Where old meets new

When Stef Burgon and Simon Hunt took on Kilmartin Castle, they reinstated its antique charm but with all the modcons, finds Nichola Hunter

Stef Burgon and Simon Hunt’s adventures at Kilmartin Castle have continued apace despite the global pandemic. I first encountered Stef and Si in 2019 after following their adventures on All 4’s The Great Hotel Escape. It was compelling viewing as the couple moved from successful careers in Dubai to buy and renovate a castle in Argyll’s Kilmartin Glen.

With no building experience between them but with bucketloads of enthusiasm they set about transforming the castle. ‘It had been renovated in the nineties, but I don’t think it had been inhabited for about ten years,’ says Si. ‘The artwork on the walls looked like Salvador Dali paintings because it was so damp that the art was warping into the walls, and the tapestries were attached with mould. We fixed the roof, did woodworm treatments and dried it out.’

It sounds abysmal, so what was the appeal? ‘It was the location,’ Si remembers. ‘Often you find an amazing property but it’s next to a motorway or beside an airport and I was just so amazed that this castle was in Kilmartin Glen but right on the edge of the village. The Kilmartin Museum is literally three minutes’ walk away, as is the village pub. To have a great tourist attraction, a manageable little castle and a good pub was just amazing.’

A couple of years after the renovation was complete, the couple decided to host their wedding at the castle. ‘That was the real turning point,’ says Stef. ‘Seeing our friends’ reaction to the castle. Also, things breaking. During the wedding, the septic tank broke and cost us £3,000 and then we got a catch-up bill for electricity for £12,000. We realised we were going to spend all our money on patching things up if we didn’t do it properly.’

As living in the castle full-time was going to be a different situation to letting it, Stef and Si embarked on a complete remodel with a tight six-month deadline which they filmed for

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The artwork on the walls looked like Salvador Dali paintings – it was so damp that the art was warping into the walls

Fit for a king: The atmospheric Great Hall with a painting that used to adorn the walls of Castel, a Parisian club.

Above: A neon sign brings a contemporary feel to the Great Hall. Opposite, clockwise from top: The optician’s test dates to the 50s and the coffee table came from a flea market in Carpentras, France; toasting tootsies in front of the fire; Si made a settle seat using broken floorboards from the restoration; the Speel bedroom with its copper bath and patinaed art deco taps; the castle is nestled in Kilmartin Glen; Stef lifting original castle flagstones for the underfloor heating.