Historic Islay House up for sale for seven-figure sum
A 17th-century house worth almost £3 million has been put up for sale in Islay.
Islay House, located in the island’s Bridgend village, has been advertised for sale by London-based estate agents Knight Frank, inviting bids starting from £2.75m.
The grand country house, built in 1677 by the Campbells of Cawdor, on the island known as the ‘Queen of the Hebrides’, has itself hosted royalty during that time, welcoming Queen Elizabeth II and other high-profile guests from around the world in decades past.
Opened as a hotel by business partners Steve Haag and Paul Brown in 2014, Islay House has been welcoming guests since 2016, with the pair’s stated ambition to offer accommodation somewhere between a B&B and a hotel stay, which would allow visitors to access all corners of Islay from the hotel’s central location.
Steve Haag, one of the partners behind the hotel project, told the Ileach community newspaper: ‘Islay continues to go from strength to strength, as demonstrated by the investment in new distilleries, further production capacity in existing distilleries and improvements to visitor centres.
‘Following the pandemic, we have seen a huge boost in visitor numbers, with increased occupancy at Islay House.
‘We have been involved with Islay House for more than eight years, having transformed the existing private residence into a hotel and made substantial improvements to the building and its infrastructure.
‘Given Islay House’s strong performance coming out of the pandemic and potential for additional expansion under its existing planning permission, the directors are keen that Islay House is taken to the next level that the wonderful property deserves.
‘We are interested in staying involved with the project, and finding an appropriate additional investor, who would help us further expand and improve Islay House, but we also realise that a sale might be in the best interests of the property and ourselves.’
Renovation work
Knight Frank’s guide to the property, which was completed in the late 17th century by the Campbells of Cawdor, describes it as a ‘13-bedroom detached house’, having previously housed 27 bedrooms, describing ‘significant’ renovation work undertaken by the house’s current owners, including rewiring, fresh plumbing, the installation of new drainage and central heating systems – the latter featuring a new oil boiler – connection to the area’s mains water supply, and re-roofing work. And while a walkthrough of Islay House may be nothing more than a speculative tour for most, there is plenty for both daydreaming visitors and serious would-be buyers to take in, with the 29-acre estate’s surrounding Bridgend Woods boasting an array of plant and wildlife, as well as nearby business spaces hosting local enterprises, including brewer Islay Ales, and homemade preserves company MA MacKinnon’s operating within the estate’s Islay House Square.