Ruins of Boleskine House on Loch Ness: fire-damaged former home of occultist Aleister Crowley and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page is for sale
The ruined remains of a notorious manor house, once owned by Jimmy Page and said to be haunted, is for sale overlooking Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands for £510,000.
The house was largely destroyed by a fire in December 2015 and is currently in a state of complete disrepair. In fact, all that now remains of the main house now – formerly a B-listed Georgian structure – are the outer walls.
The property is spread over 38 acres and four adjoining plots, with potential buyers able to purchase a single plot rather than the whole site.
A long history
The parish of Boleskine was formed in the 13th century, when a church and graveyard were built. A local minister, Thomas Houston (1648-1705) was said to have had to return corpses to their graves after a local wizard had raised the dead from the graveyard.
Infamous occultist Aleister Crowley bought the house in 1899 and lived there for 14 years. He believed the location was ideal to perform the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage – a spell said to invoke one’s Guardian Angel.
Unfortunately the spell also involved summoning the 12 Kings and Dukes of Hell. While performing the lengthy ritual, he was called away to Paris. Neglecting to banish the demons he had summoned, it’s said they’ve been loitering around the manor ever since. Crowley eventually left the house in 1913.
Mysterious guests
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page bought the house in 1970 and owned it for 22 years although rarely visited.
Page thought it would provide a good atmosphere for songwriting and installed his friend Malcolm Dent as caretaker.
Dent claims he was once woken in the night by the sound of a “huge beast snorting, snuffling and banging. Whatever was there, I have no doubt it was pure evil”.
However, Dent was also exposed by a tabloid newspaper for charging fans huge fees to spend the night – and pocketing the money without Page’s permission.
Page sold the house to the MacGillivray family in 1992 and Annette MacGillivray was quoted as saying that she experienced no mysterious occurrences whatsoever.
Ruins for sale
Listed as Lot 1, the remains of the main house now sit in 9.3 hectares of overgrown formal gardens and mature woodland.
Lots 2 and 3 are the B-listed former coach house, just east of the main house and the B-listed gate lodge. Both require complete renovation.
Lot 4 is fenced grazing land that covers approximately 2.8 hectares.
More info from Galbraith.