A modest mansion on the north bank of the River Beauly, as it widens into the Beauly Firth, Tarradale House lies 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Muir of Ord in Easter Ross. Built in the 1680s, it was subject to several extensions and numerous alterations in the succeeding centuries. Noted geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison was born here in 1792. His father, Dr Kenneth Murchison, had purchased the estate a few years earlier after returning from Calcutta where he was a physician in the service of the East India Company.
Into the 20th century Tarradale was the property of Miss Amy Yule, a relative of Murchison, who added the library tower and walled garden. After her death the house was run by the Murchison of Tarradale Trust, providing Highland scholars with a haven for rest and private study. Thereafter it became the property of the University of Aberdeen, who used it as a field centre and locus for reading groups, sharing the house with other Scottish universities.
The house once again became a private home in 2004, following extensive remodelling and renovation by Hurd Rolland architects of Inverness.