Balbirnie House, now a hotel, stands in parkland and woodlands which have been public since 1990. There was a house here around 1640 when the estate was acquired by the Balfour family, though it was later remodelled or replaced in the eighteenth century and adapted again in the nineteenth. A vast layering yew stands in a small garden to the west front of the main building. According to the Historic Environment Scotland database for Balbirnie (link below) the yew tree is of “18th century origin” i.e. meaning between 300 – 400 years old.
(http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00034)