Billionaires' bolthole: Scottish castle hideaway for the rich and famous on sale for the first time in decades

A 15th-century Scottish castle with 32 bedrooms and its own pub has been listed for sale, along with a trio of forts floating in the Solent between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.

The 30-acre Ackergill Tower estate near John O’Groats is currently being run as a luxury hotel and wedding venue and has been put up for sale by the founder of bed retailer Dreams, with a price tag of £3.9 million.

It was extended in the mid-19th century by Scottish architect David Bryce and extensively refurbished and renovated over the last few years.

For years, it has provided a hideaway from the world's prying eyes for everyone from billionaires to reality stars. Entrepreneur Richard Branson, actors Jack Nicholson and Michael Douglas and the cast of The Only Way Is Essex have all stayed there since its lavish restoration in the Nineties.

A HAUNTED HISTORY
As well as its current celebrity status, the castle is reputed to be haunted by the 500-year old ghost of Helen Gunn, known as the Beauty of Braemore.

She was abducted on her wedding night by the Ackergill's notorious laird, Dugald Keith, who kept her prisoner in the tower.

Rather succumb to Keith, she leapt to her death from the battlements. The stone on which she fell is still said to bear the outline of her body and her ghost is believed to roam the castle in the long red ballgown in which she died.

RENAISSANCE GRANDEUR
The castle, which dates from 1476, is currently run as a hotel and along with its 32 bedrooms, it has 31 bathrooms and 10 reception rooms set over five floors, following major expansion work in the 19th century by Bryce, whose vast Italian Renaissance-style Bank of Scotland buildings from 1864 dominate the skyline of Edinburgh to this day.

The 30-acre grounds include a pub, the Smugglers Inn, six cottages, a stable block that can sleep 10 guests, and even Europe's largest treehouse, which has room for a couple to spend a romantic night or two in.

The grounds extend to the sea and, as you'd expect, there's a boathouse for you or your staff to make repairs to your vessel, while there is a beautiful Victorian walled garden, woodlands, formal lawns and a romantic heart-shaped garden featuring two Scottish B-listed dovecotes.

No grand property is complete with a proper driveway to reach it and this one is an entire mile long, giving plenty of time for your guests to take in the splendour of the grounds before they arrive at your front door.

As befitting a hideaway, the property is indeed remote, being just a few miles south of John O'Groats, traditionally considered the most northerly settlement in Scotland.

However, Wick airport is just three miles away, with flights to Edinburgh taking an hour, from where frequent flights to all London airports take 90 minutes.

Alternatively, and if you want to take the long way round to the capital, daytime trains take as little as 13 hours, while for a more restful and romantic route you can take the daily sleeper train by leaving Wick station at 4pm, changing at Inverness and arriving refreshed in Euston before 8am.

The castle was bought and converted by bed impresario Mike Clare, founder of Dreams, who sold the company for £200million in 2008 and set about spending the proceeds on his passion for unusual property.

A PACKAGE DEAL
He is also selling three forts floating in the Solent between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight for £11million.

Clare supervised the conversion of the forts, where mod cons and luxury accommodation were installed while retaining the essential character of the forbidding looking fortresses.

Originally built to repel invasion by Napoleon, No Man’s Fort, Spitbank Fort and Horse Sand Fort were built between 1867 and 1880.

Henry Jackson, partner at Knight Frank, says: “Solent Forts and Ackergill Tower, each one unique, will provide an incoming purchaser with the exciting opportunity and privilege to own property with such exceptional heritage and history.

“There is considerable potential for an incoming purchaser to build on Mr Clare’s hard work and legacy. These businesses are yet to mature and there is significant scope for growth and development of these enterprises.”

The Solent Forts and Ackergill Tower are for sale with a total price of £14.9million, or available separately, with Knight Frank.

FORTRESS HOTELS
Over a mile from land, and only reachable by boat or helicopter, two of the three forts are currently used as luxury hotels while the third is currently being renovated.

No Man’s Fort, for sale for £5million, is run as a hotel and even boasts its own pub, The Lord Nelson.

It can sleep 44 guests in 23 suites and has room to host more than 200 people for parties, and also features a cabaret bar, a spa, rooftop hot tubs and even a laser hunt area, provided fun and games in the warren of tunnels around the fort.

Horse Sand Fort, for sale at a relative bargain of £1million, is being converted into a museum, while Spitbank Fort, also £5million, is a little smaller and is also operating as a hotel, this one with nine suites

Palmerston believed that Napoleon III was set to invade England, When they were built the forts were nicknamed Palmerston’s Follies after Lord Palmerston, the prime minister who commissioned them.

He insisted they were fitted with a series of 35-ton cannon at a cost of £462,500, or over £43million at today’s prices, for just one fort.
but his fears were unfounded and the buildings were so costly and embarrassing that the fortresses had to be put to some use.

They provided temporary barracks for soldiers but weren’t used in anger until the Second World War, when anti-submarine concrete blocks were laid between them, leaving a narrow strait that only friendly ships knew about.

After the war, the Ministry of Defence realised that the nature of war had changed and they were decommissioned in 1956.