Melina Dalrymple likes a bargain — even when shopping for a castle.
So when she and her husband wanted to buy a stately British residence, they went north. “You can purchase property in Scotland for a lot less than you can in England,” says Dalrymple, who now helps run a financial-publishing business from their seven-bedroom “Victorian fantasy” castle in western Scotland. “I see it as quite a good investment.”
Attention, castle-shoppers: If you’re trying to be thrifty, you might consider Scotland. There are many more castles available in Scotland compared to, as the Scots say, “south of the border” (i.e., in England). Traditionally, while English towns had their manor houses, every town in Scotland had its own castle. Today, prices for castles tend to be higher in England because there are fewer of them and because they are closer to London and other major cities.
Of course, such residences aren’t for the masses. Dalrymple, a native of Oregon, says her home — purchased three years ago, for a price she won’t disclose — is structurally sound, but “by American standards it needs a lot of decorative work.” She cautions other potential castle buyers from the U.S. that “there aren’t the same creature comforts” that they might expect in even modest tract housing back home. For example, “there are no showers, yet” in her 19th-century home. And no central heating. “You learn to wear an extra sweater,” she says.
Currently, there are a number of Scottish castles on the market, ranging from handyman’s specials to regal digs. Last month, bids closed for Taymouth Castle, a 19th-century residence whose interiors were featured in the recent movie “Mrs. Brown,” about Queen Victoria’s later years. The 450-acre estate includes an 18-hole golf course, a salmon-stocked river and some 80 rooms. Asking price: about $9.2 million. The winning bid hasn’t been announced.
Most castles, however, don’t come with such fancy trappings, and sellers often stress history over amenities. “This part’s all original, from 1530,” says Capt. David Ogilvy Fairlie, pointing to a shooting hole (once used to fend off intruders) carved in the wall of Myres Castle. The castle, which has been in Capt. Fairlie’s family since 1887, also features a turret room, chapel, spiral stone staircase and 44 acres of gardens, and 240-year-old beech trees. He recently put it on the market for $1.02 million.
The five-bedroom castle was originally known simply as the House of Myres, says Capt. Fairlie; Myres is the name of the land surrounding the home. However, he says, “Sir Walter Scott came here for lunch in 1830 and he persuaded the owner to change the name to Myres Castle.”
Owning a castle, of course, isn’t all the stuff of fairy tales; there are plenty of factors that wannabe lords and ladies should consider. “People see a castle advertised that doesn’t cost any more than an apartment in London or Paris or New York, but the maintenance may cost just as much” as the purchase price, says Marc Ellington, a castle owner and board member of Scotland’s Historic Buildings Council. By law, many castle renovations can be carried out only with specific, traditional — and expensive — materials.
Castle buyers “need a good idea of what they want to achieve and what they’re allowed to achieve” under the historic-preservation laws, says Ruaraidh Ogilvie a real-estate agent in Brechin, Scotland.
His office, for example, is currently trying to sell an unoccupied 15th-century castle on the western Scottish coast near Glasgow, for $102,000. Talk about your fixer-upper: the sales brochure describes the property as “requiring renovation.” Among other things, it notes, “at present, there are no internal floors or roof.”
Even if a castle is in good shape, expenses can be high. Capt. Fairlie, who is retired from the British army, says the annual upkeep of Myres Castle runs into tens of thousands of pounds, including the salaries of a full-time gardener and cook, taxes of about $3,400 and heating bills of around $2,550.. If he can sell his castle, he and his wife plan to move to a “much smaller house with no full-time staff,” he says.
Despite their costs, castles continue to appeal to an elite group of history buffs, architects, fed-up city dwellers, “and all sorts of dreamers,” says Alan Macpherson Fletcher, who sells real estate near Inverness, in the far north of Scotland. All castles require a lot of work, he says, but often the older ones are actually easier to maintain.
For example, a four-square tower — a layout popular in the 14th to 16th centuries — tends to have a simple roof line, with all rooms on the same plane, Fletcher says. By contrast, he says, “a Victorian castle can be long and rambling, with a complicated roof line, and that can mean more chance of roof rot.” The thicker walls of older castles can provide better insulation and lower heating costs.
If you don’t mind tourists tramping through your home, the public’s fascination with castles can generate some income, says Christopher Nightingale, a British solicitor, who owns castles in Scotland, France and northern England. The last, 45-room Appleby Castle, hosts corporate conferences and charges day visitors four pounds to tour the castle, its 12th-century stone tower, and 27-acre grounds that have been turned into a conservation area for rare breeds of sheep, pigs and other animals.
“Castles are unique in giving the possibility to live in them and enjoy them, while also providing multiple income streams,” says Nightingale, a corporate finance specialist who’s developing a charitable trust funded by revenues from the castles. He considers them good investments — he believes his Scottish castle has soared in value since he bought it in 1993 (the list price was $680,000.)
The 10-bedroom Muchalls Castle, built on a hill overlooking the North Sea, rents out rooms for $230. a night. The castle itself is now up for sale at $1.1 million.
