A country house for sale in a picture-perfect valley near Inverness from where you can get down to London in just over an hour
More and more buyers of Scottish country houses are looking for places that remain relatively easily accessible, says Penny Churchill, as she discusses just such a place.


Beyond the limits of Edinburgh’s prosperous commuter belt, the outlook among leading country house agents remains surprisingly positive, despite a lack of supply. As one leading agent remarked, ‘here in Scotland, we’ve had so much thrown at us in recent years that we’ve all learnt to put our heads down and just get on with our lives’.
However, most will admit that today’s buyers are cautious about buying country houses that don’t offer another string to their bow, in the form of good sporting facilities, a working farm or established holiday lets, with proximity to an airport seen as a major advantage.
Galbraith are joint agents with Knight Frank in the sale — for ‘offers over £2.35m — of the charming, 358-acre Holme Rose amenity estate at Croy in the Nairn Valley.
Close to the Moray Firth and four miles from Inverness airport, I’m told a flight to London takes a commutable hour and 20 minutes. The pleasant coastal town of Nairn is nine miles to the north-east, with Inverness city centre 10 miles to the south-west.
Holme Rose (which means ‘farm of the Roses’) stands near to Kilravock Castle, the historic seat of the Rose clan. The estate was sold in the 1930s to Brig James Stirling of Fairburn, before being bought, in 1969, by Lord Campbell of Croy, the father of the present owner.
Lord Campbell was Secretary of State for Scotland in the early 1970s and regularly received British and international politicians and other dignitaries at Holme Rose.
The original farmhouse was built in the mid 18th century and gentrified by Col Rose who, in 1820, added the Classical Georgian front, using locally sourced Nairn pink stone.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
The present house, listed Category A, is currently let on a short-term tenancy and has three main reception rooms, eight principal bedrooms and four bathrooms, with two first-floor flats providing a further six bedrooms. It comes with a gate lodge, two estate cottages and two further cottages in need of refurbishment.
The house stands in more than 15 acres of formal gardens and grounds, including a former walled garden, listed Category C. The farmland at Holme Rose consists of 194 acres of farmland, currently down to grass and let to a local grazier, and 149 acres of woodland — a mix of mature broadleaf along the riverbank and east and west driveways, together with some more commercial blocks.
The estate also offers 1½ miles of single-bank salmon and sea-trout fishing on the River Nairn, with opportunities for roe-deer stalking and the potential to create a pheasant shoot.
Holme Rose is for sale via Galbraith and Knight Frank — see more pictures and details.
The latest update to Pevsner brings the 21st century update 'tantalisingly close to completion'
The work of updating Nikolas Pevsner and Ian Nairn's magnum opus on the buildings of England continues with a volume
-
A mini estate in Kent that's so lovely it once featured in Simon Schama's 'History of Britain'
The Paper Mill estate is a picture-postcard in the Garden of England.
By Penny Churchill Published
-
Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style: A whistle-stop history, from the Roman Baths to Hampstead Heath
Emma Hughes dives into swimming's hidden depths at the Design Museum's exhibit in London.
By Emma Hughes Published
-
A mini estate in Kent that's so lovely it once featured in Simon Schama's 'History of Britain'
The Paper Mill estate is a picture-postcard in the Garden of England.
By Penny Churchill Published
-
Hidden excellence in a £7.5 million north London home
Behind the traditional façades of Provost Road, you will find something very special.
By James Fisher Published
-
Sip tea and laugh at your neighbours in this seaside Norfolk home with a watchtower
On Cliff Hill in Gorleston, one home is taller than all the others. It could be yours.
By James Fisher Published
-
A Grecian masterpiece that might be one of the nation's finest homes comes up for sale in Kent
Grade I-listed Holwood House sits in 40 acres of private parkland just 15 miles from central London. It is spectacular.
By Penny Churchill Published
-
Some of the finest landscapes in the North of England with a 12-bedroom home attached
Upper House in Derbyshire shows why the Kinder landscape was worth fighting for.
By James Fisher Published
-
Could Gruber's Antiques from Paddington 2 be your new Notting Hill home?
It was the home of Mr Gruber and his antiques in the film, but in the real world, Alice's Antiques could be yours.
By James Fisher Published
-
What should 1.5 million new homes look like?
The King's recent visit to Nansledan with the Prime Minister gives us a clue as to Labour's plans, but what are the benefits of traditional architecture? And can they solve a housing crisis?
By Lucy Denton Published
-
Welcome to the modern party barn, where disco balls are 'non-negotiable'
A party barn is the ultimate good-time utopia, devoid of the toil of a home gym or the practicalities of a home office. Modern efforts are a world away from the draughty, hay-bales-and-a-hi-fi set-up of yesteryear.
By Madeleine Silver Published