FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INVERNESS, SCOTLAND — 14 August 2024 — The Highland Council Planning Team has awarded listed building consent to The Boleskine House Foundation SCIO, a registered Scottish charity, for its complete internal designs. Work is intended to begin in September and run for 55 weeks, seeing the completion of the restoration of Boleskine House before Christmas 2025.

With much of the house was destroyed by two fires in recent history, Chairman Keith Readdy has remarked, “Very little of the interior was intact when we took the project on, and very few archives of the interior of the house exist. Our approach has therefore been one of appropriateness and authenticity inspired by the various periods of the house’s existence.”

Each room on the ground floor has been given its own subtly unique character, inspired and directly influenced by interiors ranging from early Georgian through to late Victorian periods, with some Jacobean undertones. The principal interiors are characterised by crafted timber finishes. The house enters into a clean, simple and ordered corridor with dado height fielded timber painted panelling, with plaster above and a dentil cornice, and sculpture-gallery-styled chequered tiled flooring. 

The ground floor will feature a media room, with full height timber panelling and concealed media technology for functions, presentations and film viewings. Adjoining is a panelled bar room with Jacobean style panelling backing onto a heritage joinery staircase.

A traditional shaker style kitchen revolves around the Loch facing window with a central island and matching painted timber panelling to dado height. This room transitions to a traditional Georgian dining room. The dining room features timber fielded panelling to dado height with wallpaper above, a window seat that curves around the bay window, and an impressive domed ceiling as an architectural feature with romantic-era Highland landscape murals or paintings. A marble fireplace displays a double sided stove leading into a grand drawing room with a vaulted ceiling and exposed timber trusses. This rustic Jacobean hunting lodge-styled room features a slimline screen door in a neo- classical gothic style.

Moving southward, a characterful lounge takes inspiration from the Victorian-era Egyptian revivalist style for a unique interior design statement. Timber panelling to a tall dado height joins to a plastered finish and a decorative plastered ceiling will be made into quadrants. Like the dining space, this room also celebrates the Loch facing bay window, with the same style domed ceiling as an architectural feature.

The house will also boast a warm library with in-built bespoke timber book shelving, fully panelled and provided with a large table for research and study.

Finally, there will be a lounge in the character of a late-Victorian explorer’s study, complete with dado-height panelling, fireplace and decorated with items of worldly exotic travel.

Trustee for the charity Stewart Clelland remarked on the council’s decision, “We are delighted to witness the restoration and reuse of historic buildings like Boleskine. Once deemed beyond saving, the building’s revival after five years of dedicated effort by the local community and volunteers is truly remarkable. This achievement exemplifies what can be accomplished through hard work and dedication. We hope this sets a precedent for the conservation of more listed buildings in Scotland, showcasing the vital role our built heritage can play in community regeneration.”

For more information and to see more photos of Boleskine House, visit The Boleskine House Foundation on social media at https://www.facebook.com/boleskine.house.foundation or https://www.instagram.com/boleskine.house/.

The Boleskine House Foundation

The Boleskine House Foundation SCIO is a Scottish Registered charity whose mission is to restore and preserve the historical legacy and heritage of the Boleskine House estate for the greater benefit of the public. In addition to our conservation-led approach to sympathetically restore Boleskine House, we aim to educate the public on the heritage of the house and lands, to welcome the enjoyment of its structure and surrounding gardens, and to facilitate learning, growth and well-being. For more information, please visit www.boleskinehouse.org.

Contact:

Keith Readdy

info@boleskinehouse.org

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