It just really comes down to what floats your boat.
A long-abandoned Scottish village newly on the market with CKD Galbraith is now a step closer to being revived and regenerated – and the most likely use is for housing and associated facilities.
Pollphail village, which overlooks Loch Fyne in Argyll & Bute, was constructed at a cost of more than £3 million in the 1970s to house oil platform construction workers in the North Sea oil boom of that decade. However, it quickly became a white elephant when demand for concrete platform systems switched to steel and the entire project was shelved without anyone ever occupying the village.
"This is an exciting opportunity for someone to take on," commented Harry Scott of CKD Galbraith. "The Cowal peninsula is a popular tourist and holiday destination and the site may be suitable for second homes or holiday homes and could complement the significant investment made nearby at Portavadie Marina."
The news will be especially welcomed by residents in Tighnabruaich, Kames and Portavadie, as the derelict village has been a blot on the landscape for 35 years.
Registered authorities
Anyone looking to check out average house prices and/or sales volumes in any of Scotland's 32 local authorities can now access an interactive map-based search tool on Registers of Scotland's website (www.ros.gov.uk). This makes searches quicker and easier – it also includes a postcode search facility and access to new monthly, quarterly, and constituency statistical reports.
Ros's commercial services director, Kenny Crawford, said: "The new monthly property statistics report shows average property prices and sales volumes across Scotland's main cities, including Perth, which recently received city status."
Registers of Scotland is now also available on Twitter @ScotsLandReg and facts from the statistical reports will be tweeted each weekday. I had hoped never to go there but it seems I may have to start twittering after all.
Charity competition
Persimmon Homes is celebrating its 40th birthday with a competition that could lead to one lucky UK charity winning a brand new three-bedroomed detached house worth £250,000. In addition, the housebuilder has pledged to give charities across Scotland, England and Wales a further £138,000 by way of 23 runners-up prizes of a £6000 cash donation.
Launching the competition, Persimmon's Scottish regional chairman, John Cassie, said: "In the first instance, we are asking charities with a turnover of no more than £10 million to tell us in 250 words or fewer why their charity deserves to win our new house. Supporters of charities can also nominate."
In the first round, each of Persimmons' 24 regional companies will select a charity from their area to represent them in the national final, in which the general public will vote for the outright winner, to be announced at a special birthday charity lunch in September.
Hidden highlights
I love houses that have secrets, so I was smitten by two properties this week that both have hidden rooms. Shore Cottage in the historic fishing village of Anstruther is a delight. B-listed and tucked away down a lane leading to the beach, it has a large, stone-walled garden with patio and a beautifully styled interior, which includes a split-level open-plan kitchen/dining/family room, utility and ground-floor en-suite bedroom; two bedrooms (one en suite), sun room and living room on the first floor; and a large floored attic with development potential – accessed by a secret staircase concealed behind a bookcase in one of the upstairs bedrooms. For sale with Strutt & Parker at offers over £370,000, who could resist?
The other property, also with the same agent, is a tad grander. Beldorney Castle , near Huntly in Aberdeenshire, dates from 1550 and is for sale for only the third time in the last 221 years. It was restored and upgraded in the 1980s.
On the banks of the River Deveron, it has a fascinating history, amazing features, a great hall with pitch-pine panelling, vaulted entrance hall, seven bedrooms, a self-contained two-bedroomed flat in the south wing – and a secret room where John Gordon, the 10th laird and a leading Jacobite in the 1745 rebellion, spent much of his remaining 15 years in hiding (despite searching, the soldiers never found him).
Available in several lots, the whole kit and caboodle – including three cottages, a farm, salmon fishing, shooting and 861 acres of land – is for sale at offers over £3 million. The castle itself plus 119 acres of land, including fishing rights, is for sale at O/O £1.4m.
A lovely footnote to this, Joanna Skailes of Strutt & Parker recalls a client who renovated their attic and recreated Narnia on the other side of a wardrobe. When the house went on the market they made no mention of the secret space in the sales particulars and left it for a child to discover one day. What a wonderful thing to do.
On the level
Bungalows have an endearing appeal, to all age groups. I like one on Netherpark Avenue in Netherlee for sale with Clyde Property's Clarkston office at offers over £299,000. Built in the 1930s, it is traditional on the outside but has a superstylish contemporary interior that emphasises a surprising amount of space; living room, large hall, dining room/third bedroom, kitchen, fully tiled shower room, second bedroom – and a 17ft main bedroom on the upper floor, where the star feature is a roll-top bath in a corner of the room. A great house in a great area.
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