SIR WALTER SCOTT’S HOME

Refurbished former home of novelist Scott is steeped in Borders history

For sale – the inspiration for famed Waverley novel.

IT was one of the most significant books of the 19th Century and it inspired the name of Edinburgh’s rail station.

The ground-breaking novel Waverley by Scotland’s great novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott was published all over Europe and America to huge acclaim.

But the book that launched the historical novel genre is said to have been penned largely in the study of magnificent Ashiestiel House near Galashiels in the Borders.

Scott rented this elegant house and country estate at Clovenfords for eight years until 1812.

It was here that he also wrote the epic poem Marmion, inspired by one of the greatest disasters in Scottish history, the battle of Flodden Field.

Now this category A-Listed home, which dates back to the 17th Century, is on the market with sellers Savills for offers over £5.5m.

Sir Walter Scott spent eight happy years here, from 1804-1812. It was one of his most creative periods, writing The Lady of the Lake and Marmion while living at Ashiestiel.

And it has been suggested that, had he been able to buy the estate, he would not have taken on the ambitious project of nearby Abbotsford on the banks of the River Tweed.

So captivating is Ashiestiel that it was painted by Turner in the 1830s as an illustration for Marmion.

It is hard to put a price on history. But the estate has much to offer in its own right.

Evelyn Channing of Savills says: “The refurbishment of Ashiestiel House, one of Scotland’s most distinctive and elegant country houses, is exceptional and headline-making in itself. Add the 691 acres of farmland, 161 acres of woodland, superb equestrian facilities and, of course, the unrivalled and heartbreakingly beautiful Upper Tweed fishings and you have one of the most exciting estates to come on the market this year.”

Ashiestiel has about two miles of single bank salmon and sea trout fishing, as well as six estate houses, and a walled garden.

This home boast stunning, professional interior design with its refurbishment including complete re-wiring and re-plumbing. It now has mains water, a new central heating system, underfloor

heating, and new double-glazed windows.

A stunning family kitchen features electric Aga and gas wok. French doors lead to a paved terrace and gravel courtyard overlooking the River Tweed.

Seven new bath/shower rooms were installed to complement the master bedroom suite and there are six further bedrooms on the first floor and a new sauna on the lower ground floor.

A TV sitting room, games room and secure gun room were also created on this level in addition to a fully-equipped laundry.

The drawing room and dining room are on a grand scale, with superb double cornices and pillared marble mantelpieces creating an interior that echoes the grandeur of Scott’s era. And the entire house is fully networked with superfast fibre optic broadband as well as supporting up to four lines for telephone and alarm.

One can’t help but wonder what Scott would have made of that.