Hobbits and meadows in plan for ruin

Restoration: £1.2 million proposals for Boleskine House are revealed

Ambitious plans have been revealed for the £1.2m restoration of fire-ravaged Boleskine House on the banks of Loch Ness.

The plans, currently before Highland Council planners and likely to be determined by councillors in September, involve reconstruction of the house as it was in the mid 19th Century under the ownership of Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat.

To sustain the house and estate, 10 rental lowimpact “hobbit hole” style cabins are planned, to be set discreetly into the landscape overlooking the loch, and surrounded by “rewilded” meadows of native flowers and trees.

Boleskine House gained notoriety for its association with occultist Aleister Crowley when he owned it in the 1930s, but it has a far longer and more significant history, say owners Keith and Kyra Readdy.

They say the purpose of the conservation-led redevelopment is to bring a public understanding of the site’s historic importance, especially at the time of the clearing of the glens and the Jacobite rebellion.

With that in mind, most of the rooms on the ground floor of the restored house will be open to the public for a few hours two or three times a week, initially, and longer in the future as income permits.

Mr and Mrs Readdy formed a charity to ensure the future of the estate, Boleskine House Foundation (BHF), and say educational and heritage activities may also become a feature of the house, but not the main source of income.

For these to bring in sufficient income would require around 20,000 visitors a year which would be detrimental to the local environment, Mr Readdy says, so the plan is for the cabins to provide a sustained income stream to claw back the bulk of the costs for the restoration of the house, and pay for staff and maintenance.

As historian, Mr Readdy is bringing his academic background and insight to the project, while his wife Kyra, a lawyer, has undertaken several property renovations in London.

When Boleskine came up for sale after a devastating fire last year, the couple were ready for the challenge.

Mr Readdy said: “We think its restoration will have many benefits for the local community.”

Photograph by Sandy McCook AFTERMATH: The fire-ravaged house, once owned by rock icon Jimmy Page.

An impression of the cabins which feature in the plans