Brodie Castle is a typical fortified Scots house built in the 16th Century with later additions. It is a large and impressive building. The original house was built by the 12th Brodie of Brodie dating from 1567. The original structure was a tower house built on a 'Z' plan with two towers set at opposite corners of a rectangular central keep. This provided excellent defences with a possible field of fire along all four walls. A western extension was added in the early 17th Century but apart from this, little building was done until the 19th century when William Burn was commissioned to build the eastern wing of the house. The grounds of the castle were extensively remodelled in the 1730s with radiating avenues of trees, a wilderness and an ornamental canal and basin. The earliest records of Brodies at Brodie date from over 800 years ago. The Thanes of Brodie inhabited the area and it is possible they obtained their lands from King Malcolm IV in about 1160. The 10th Laird who lived in the 16th century, is the first one we have substantial records about. It was his grandson Alexander who started building the present house. The Brodies lives were dominated by the religious events in the 17th century, the 15th Brodie signing the first National Covenant. This led to the castle being partially burnt in 1645 by Lords Gordon and Huntly. The 18th century saw the accumulation of considerable debt which later generations were to partially recoup by service in India. This burden of debt was to rear its head again in the 19th century when William Brodie (22nd) commissioned the eastern extension to the house. His marriage in 1838 to Elizabeth Baillie of Redcastle helped to pay for that. The 24th Brodie of Brodie was an authority on daffodils and raised at Brodie, many of the varieties we grow today. The house was renovated in 1980 after passing to The National Trust for Scotland, although it is still occupied by the Brodies.
In the grounds there is a Pictish stone which was found in 1781 during excavations for a local church. It was moved here around 1840 and is sculptured with Ogham inscriptions including fish monsters and an elephant. This cross-slab of grey sandstone is known as Rodney's Stone with varying stories as to the origin of the name
In 1889 when the Castle was being rented out for a while due to the Earl being abroad, the Butler at the Castle told the other servants he could hear noises comming from the Earls study. They thought someone was inside, they all listened and what they heard was moaning sounds and what sounded like pages being turned over, as the Earl had given stricy instructions that the door had to be kept locked and no one was allowed to enter, the servants thought they had burglars. They tried in vain to find a key to check this out,but couldn't find one. The next day, news reached them that the Earl of Brodie had died in Switzerland the previous night. It could only be asumed that the Earl of Brodie's Ghost had returned to his study the night before to deal with some paperwork.
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