A boutique guesthouse in Stonehaven is for sale with an “offers over” asking price of nearly £600,000 about 70 years after the owner’s great-grandfather bought the property for £600.
Current owner Jane Davidson described her Shorehead Guesthouse as an “excellent business venture” that attracts visitors from all over the world.
Looking out over the town’s harbour, the property was refurbished in 2014.
It is now on the market with specialist business broker Bruce & Co at offers over £599,995.
The detached, stone-built property has six individually styled lettings rooms and one-bedroom owners’ accommodation.
It also boasts an average five marks out of five from 251 reviewers on Tripadvisor.
Mrs Davidson said: “The guesthouse was my great-grandfather’s house.
“It has lots of history and is totally unique, with a fantastic position in the centre of Stonehaven harbourfront.”
Fishing, a surprise baby and a bomb
Fisherman Edward Davidson lived in the property as a tenant before buying it for £600 in cash in the early 1950s.
The current owner’s mother was a surprise delivery – the result of a teenage pregnancy no-one knew about – in an upstairs bedroom during the baby boom that followed the Second World War.
Mrs Davidson added: “The house was also bombed by a mine which drifted into the harbour after the war.”
The property has been transformed since Mrs Davidson and her husband, Earle, took it on in 2014.
Their guesthouse opened on Hogmanay that year after a major internal renovation.
“It was absolutely rotten inside before,” Mrs Davidson told The Press and Journal.
She also recalled how the house was often bitterly cold and had no inside toilet when she grew up there. “It is now lovely and warm,” she added.
Last year was “hectic” for the guesthouse as tourism bounced back from the Covid lockdowns, she said.
She continued: “I had no idea how much tourism Stonehaven got until I went into the hospitality industry. We’ve had people visit us from all over the world.”
But a busy summer holiday season in 2014 left her exhausted, with a repetitive strain injury, and now she just wants to enjoy the quiet life.
Time to slow down
Mrs Davidson, who also “dabbles in” professional interior design, said there were lots of options for the next owner of the guesthouse to develop it.
“I just want to slow down a bit now, and maybe take a part-time job and enjoy life.”
I had no idea how much tourism Stonehaven got until I went into the hospitality industry.”
Jane Davidson, owner, Shorehead Guesthouse, Stonehaven.
She’s been running the guesthouse single-handedly since her husband found a job to keep some money coming in during the pandemic.
“It’s been absolutely hectic and it’s going to be very busy again this summer,” she said, adding many of her guests from overseas saw Stonehaven as a convenient base for visiting Edinburgh and the Highlands, as well as Aberdeenshire, during one holiday.
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