I was once again travelling the island by Google Streetview this evening, when I decide to head down the Eishken Road. About 3 miles in, there is this ruin of a house, in a glorious location overlooking the head of Loch Seaforth. It has come down in price over the years, from about £25,000 in 2005 to £13,000 today, in 2010. No facilities on site at all. Why doesn't it shift? I mean, it would perfectly suit a hermit, a holiday home, or someone wanting to be away from it all. Well, there is the minor matter of a windfarm with 33 turbines, each 500 feet high which will be constructed on the hills on the other side of Loch Seaforth.
Leaving monstrosities like a windfarm to one side, there are other reasons why houses don't sell. The house shown in this picture, which stands in Ness, has also been for sale for at least the duration I've been here. It requires such an enormous amount of work, that demolition is probably the cheapest option. Sometimes houses are not put up for sale for years. The reason is quite often that the occupants have passed away, but there is a dispute of subsequent ownership. Or nobody knows who the owner is. I'll never forget the description of the interior of a house that was put up for sale some 14 years after the last occupant had died. Newspapers, dating back to the 1930s, were still present. The man's caps were neatly piled up, and everything was still the way it was the day he died, in 1991. More often than not, houses fall into rack and ruin.
I love big old houses and I live in one that is around 100 years old, but I venture to say the one pictured is probably older. It is sad when they fall to ruin.
ReplyDeleteIf we were younger I would have loved a project like one of those houses Guido. Maybe in another life.
ReplyDeleteShame about the windfarm near Loch Seaforth. That's criminal!
Jeanie