Inverlair Lodge lies close to Roy Bridge in Inverness-shire. The property is in a spectacular, unspoilt setting with beautiful views over its own land to the River Spean, Creag Meagaidh and Ben Alder.

Phiddy Robertson of Galbraith, who is handling the sale, said: “This is a magnificent rural property with a very attractive principal house, beautiful gardens and woodland and also a traditional steading, outbuildings and cottage, offering potential for a variety of uses.

“Above all the setting is second to none, with wonderful views in all directions and close to some of the most iconic scenery in Scotland. The area attracts many visitors throughout the year, but Inverlair Lodge is away from the popular tourist destinations and its environment is unspoilt, providing a haven for native wildlife. The purchasers have the opportunity to enjoy a rural idyll, representing the very best of Scotland.”

Inverlair Lodge has four reception rooms and six bedrooms, all beautifully presented, with further accommodation on the second floor. The house has been sensitively modernised, adding modern comforts while retaining wherever possible the wonderful original features.

There is a traditional, stone and slate steading in the grounds with an excellent range of garages, workshops, studios and stores. The potential exists for residential conversion of the steading, subject to the necessary consents.

Keeper’s Cottage, refurbished in 2019 and with its own access from the public road, is a well-presented two-bedroom cottage which could be used as additional or staff accommodation, or as a holiday let.

Inverlair Lodge extends to about 12.5 hectares (30.88 acres) in all.

During the Second World War, the Lodge was requisitioned by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) which led the UK’s espionage and intelligence gathering activities. Although SOE records were destroyed in a mysterious fire in their Baker Street premises, it is firmly believed that Inverlair housed ‘failed’ spies who, for whatever reason, had been judged unfit to go into service. They were ostensibly undergoing ‘further training’ at Inverlair but their stay amounted to incarceration, as some ‘knew too much’ to be allowed back into society. This philosophy apparently formed the basis for the book The Cooler by George Markstein and for the 1960’s TV series The Prisoner, created by and starring Patrick McGoohan.

Rudolf Hess was initially sent to Inverlair Lodge, straight after his capture, on crash-landing at Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow. Two Intelligence Officers were apparently billeted in Fort William and made the daily trip out by train to interrogate Hess.

On the site of the present Lodge, a former building was attacked and destroyed in around 1663, in revenge for the notorious ‘Keppoch Murders’. The seven men inside the house, Alexander MacDonald and his six sons, were killed and beheaded. Their heads were washed in what is now known as the Well of the Seven Heads beside Loch Oich before being taken to the MacDonald/MacDonnell Clan Chief at Glengarry Castle, to prove that the retribution had been carried out. A small cairn beside the Lodge marks the burial spot of the bodies. A monument stands on the north western shore of Loch Oich commemorating the grisly events.

Inverlair Lodge was built in three stages from the early to the late 1800s and was formerly the shooting lodge for Lord Abinger of Inverlochy Castle. After the war Inverlair fell into disrepair until it was renovated in the 1970s by new owners and then, as only the second family ever to have lived there, the sellers bought the house in 2008.

The property lies between the Cairngorms National Park and the Great Glen and is close to some of the most spectacular and iconic scenery in Scotland, an environment which is at once beautiful and dramatic and offers the opportunity to enjoy nature at its best. The single-track road that passes the house terminates in a car park and from here there are waymarked walks and access to three Munroes.

The grounds at Inverlair Lodge extend in all to approximately 30.88 acres and provide excellent amenity as well as a habitat for native wildlife. Beautiful, formal gardens lie around the house, including a productive kitchen garden with raised beds, a polytunnel, greenhouse and soft fruit garden. Beyond this is the well-managed grazing land expending to about 5.4 acres, currently let on an informal basis, and with a burn, banking and wetland along three boundaries.

Set upon a mound, a generous block of magnificent, mixed woodland forms a broad boundary with the public road and is an important habitat and a valuable natural asset with historical and landscape value, while the wetland further expands biodiversity. Within the woodland are a number of kettleholes, land depressions formed by glacial retreat.

The property is close to Roy Bridge, with Spean Bridge about 8 miles and Inverness 62 miles.

Inverlair Lodge is for sale through Galbraith for Offers Over £1,350,000.