A discovery
A 300-year-old Scottish castle.
For the price of a 3 bed London flat.
Ever wondered what it would be like to own or just stay in a
castle or historic country house?
How this started
I found a castle for sale.
It was Category A listed. Fourteen bedrooms. 5 estate cottages. Set in seventy acres of grounds above a river in the Scottish Highlands with woodland, fields, formal gardens. Completed in the first decade of the 1700s it was the seat of an ancient clan and could boast of three hundred years of continuous occupation. It was built on the site of an even more ancient, fortified structure, dating from the 1300's - the time of the Scottish Kings.
700 years of history and it was listed for £3 million.
£3 million is, give or take, about half what you'd pay for a nice three or four bedroom flat in Covent Garden, Marylebone, or close to Sydney Harbour.
The castle had been on the market for several years but nobody was buying. I kept thinking: this can't be a problem of price, importance or inherent worth.
Then I realised, it's a math problem.
Finding one buyer with £3M who wants a castle in the Scottish Highlands as a second home is hard. What is needed is 3,000 buyers, each with £1,000. Castle-focused Instagram accounts and Facebook groups claim many millions of followers - there had to be a few thousand among them with £1,000 or so to make the fantasy reality.
Of course, coordinating 3,000 individual buyers from all over the world to acquire a castle in Scotland is not without complications - but it’s not an awful idea is it?
“One buyer needs £3 million. Thirty thousand just £100 each.”
What if there was a club to focus the collective enthusiasm and modest contributions of some of the many individuals who love Scotland and care that these irreplaceable historic buildings survive?
A note from the founder
I'm a licensed real estate professional, born in the UK and based in Australia, with a lifelong interest in British architecture and history. During lockdown I found myself with time on my hands and a growing obsession with what I started seeing as the price-versus-value gap in certain historic property - a gap between what these buildings are worth and what the market will pay for them.
We are so lucky to have the many examples of period architecture that we have - but we need to ensure those examples do not diminish. There is only so much and the inventory is finite and they are all irreplaceable. I want to see as much historic domestic architecture survive and thrive as possible. The National Trust cannot give every period property a lifeline and larger examples are just too much for most single family owners so a different future is required.
Memberships are a source of demand, and members' friends, family and colleagues help expand the group. This is the sort of fuel that can give larger historic buildings an independent future that all can patronize and enjoy. Some members will be happy to act as patrons, others will want to be guests. Some will want membership to gain access via properly regulated channels to opportunities to become part of a group of owners of one or more historic and important character buildings and estates.
The plan is to start assembling a waitlist of people who might be interested in becoming members of a group to share their interest in opportunities of all sorts - and the plan is to develop categories of membership that will allow for a range of interests and wants to be met.
The big plan is to be able to invite members to exclusive access opportunities to be part of an owner group interested in both profit and preservation. I have written a book about why historic estates are so unique - and valuable - and have proposed new options for becoming self-supporting so they survive and thrive for the next 300 hundred years.
The beautiful arithmetic
Small contributions.
Extraordinary outcomes.
The National Trust has over five million members. It protects complex properties with large estates and important collections including great art and rare furniture. There are thousands of other period buildings The Trust cannot help: smaller castles, fortified houses, and listed period estates. Unfortunately they can't all get funded.
These “lesser” buildings are still locally, nationally and sometimes even internationally important. Many are no less ancient or interesting as survivors, and have their own stories to tell. They need patrons too. They need to be used — they need a use. That's one of the key points with these less monumental properties - they're already lived in and there's no fear that they cannot be used. They're big enough to accommodate far more than the current Lord and Lady of the house. They just need a community with a large friend group, some who’ll act as patrons, others that can visit, an engaged public, and individually small contributions from members that result in genuine collective muscle. Sometimes, they need new owners.
“It is estimated three million certificates were sold by Highland Titles, Established Titles, Laird Titles, Celtic Titles and others, declaring purchasers owners of Highland novelty plots - lands it was implied entitled them to use mostly imaginary lordly titles. In part, to feel connected to an historic past and to support an ancient place.”
We think there's a way to do something genuinely substantial.
300,000
Members
×
£10
PER YEAR
=
£3M
EVERY YEAR
Relatively small amounts for individuals can become materially impactful sums.
The membership club
This is just the start.
There's no way of telling whether 3, 30 or 30,000 people will be interested.
But membership could mean…
01
Access & Adventures
Private visits. Members-only experiences. Meetings with owners. Stays and Events. Works. Celebrations.
02
Collective Patronage
Monies directed to heritage properties at risk of break-up or changes that will diminish them. Properly constituted through regulated channels patronage could for some become shared ownership.
03
A Community of Obsessives
People who find a Scottish Baronial or Georgian, Regency, Victorian or Edwardian country house as interesting as you do.
04
Stories Worth Telling about Something Worth Doing
Is this you?
This club could be for people who…
Would rather spend a weekend at a Georgian country estate than the latest urban hot spot
Know the National Trust is without peer, but simply cannot help everything worth preserving
Might live anywhere in the world but feel drawn to or attached to British heritage
Want their membership to be a part of something that means something
✦ ✦ ✦
The world we're talking about
Castles. Manor houses.
Estates with stories still to tell.
Each one recently for sale and a reminder of
what's out there, waiting.
Ayton Castle, Scottish Borders
Ardgay Castle, Scottish Highlands
Stoke Rochford Hall, Lincolnshire
Bunchrew House, Inverness
Brechin Castle, Angus
Ballathie House, Perthshire
Copyright the owners
Be first through
the gate.
We're assembling the membership waitlist now. No payment, just your name on the list. Share it round if you want to.
We'll keep you posted and let you know when membership opens. No spam. Unsubscribe any time.