Sanatorium

After the family left Duff House in 1906, the building was rented out for various uses. Firstly as an exclusive country house hotel and then from 1913 to 1923, Duff House was used as a private hospital for the scientific investigation and treatment of internal diseases.

The Duff House Sanatorium offered specialist treatment for various stomach complaints and related illnesses including emaciation, heart and arterial diseases, the nervous system, lung disease and anaemia. During its time at Duff House, the Senior Physician, Dr Edmund Spriggs (1871-1949) conducted pioneering research of the then relatively unknown condition, diabetes.

Private patients paid between 15 to 30 guineas per week for the specialist care and attention that included diagnosis and a controlled diet. Food was central to the treatment patients received at Duff House and the fruit and vegetables necessary for the regulation of a healthy regime were all grown on the estate.

The house was ideal because of its natural setting close to the sea and the grounds which provided fresh air and exercise. The fact that patients could also easily reach Banff by train was also an added attraction. Workmen converted areas on the ground and third floors into the necessary treatment rooms as seen on the floor plan illustrated here. This included creating an operating room and laboratory on the third floor in what is now the Long Gallery and an x-ray room in what is now the staff room.

The clinic was so successful that it outgrew its Scottish location and in 1921 plans were made to move the operation to Wales. Based at Ruthin Castle, the clinic enjoyed a second lease of life from 1923 until 1963. A high number of the staff employed at the clinic came from the local area and when the sanatorium moved to Wales many of them went with it. Being Presbyterians many joined the local English Presbyterian Church in Ruthin. One of the cooks who worked at Duff House between 1919 and 1923 was Margaret McBain. Maggie was born in Whitehills and her father, James McBain, was a shoemaker. She returned to Whitehills in 1924 to marry Charles Morrison, a railway porter at nearby Ladysbridge Station.

Dr Spriggs' personal life suffered greatly during his time in Banff. In 1919, his two eldest children, daughters from his first marriage, were tragically drowned in the sea whilst bathing off the coast in Banff. There is a memorial to them in Banff churchyard.