Boleskine House opens after seven-year renovation

A 265-year-old house that has been home to the son of an executed Jacobite, an occultist and rock star Jimmy Page has opened its doors to the public after undergoing a seven-year renovation.

Category B-listed Boleskine House was gutted by a fire in 2015 and a subsequent blaze in 2019, which is thought to have been started deliberately.

The property, which is situated next to Loch Ness near Foyers, was then bought by the Boleskine House Foundation who have renovated it as a "a community hub for art, culture, and education".

Keith Readdy, trustee chairman of the charity, said: "I am just so happy, relieved and excited and looking forward to seeing what it will become after seven years' hard work."

He added: "I think that we've put all these seven years in and it will be a place of enjoyment, education, edification, recreation for many people in the decades to come."

The Georgian house opened its doors on Friday evening with a gala event.

The charity is also selling tickets for an open day on Saturday which will include tours of the house, live music and heritage workshops.

Going forward, visitors will be able to conduct self-guided tours to learn about the history of the house and the story of its restoration.

It will also provide a space for art exhibitions and cultural performances.

Readdy said the foundation wanted the house to be "one of the most unique artistic, cultural, historical places of enjoyment around Loch Ness".

Readdy funded some of the project himself, but the group also received grants and funding from a range of organisations, including the Heritage Lottery Fund and Highland Council. Money also came in from public donations.

The total cost of the project has still to be calculated.

Readdy said the building had been a "fire damaged ruin" when they first took it on but they were determined to save it.

"We thought that this was a very unique opportunity that could really do something and enhance public enjoyment and public knowledge and interpretation of the past, present and future," he added.

"We inherited a ruin. Burnt timbers collapsed into floors and stone everywhere collapsed into the building.

"We lost nearly most of the interiors of the house. There was hardly anything left."

"For the last seven years we've been restoring it and reimagining its historic integrity to the best possible way that we can."

Readdy added that the work had been carried out by 30 volunteers who had all "contributed all their very unique skills to the project".

He said the group had limited photos of the house, especially of the interiors.

"We didn't have many historic photos of the interiors besides some 19th century kind of sepia tone, very grainy photos, some most from the outside, which we've tried to replicate the outside of the house to the best of our ability."

Readdy said the interiors had given them chance to create a "reimagined historic legacy", and bring in some of the fascinating character of some of the house's notable former owners.

As well as the house, the charity has also been working on the surrounding 35 acres of grounds.

He added: "The project has evolved over time, not just restoring a building but reinvigorating the land, putting forth biodiversity initiatives and holding historic talks and lectures.

"It's going to be a really amazing experience for people in the future starting from today."

Boleskine House dates to the 18th Century and was first owned by Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat, the second son of Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat.

Nicknamed The Old Fox, Lord Lovat was a Jacobite sympathiser who also did deals with the cause's enemies in the British government.

He was executed in London after supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie.

One of Boleskine's best-known residents was poet, mountaineer and magician Aleister Crowley.

Born in Royal Leamington Spa and educated at Cambridge University, Crowley was fascinated with the occult - a subject wrapped up in beliefs in the supernatural and mystical powers.

He also had an interest in Scottish history and mythology and bought Boleskine House in 1899, owning it until 1913.

Crowley left a physical mark on the property after having a window facing to Loch Ness converted into a door so he could better perform one of his ancient rituals.

Jimmy Page bought Boleskine in the 1970s because of its link to Crowley.

Page was guitarist with the band Led Zeppelin, whose hits included Whole Lotta Love and Stairway to Heaven.

Even after the musician sold the house in the early 1990s, interest in the Crowley connection has not faded.

There are stories of the house's more recent private owners being spooked by the sight of tourists peering at them through windows.