About
After four generations of Speirs, Elderslie Estates (now Houston Farms) passed to Major David Crichton Maitland in 1959 and thence to his son, Mark Crichton Maitland in 1995.
Mark, born in 1955, has two sons and seven stepchildren. Qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1979, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1993. He is a former chairman of Timber Growers Association, now Confor, the body representing private woodland owners in the UK and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. When not involved in the running of the various Houston Farms businesses he is a commercial property consultant.
Mark, born in 1955, has two sons and seven stepchildren. Qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1979, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1993. He is a former chairman of Timber Growers Association, now Confor, the body representing private woodland owners in the UK and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. When not involved in the running of the various Houston Farms businesses he is a commercial property consultant.
Marks son’s, Archie (born 1988) and Nicholas (born 1990), are increasingly playing a greater role in the running of the farms. As Mark says, “nothing could give a father more pleasure than seeing his children taking an interest in what he has been doing and intending to pick it up and run with it for the next generation”. By April 2017 the majority of the farm's activities will be undertaken by a formal legal partnership of Mark, Archie and Nicholas.