A home for heroes through the ages
Whether it’s history or sport you’re after, this house ticks all the boxes
IN Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped, it was a place of deep foreboding; a house grim enough to send a chill through your bones. As the notorious House of Shaws, it played host to an attempt on the life of the book’s young hero, David Balfour.
But Old Glassingall today presents as an altogether different property; and, thanks to 21st century technology, arguably one of the warmest in the area.
The house was built in 1745, the year of the last Jacobite Rising, a thread which runs the length of Stevenson’s book.
For all but the past 40 years or so, it has been part of the Estate of Glassingall, near Dunblane in Perthshire.
Glassingall belonged to the Kynbuck family from 1100 to 1455. According to local historian Archie McKerracher, the laird’s house built there in the 18th Century provided the inspiration for the House of Shaws.
He also believes the plot for the book was based on the family who lived there at the time.
Certainly, Stevenson was no stranger to the area. He visited nearby Bridge of Allan 20 times, believing its spa waters helped his fragile health.
Parts of the town inspired Treasure Island, including a cavern on the Darn Walk that would later become Ben Gunn’s Cave.
Today, Old Glassingall belongs to financier Kenneth MacKenzie, who had to cram up on his home’s history when he bought it 11 years ago.
He admitted: ‘I can’t remember if I read Kidnapped as a boy – I probably did. But I made sure of getting a copy when I became aware of the House of Shaws connection.
‘I love old houses anyway. The walls here are two feet thick and we installed a ground source heat pump.
‘This means the house is warmed to a constant temperature. In winter, the home is not just warm for a few hours in the morning and several more at night; it is warm all the time, which is great.’
You eventually come upon the house from a courtyard at the end of a long, sweeping drive that starts at the estate’s entrance.
The kitchen and breakfasting room are reached first, boasting a restored electric four-door Aga, plus Miele dishwasher.
Also off the entrance hall is the family room, complete with solid oak floor and working window shutters.
The dining room offers views to both North and South, while the drawing room looks out South and West.
Still on the ground floor, an arched doorway leads to a study with a door to the garden.
Estate agent Savills believe this would make an excellent ground floor bedroom, as it has an en suite shower room.
There are currently no fewer than seven bedrooms in the property, located on the first and second floors. They come with associated bathrooms, shower rooms and en suites.
Thanks to its rural location, Old Glassingall is blessed with a range of outbuildings, including a tractor shed with double wooden doors. There’s also a hayloft, reached via a wooden staircase from the garage, which has an electric up-and-over door and doubles as a workshop.
HORSE-LOVERS will be thrilled by the two stables, both retaining the original cast iron and wooden loose with the house.boxes which come There’s even a dog-run next to yet another outhouse, used as a garden store.
Mr MacKenzie said: ‘It’s a wonderful arrangement. We’re living in an estate without the responsibility for running the estate.’
While David Balfour was the star of 18th Century Kidnapped, there’s a 21st Century local hero nearby.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray’s Cromlix House is but a short serve away. This week, it was named the AA’s Hotel of the Year.
Offers over £850,000 to Harry Maitland at Savills. Phone 0131 247 3700 or email hmaitland@savills.com