The question is always a simple one, but the answer is difficult. What would you do if you won the lottery? Would you quit your job? Most probably, yes. Would you move to somewhere a bit warmer? Most probably, yes. Would you also buy several thousand acres of pristine Scottish countryside and turn it into a natural oasis? Quite niche, but possibly.
If your answer to the final question was ‘yes that sounds nice’, then look no further than the Cally Estate in Dumfries and Galloway, which comes with 2,780 acres of land, glorious land, and also three farmhouses and a cottage. Yours through Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group for offers in excess of £7 million.
Murrayton House, one of four properties on the estate.
What are you getting for your £7 million? A lot of land in one of the most beautiful parts of the British Isles, basically. The estate is currently managed as a whole, but consists of three farms — Murrayton, Culreoch and Lagg — that are principally used to rear livestock. There is fertile arable land, there is woodland, and there are hills.
There is also water. The Little Water of Fleet and the Big Water of Fleet are two rivers that run through the estate, which converge to form The Water of Fleet. Running water and glorious hills — it could all be yours.
What would you do with it? There is plenty of scope for sporting potential, according to the agents, if that is your thing. You could also just plant lots of trees and sell some carbon credits if you’d prefer. Or you could continue farming. Or you could just walk around for hours on your own private piece of the Galloway Forest Park. With 2,780 acres, the possibilities are endless.
There are also some houses to look after. The central property on the estate is Murrayton House, which offers seven bedrooms and is in need of some modernisation. Furthermore, there is Culreoch Farmhouse (three bedrooms, in need of some modernisation), Lagg Cottage (three bedrooms), and Cruffock Cottage (two bedrooms).
There is no doubt that taking on the Cally Estate would be a project, but it would be a worthwhile one. Creating your dream home in the heart of 2,700 acres of prime Scotland seems a worthy use of that lottery money, and there’s plenty of spare beds for people to come and visit when you’re done.
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