With 2015 tipped to be a big year for tourism in Scotland, it’s the perfect time to consider buying a Highland home and guest house.
Next year has been declared Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink when even more visitors are expected to come and sample the great fare this country has to offer. Not that tourists have been slow on the uptake this year. Recent figures showed that an estimated £79.8m is spent on food and drink every year by visitors from Great Britain staying overnight in the Highlands.
That’s one reason having a Highland property that doubles up as a business, such as a guest house or B&B, is something many people desire and it’s not uncommon to find those running guest houses have previously held high-powered but high-stress jobs elsewhere.
They’ve found that, despite having to be willing to smile and greet strangers at 7am, the benefits of working from home, often in a wonderful location, by far outweigh any negatives. Along with having a suitable personality, the location and layout of the property is just as important.
For those giving the idea thought, CKD Galbraith has the perfect house on its books. Trafford Bank, on Fairfield Road, Inverness, is a beautiful house which was at one time the home of the Bishop of Inverness and Nairn.
It has been run as a successful guest house and holds AA five star gold ratings and features a separate self-contained annexe/granny flat, ideal as owner’s accommodation which avoids the need of having to tip-toe past guest bedrooms in the night.
The house, on the market at offers over £675,000, has been extensively modernised to a very high standard by the present owner who is an accomplished interior designer and designed many of the items of furniture around the house. It retains many period features including ornate cornicing and the original pitched pine doors on the ground floor. It has full gas-fired central heating with a separate boiler for the underfloor heating in the superb recently-built conservatory which is used for dining and is very popular with guests.
Trafford Bank has six bedrooms, all with en-suite facilities and the two-storey annexe which was added in 2005 and comprises a large living room combined with a kitchen/dining area with french doors leading out to a private garden. The first floor is currently a study/studio which runs the full length of the property and offers great scope, subject to consent, for further accommodation if required. The annexe would be ideal as either the owner’s accommodation or as a granny flat which it is at present.
John Bound, handling the sale for CKD Galbraith, said: “Trafford Bank Guest House represents an opportunity to purchase an established business with a healthy turnover or a particularly nice family home in a popular residential area of Inverness which is close to the Caledonian Canal and marinas.”
Contact: CKD Galbraith on 01463 224343.