Castles are not usually on a price par with houses, even at the higher end of the market, but for those who put a premium on history and character and would happily relinquish a bi-fold door for a studded solid oak one, Blairlogie Castle near Stirling is for sale at the same price point as many newly built, five-bedroomed detached villas.
This unique opportunity to buy an A-listed, five-bedroomed castle also includes over two acres of south-facing terraced gardens, woodland and burn, views over the Forth Valley, former stables, linked one-bedroomed cottage, outbuildings, and is in a central and very accessible location.
The oldest part of the castle dates to around 1543, with an east wing added in 1582 and a later extension to the rear in 1892. And yet the whole property presents as a picturesque, stone-built home of comparatively modest proportions, with crowstepped gables, corner turrets – and an elevated setting above the conservation village of Blairlogie at the foot of Dumyat in the Ochil Hills.
Inside, while retaining many original features, the property offers comfortable accommodation and a layout commensurate with modern family lifestyles.
The main ground floor has a vaulted hallway and wine cellar off to the side, sitting room with arched 16th century stone fireplace housing a solid fuel stove and aumbry (cupboard) recess, while the adjoining dining kitchen has a four-oven gas AGA, wooden units, and a Belfast sink. Beyond the kitchen is a utility room and cloakroom.
Upstairs, off a wood-panelled hallway, is a 20ft drawing room (with decorative panelled ceiling, stone fireplace, and 16th century oak aumbry), dining room, pantry, and a studded door fronting spiral stairs up to the library. There are also two bedrooms and two bathrooms on this floor.
At the top of the house, the second floor showcases a 22ft library with a ceiling made of ship’s timbers, plus three further bedrooms and a bathroom (one of the bedrooms currently a study), while off the back stair is a loft bedroom.
Outside, linked to the house by a crowstepped stone archway, the cottage provides an open plan living room with solid fuel stove, fitted kitchen area, shower room (with sauna), and a mezzanine bedroom. The former stable block provides useful ancillary accommodation and incorporates two garages underneath.
The castle occupies south facing gardens laid out in terraces and protected by mature trees. As well as displaying many unusual plants, the gardens incorporate a level garden with a central sundial, lawn, stone summerhouse, vegetable garden with fruit cages, small orchard (apple and plum trees), large greenhouse, barbecue area, and a woodland featuring azalea, rhododendrons, burn and waterfall.
Blairlogie Castle is on the market at offers over £1.45 million with Savills, Edinburgh.
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 here