drive were closed in 1745, after the visit of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The brewery dates from the 18th century and was revived in 1963. Catherine Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair, runs the house, its events and the brewery.
Getting there
The address is Traquair House, Innerleithen, Peeblesshire, EH44 6PW. The house is about 30 miles south of Edinburgh by road. The nearest station is Tweedbank on the Borders Railway, and Edinburgh Airport is the closest airport.
