Kimberley Hotel, Oban PA34 5EQ Offers in excess of £650,000

Situation

Kimberley House occupies a prime elevated position with beautiful open views over the town of Oban, the bay and beyond the Isle of Kerrera to the Sound of Mull and the Isle of Mull itself.
The town of Oban is the largest port in the West of Scotland and the main ferry terminus for the Hebrides. Ferries from Oban serve Mull and many of the inner Hebridean islands as well as Barra and South Uist in the Western Isles. Oban (meaning ‘little bay’ in Gaelic) has a population of approximately 8,500 and is known as – The Gateway to the Isles’. It originally existed as a small fishing and trading village until the steamers of the late Victorian era started arriving in greater numbers. The arrival of the railway in 1880 confirmed its growing status. The most outstanding feature in Oban is McCaig’s Tower, also known as McCaig’s Folly. This was built in 1897 to provide work for local stone masons and provide a lasting monument to the McCaig family. The original intention was to complete it with a large tower placed in the middle but this, like the intended statues of the McCaig family, never materialised. The tower is clearly visible from Kimberley House.
Oban is also arguably the centre for the West Coast sailing scene and still retains a large fishing fleet.
Oban boasts a wide variety of shops, sporting and transport facilities. Restaurants, cafes and bars abound, many with live bands and ceilidhs and, for the energetic, swimming and other sports can be enjoyed at the Atlantis Leisure Centre.

Description

Kimberley House is a fine Victorian villa which at present is trading as a four star guest house. It is built in stone under a hipped slate roof with conical turret. Externally, it is characterised by crow-stepped gables, its corner turret and an impressive entrance portico with crenellations. Listed Category B, it is described by Historic Scotland as one of Oban’s finest villas.
Mr Hugh Cowan, Chairman of the Central Diamond Mining Company built the palatial mansion of Kimberley House in 1885, on the site of the Craigard Hotel, which had been partly destroyed by fire. He named it after the famous Kimberley diamond mines which his company operated. For many years the house was known as Gleneuchar (Glen of the Key) and in 1954 it traded briefly as a hotel for the first time before being sold to North Argyll Hospital Trust as a maternity hospital. It was Oban’s maternity hospital until 1995. In the late 1990s it became the Kimberley Hotel.
It is built on three floors and has a commanding elevated position just below McCaig’s Folly, looking south over Oban Bay, to the Isle of Kerrera and beyond to Mull. The house is within a few minutes walk of the town centre and all amenities. The building is set in generous private gardens with a paved terrace outside the conservatory, and has private off-street parking for several cars.

Accommodation

On the ground floor is a magnificent reception hallway with a substantial marble fireplace housing an open fire. Off the hallway are an office and four en suite bedrooms. An inner hallway leads past the hotelier’s private sitting room and a store room to a conservatory, which was added in 1995 and presently serves as the dining room and bar. There is a connecting door to the kitchen, which is partly domestic, with white units at wall mounted and counter levels, and partly equipped for commercial catering on a large scale. To the rear of the bar are two guests’ wcs and a laundry room.
The first floor is accessed by a grand staircase, illuminated by a wonderful leaded window. Off the upper hallway are five further en suite bedrooms for guests and a door leading to the hotelier’s living accommodation where there are four en suite bedrooms. On the second floor there are four further en suite bedrooms and a store room.
In summary, there are 13 en suite bedrooms for guests and four within the hotelier’s accommodation, 17 in all. Most of the guest bedrooms have sea views and three have seating areas within the turret.

Directions

From Glasgow follow the M8 westbound and take the cut off for the Erskine Bridge. Cross the bridge and filter left (A82) signposted Crianlarich, following signs for Loch Lomond on the right hand side and continue to Tarbet. Turn right at Tarbet onto the A82 and on reaching Crianlarich turn left onto the A85 and continue to Oban. On entering Oban continue onto Dunollie Road and turn left into Deanery Brae. Turn right into Dalriach Road and continue beyond the leisure centre/swimming pool. Beyond the junction with Albert Road, Kimberley House is on the right hand side.