ONE careful owner, only used at weekends, and yours for the bargain price of £8 million: One of Scotland's oldest inhabited mansions is on the market for the first time in its history.
Buyers have been given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to get their hands on Blair Castle, near Dalry, Ayrshire, after the current occupants decided to sell up and move closer to their grandchildren.
The luxurious estate has been in the same family for almost 850 years and the castle lays claim to being the longest-inhabited mansion of its type in the country.
With roots dating back to the 12th century, recent occupants have still managed to spruce it up with an outdoor heated pool, tastefully screened from the building by trees, and modern facilities for up to 40 guests.
Its Norman tower is reputed to date back to 1105, and it boasts 260 acres of landscaped parkland, plus more than 1000 acres of farmland and fields.
The Blair family can trace its ancestry back to the time of William the Lion, who reigned from 1165 to 1214.
The king awarded the Barony of Blair to the first holder, Jean Francois de Blare, in 1165, and the variant spelling Blair passed down through the generations.
From its origins, the current building is thought to incorporate features dating from the late 13th century.
The Category A property is now in the hands of Luke and Caroline Borwick, who use it chiefly for corporate entertainment, weddings and well-heeled holidaymakers.
The younger generation of the family divide their time between England and overseas, sellers Savills said, and so the Borwicks – descended from the original Baron de Blare – are selling up to join them.
At offers over £8m, the castle and estate are likely to be snapped up by entrepreneurs wanting to run it as a holiday destination or by a foreign tycoon. The ancient castle has achieved five-star status from VisitScotland and generates more than £170,000 a year in income, according to Savills.
Anna Thomas, director of Savills, said: “Whoever buys this prestigious property will become the guardians of an important slice of Scottish history, with the Blair family’s ownership tracing back to the 12th century.
“The castle has been beautifully maintained and offers wonderful business potential as well as the chance to acquire an exceptional family home.”
The estate may also be broken up into as many as 16 individual lots, though options for renovating the Category A main building are limited.
As an added incentive, the buyer will also own two secondary properties – each bigger than the average family home.
While Blair Castle itself comprises 14 bedrooms, the adjacent Stables Cottage can accommodate up to seven guests, while the Carriage House sleeps six.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article