Friday, July 23, 2021

Castles In The Air

 This house has been causing a bit of a stir round these parts. Mainly because crime writers keep putting it on Facebook ( well, me and my pals ) with grand thoughts about what to do with it.

Buying houses in Scotland is a closed bid business.  All bids have to be in by a closing date,  the price is  listed as 'offers over'.  At 12 noon on the day of the closing date, the bids are all opened and the highest bidder gets it, unless the vendor says otherwise. I wasn't the highrest bidder to buy the house I am in now but I was the highest that wanted to keep it as a house and not for refurb into flats. Or, the other higher bid was subject to planning permission and if the council did not permit it, then everybody would have been back to square one.

We can also say Fixed Price,  first person  to offer that price gets it, subject to the vendor agreeing enter dates etc.

It's better than the English system where one bid can be bettered by A N Other right up to moving date or contract exchange, and the whole chain breaks down.

But back to this property and daydreaming.

It's offers over £620 000.  Cheaper than a two bedroomed flat in Edinburgh. About the same as a four bed house in the posh bits of Glasgow.

It's about 1 hour 30 minutes from Glasgow Airport.... and just look at that view!

If I retired tomorrow, sold the business, I'd buy it and life in the motorhome while the builder got going. I'd sell the rights to channel 4 to film it. I'd invite you all over ( loads of room for isolation  and writing !) and we'd all be on the tele, doing a DIY extravaganza.


More details and photos at  Frank Knight   house for sale in Kilberry, Tarbert, Argyll and Bute, PA29 - EDN012188851 | Knight Frank



I mean,  how could you not.   I think Michael Stanely could be in charge of stocking, and testing the wine cellar.


Ok, dead things on the walls but we could have a rest home for disabled donkeys and a lama farm.

I first thought that the price was so cheap there might not be a road, but there it is!

An old wall of photographs.  I think the house was in the same family for about 300 years. Imagine the history just on the wall.

???


A bedroom, no rot around here


Nice venue for cocktails  or a dram of the evening after a hard day of giving writing tutorials.
Or lama catching.


This is at the end of the garden, paddleboarding paradise.
Full wet suits required!

The cottage which is fully inhabitable.

Interesting....

The kitchen in the cottage,,,

The stair way in the main house, made for murder mystery weekends,

The old nursery, the  old rocking horse, It's all rather poignant...

mmmm, that would appear to be some damp,  and some rot.

wild water swimming anybody?

I've flicked through all the pics and can't see any obvious  radiators so we might need to burn paper drafts of bad novels.
Mine would keep us going for a few years....

I thought Barbara could use this as a studio; lovely light ( about three days a year)

Heaven. There's nobody about.
And maybe close enough to movingh water so  less midges.



Bits falling off but nothing a paintbrush, a  hammer and a million pounds won't fix.

The estate. Lamas. Ponies. Crime Writing.


Anybody?




Caro Ramsay ( saving her pennies hard)

7 comments:

  1. I’m in. Oh my, what a dream. ❤️

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  2. Thank you, C, for raising the stakes for me, or rather placing sharp pointed stakes in the hands of one Ms. B seeking to lay claim to her Scottish roots by impaling them about the perimeter of your castle, shouting "Mine, mine, mine." At least I hope that's what she has in mind for them.

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  3. I was getting interested until the bit about the paint, hammer, and million pounds...

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  4. I'm holding off until I see photos of the stocked wine cellar...

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  5. I'm in, Caro! Not put off by the paint and hammer bit, and I'm not bad at plumbing, wiring, kitchen fitting, joinery, plastering etc, but the lack of million pounds might prove a bit of a stumbling block, alas. Still, if you manage to pull together the funds, please feel free to utter the phrase, "Come and stay... bring tools!"

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  6. CLOSING DATE SET FOR 12.00 NOON ON THURSDAY 29TH JULY. Hope you saved lots of pennies, Caro.

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  7. I'm imagining dead bodies buried behind the fireplace. It is a great place to murder mystery weekends or days. Lots of crime potential.
    I love the blue skies.

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