You may like to know a little about us your hosts, Matt and Kenny. We have lived in Archiestown since March 2021.
When we purchased our home Elmbank, we were delighted that this building, now named the Croft on the Green Archiestown, came with the house although it did look very different. Our home, Elmbank, dates from when the village was first built in 1760 and was in fact a school for girls, established by ‘The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge’ (SSPCK). The school closed during 1873 with the advent of the Scottish Education Act, when a new school was built for all children in the village. School House, as it was then called, is now a residential home and can be found further down the high street.
We are reliably informed by neighbours that have resided in the village for over 70 years, that the Croft was originally used as a storage outbuilding for most of its life. During 2008 the previous owners undertook extensive restoration and converted the out building, meeting modern building regulations, to eventually become a beauty therapy studio. This meant redeveloping one large open space into the three rooms you see today. The therapy studio was comprised of a shower room, kitchenette and a large therapy room. When we took ownership in 2021, the studio had been closed for many years and had sat locked up, unused and, sadly, unloved. We considered various uses for the building, however due to it's beautiful location on the village green it felt only right that we renovate the building to be a wee living space, a holiday home, to be shared by everyone.
In November 2021, we embarked on the journey to change the then ‘Studio’ to be the ‘Croft on the Green Archiestown’ that you see today. To achieve this, we had to request a legal change of use from a “shop” to a “holiday home” via Moray Council. Once granted permission in March 2022, we stripped everything back, renovated, carefully decorated each room, and updated the out of date shower room and kitchen facilities, finishing with those added extra touches that give you the level of comfort that you now see. We have
been opened since the end of July 2022, and have had the pleasure of welcoming well over 100 guests in our first year.
We endeavour
to ensure that the Croft is equipped with everything that you would need
during your stay and hope that the following pages provide you with all the
information that you may require to make a booking with us. If you do decide to
stay with us, we hope that you enjoy staying in the Croft as much as we
have enjoyed renovating it for you.
We want your stay to be comfortable, relaxing, and enjoyable.
Matt & Kenny
