The town house was commissioned in the early 19th century by
Thomas Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat, who was
chief of the Fraser clan at the time. The building was designed by
John Smith in a mix of
Tudor and
neoclassical styles, built in
ashlar stone at a cost of £2,000 and was completed in 1816. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with a hall block of four bays and a tower facing onto Bridge Street; on the ground floor of the hall block there was a row of four round-headed openings forming an
arcade, which was originally open and provided a covered market, There were three
sash windows on the first floor of the hall block and a
crenellated parapet at roof level. To the right of the hall block, there was a three-stage tower with a round-headed doorway on the ground floor, a
mullioned window with
tracery in the second stage and a clock in the third stage. Above the tower there was a parapet with
corbelled corner
turrets and a
spire on an
octagonal base. Its design was similar to that of
William Robertson's
tolbooth in
Forres, and its tower and spire were inspired by 16th-century Scots
tollbooths. The parish council ceased to be responsible for administration of the village when
Banff and Buchan District Council was established in 1975. The
unitary authority for the area,
Aberdeenshire Council, held a review of conservation area issues in the village during 2009; it reported back on the issues found, which included a proposal to convert the town house into a community hub, at a meeting in the building on 20 January 2010. Local people indicated support for an aspiration that the building be restored and retained for community use, and a charity, the Strichen Town House Trust, was subsequently formed to restore, enhance and further develop the town house. ==See also==