THE former Highland castle home of ex-Rangers owner Craig Whyte has gone back on the market after its Russian owner was jailed for fraud.
Estate agents Strutt & Parker are looking for offers over £950,000 for the keys to castle Grant, near Grantown-on-Spey in the Highlands.
Sergey Fedotov snapped up the A-listed mansion for £1million in 2014 after it was repossessed from Whyte when he failed to keep up with mortgage payments.
But Mr Fedotov was jailed for 18 months over a £4million fraud earlier this year after being arrested in Moscow.
READ MORE: Tycoon who bought Craig Whyte's castle is jailed
Whyte and then-wife Kim bought Castle Grant for £800,000 in 2006 – with a reported 110 per cent mortgage – saying he would to spend millions restoring it.
However, it was taken back into the bank's possession around the time the businessman's troubled takeover of Rangers hit the rocks, ending with the financial collapse of the club and its liquidation.
Whyte was acquitted by the jury at the High Court in Glasgow in July after being accused of fraudulently buying the football club in May 2011.
Originally known as Freuchie Castle when occupied by the Comyn family, the country retreat became Castle Grant in 1694 when the Grant family became the owners.
The east and west wings, designed by Scottish architect John Adam, were added in 1765. Particular design features of the building are the U-shape and the raised inner courtyard.
Many of the original period features remain, particularly in the ballroom, drawing room and billiard room while many improvements over the years include wood burning stoves, en suite facilities, modern bathrooms and a fitted kitchen.
READ MORE: Craig Whyte 'has weeks to save castle'
However, A number of fixtures were removed by Whyte shortly before he handed the keys back to he bank.
The third floor, attic and a second attic are in a state of disrepair but offer excellent further development potential subject to the appropriate permissions.
Kevin Maley, Partner in Strutt & Parker’s Inverness office, said: “The Strutt & Parker Inverness office were involved in the sale of Castle Grant just over three years ago.
"Since then the owners have embarked on a major refurbishment which is still ongoing. Much of it was unforeseen, structural and remains a work in progress; that work is, therefore, not aesthetically pleasing on the eye but it will hopefully preserve the ancestral seat of the Clan Grant chiefs for many more generations to come.
"A significant amount of investment is still required but it offers a superb development opportunity. I expect national and international interest in this wonderful property.”
Castle Grant is situated within the Cairngorms National Park and near the River Spey and the River Dulnain. Several popular golf courses, a ski slope, sailing, kayaking and windsurfing on Loch Morlich and Loch Insh are also in the vicinity.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel