Best properties of 2012: Romantic castle keep

Kames Castle is an enchanting 14th century castle keep on the Isle of Bute in Argyll with 20 acres of land and holiday cottages. The property was originally the seat of the Bannatyne Family, whose roots can be traced back to King Alexander III of Scotland.

As a whole this property, which is really a collection of the castle and the cottages, would benefit from reinstatement as a single residence (merging two cottages with the main property) and represents an excellent opportunity to own and live in an historic Scottish dwelling with an additional income from the other houses.

The keep itself has general purpose stores on the ground level, a great hall on the first floor, and a wonderful open hall with a flagged floor on the second level. The third level has another hall with a fine timber floor.

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The seven cottages are all B-or C-listed and have been beautifully decorated. As such, they can provide a perfectly good income as holiday homes, or the two which are attached but currently separate could be merged into the castle to provide further accommodation - the keep itself is currently in need of some restoration to make it habitable.

Outside, the 18th century walled garden is B-listed and now offers apple, pear, peach and fig trees; the greenhouse has productive vines.

The 20 acres of grounds are parkland gardens with good open spaces interspersed with mature trees and access to the courtyard.

Kames Castle is situated on the eastern side of the Scottish island on Bute. Rothesey is about 2.5 miles to the south and frequent local ferries leave for the mainland on a daily basis. Glasgow and Prestwick airports are 40 and 50 miles respectively.

The guide price is £995,000. For further information please contact Strutt & Parker on 0141 225 3883 or visit www.struttandparker.com.

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