The original Z-plan castle was built in 1567 by Clan Brodie but destroyed by fire in 1645 by Lewis Gordon of Clan Gordon, the 3rd Marquess of Huntly.  It was greatly expanded in 1824 by the architect William Burn who turned it into a large mansion house in the Scots Baronial style.

The Brodie family called the castle home until the late 20th century. It's widely accepted that the Brodies have been associated with the land the castle is built on since around 1160, when it is believed that King Malcom IV gave the land to the family.^[1]

Ninian Brodie of Brodie (The Brodie of Brodie) died in 2003, and his son shortly after. Unfortunately, as his family had been unhappy with the transfer of the castle to the National Trust for Scotland, no Brodie now lives in the castle. The former family wing is being prepared for holiday letting.

Origins of the name

Early references to Brodie were written as Brochy, Brothy, Brothie, Brothu, Brode.^[1][2] Various meanings to the name Brodie have been advanced, but given the Brodies uncertain origin, and the varying ways Brodie has been pronounced/written, these remain but suppositions. Some of the suggestions that have been advanced as to the meaning of the name Brodie are:

• Gaelic for "a little ridge"; "a brow", or "a precipice";^[3]
• "ditch" or "mire", from the old Irish word broth;^[4]
• "muddy place", from the Gaelic word brothach;^[5]
• "a point", "a spot", or "level piece of land", from the Gaelic word Brodha;^[6]
• of Norman origin;^[7] the French Dictionnaire de la Noblesse refers to a 13th-century Knight named Guy de Brothie, who married a daughter of the Knight Aimery de Gain from Limousin.^[8]
• or originated from the Pict name Brude, Bruide or Bridei from the Pictish King name Bridei.