Blood, sweat and tears have been shed restoring historic Monkstadt House on Skye which goes under the hammer this week, writes Susan Welsh
History will be made this Thursday when Monkstadt, an impressive historic house on Skye, goes under the hammer.
The B-listed house, which once sheltered a fleeing Bonnie Prince Charlie and comes with nine holiday homes, is being auctioned with a starting price tag of £1.3million – the most expensive property Auction House Scotland has had on its books.
Ross Harper, managing director with Auction House Scotland, said: “It’s rare for such a stunning property in excellent condition to come up for auction.
“There is so much history attached to this estate and it presents a marvellous business opportunity with nine holiday cottages in the surrounding grounds.”
Thursday will be a day of mixed emotions for Ian MacQueen, who has been trying to sell by traditional methods for some time.
He dedicated much of his life to restoring the many properties on his land, including Monkstadt House, which was originally built as a Laird’s house for the Macdonalds of Sleat, using stone and other materials from nearby Duntulm Castle.
It is said the magnificent country house was where the Young Pretender stayed with Flora Macdonald, while fleeing from the Redcoats after the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Charles Edward Stuart, disguised as Betty Burk, Flora’s maid, was given shelter here by Lady Margaret Macdonald – Flora’s aunt.
The house fell into disrepair in the last century and only a ruinous shell remained once the roof was removed in the 1950s.
Yet there was something about it that made Ian’s late father, James MacQueen, want to own it.
“My father had a successful building business in Lancashire and a great interest in history,” said Ian, 49.
“He had his family tree done and discovered his roots lay in Skye.
“During a family holiday there, he visited Monkstadt and liked it so much he offered to buy it there and then but the owners rejected his offer.
“Years later, they contacted him and offered to sell it to him so he bought it.
“I was 17. Moving from Lancashire to Skye was a was huge culture shock.
“We’d been living in a nice four-bedroom house and I’d been used to going to nightclubs when we moved here to live in a caravan, without electricity while we had a house built.
“By that time, my dad wasn’t well and had already had his first heart attack,” said Ian, who has his own joinery and building business.
“By the time I was 22, my father was dead and I’d inherited the house.
“It was his dream to see Monkstadt brought back to life but first I had to build a house for my mum and myself – in fact, I had to build five houses before I could get connected to the main electricity grid, which cost £10,000.”
Over the years, Ian breathed new life into the area, which is in the township of Kilmuir, close to the village of Uig, transforming and renovating nine properties, turning them into charming holiday homes.
Once he had earned enough money, he took on the huge challenge of re-building Monkstadt House.
“That took nearly six years as, because it’s a Listed D building, there was a lot of stopping and starting as each step had to be carefully monitored.
“If you found anything unexpected, work had to stop until it was analysed.
“It was a painstaking operation at times – my marriage broke up under the pressure of it all.”
During restoration work, many links with the original buildings on the site were uncovered.
At the front of the house, a cross-shaped doorway was exposed with marks on the stonework believed to have been made by the Macdonald clansmen sharpening their swords as they left the house to do battle.
Behind the screen wall in the forecourt are three outhouses.
These are the “three insignificant huts” referred to in the records of Boswell and Johnson’s tour of the Hebrides.
These are thought to have been the cells of the monks who once inhabited Monkstadt and have now been fully restored, complete with thatched roofs.
Ian used Scottish architectural firm Morris Steedman Associates who he says were fantastic, as well as local tradesmen.
The end result is a comfortable, warm house that’s been returned to its former glory but benefits from modern technology such as a geothermal heat-recovery system which provides underfloor heating on the ground floor and radiators upstairs.
“It’s very economical and only costs around £1,000 a year to heat the house to 17 degrees all year round which is nothing for a house this size,” said Ian.
The full accommodation on the ground floor comprises an entrance hall with cloakroom and staircase, sitting room, dining room, large dining kitchen and garden room.
Upstairs, there’s a master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, a second bedroom with en suite bathroom and dressing room and three further bedrooms and bathrooms.
The interior of the house is at local authority completion-certificate standard, but final decoration and fitting-out has been left to the discretion of new owners, who can put their own stamp on it.
“No one has lived in the house since it was completed last year,” said Ian.
“Some might think that’s a shame but I don’t look at it like that.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to do and achieved what my father wanted to see – the restoration of Monkstadt House.”
When the hammer falls on Thursday, it will signal the end of a long road for Ian, who is now considering moving to Poland with his new partner.
The forthcoming sale for Auction House Scotland is on Thursday, July 3, at 200 St Vincent Street, Glasgow. Contact: www.auctionhouse.uk.net or 0141 339 4466.