For your eyes only
Superb lodge overlooks loch where iconic Bond movie was filmed
YOU don’t have to live on Goldeneye, Ian Fleming’s estate on the northern coastline of Jamaica, to enjoy a James Bond-style view from your window. The spectacular landscape at Loch Goil in Argyll was made famous by the 1963 movie From Russia With Love as 007 Sean Connery was pursued by speedboat and helicopter. During filming in July that year, the director’s helicopter crashed into the water, though all on board were unharmed. Terence Young insisted filming should carry on as normal.
It is this perspective that is being marketed almost as earnestly as the new two-bedroom lodge in Lochgoilhead.
Argyll Holidays is selling the property – named Victory Provence – which some people might prefer to use as a holiday retreat but which can be used by the owners all year round if they wish.
Lisa Allan, head of marketing at Argyll Holidays, said: ‘Victory Provence is one of those properties where the view trumps everything else and guests spend most of their time looking out of the window or sitting on the terrace.
‘It is tastefully decorated and has everything you would want in a holiday home. But it is the view people will buy – and the owners will lay claim to one of Scotland’s greatest outlooks.’
The Drimsynie Estate in which the lodge sits lies within gorgeous scenery at the heart of The Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park.
The area is teeming with wildlife, including seals, porpoises, pine marten, otters, red deer, badgers, eagles and buzzards.
Reached down a six-mile single-track road from the famous Rest And Be Thankful on the A83, the estate also offers owners use of a luxurious swimming pool, gym, spa and nine-hole golf course.
With a price tag of £145,000, it could make financial sense for an older couple who dream of downsizing from their city home to a peaceful life in the country, as no Land and Buildings Transactions Tax would be payable on the deal.
The lodge is built around a generous living area, which makes the most of the spectacular vista on the loch. Bi-folding doors open to a spacious decked balcony, perfect for whiling away the hours.
Relaxation comes easily in the living room, too, complete with leather sofas and a fitted wine cooler.
There is also a dining area and well-equipped kitchen which has a cooker, microwave, integrated dishwasher, fridge freezer and roof windows which flood the room with light.
The lodge has two en suite double bedrooms, which offer the prospect of having guests to stay. Doubtless, they will be impressed by the view, including a glimpse of the Arrochar Alps.
The lodges on the Drimsynie Estate have a Hollywood history of their own, as actress Scarlett Johansson lived in one during filming of the 2013 movie Under The Skin.
While it is Loch Goil’s beauty and remote location that are seen as its greatest selling points, the estate is only around an hour from Glasgow by car. Certainly, the weather can be somewhat unforgiving here in winter, with the Rest And Be Thankful occasionally featuring in bleak traffic reports.
But if you do snuggle down in Victory Provence for Christmas or New Year, at least you will be kept warm by an efficient gas central heating system.
Annual site fees of £3,540 are due for services such as security, piped LPG gas, road maintenance and refuse collection.
As the world awaits the new James Bond movie Spectre later this month, it is yet another 007 spectacular that will come to mind at Drimsynie… A View To A Thrill.
Victory Provence is available for £145,000. Contact Fiona Kelly, group sales manager at Argyll Holidays, on 01369 707 772 or email fiona.kelly@argyllholidays.com
The property on sale at Drimsynie overlooks Loch Goil, Argyll, where James Bond memorably raced in a speedboat in the 1963 hit movie From Russia With Love, inset