Myres Castle. DTX Images/Savills A couple bought a Scottish castle nine years ago and turned it into their home and a wedding venue. Now, Amanda Barnes and her husband have listed the medieval property for $3.
9 million. Myres Castle is home to 500 years of history, but to Barnes’ disappointment, no ghosts. Couples therapist Amanda Barge and her husband Henry moved to Myres Castle in Scotland just before Christmas nine years ago.
The exterior of the home and surrounding gardens. DTX Images/SavillsThe Barges are selling their 500-year-old castle for £3. 5 million, or around $3.
9 million, through Savills real-estate agency. According to the listing, the home sits on 45 acres of land. The main house has 10 bedrooms, five reception rooms, and three kitchens.
“We moved in just before Christmas one year, and it was all a little bit surreal,” Amanda told Insider. “The family all came, and we had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. And then everyone left, and we thought ‘Oh my goodness.
Now what do we do with it?'”Despite early anxieties about the prospect of owning a medieval castle, Amanda said she and Henry quickly found themselves at home. They also took it one step further by opening up the property to others throughout the years – they’ve put on yoga retreats, writing and poetry workshops, and even let it be booked out for weddings. “It’s not our ancestral home, so we’re really happy to share it with people,” Amanda said.
Amanda said Myres Castle is incredibly well located — you can be in Edinburgh in 45 minutes, but also feel a great sense of privacy. Myres Castle is 36 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland. Google Maps, DTX Images/SavillsThe castle, which is being sold furnished, is centrally located, Amanda said.
It’s close to St. Andrews, which is one of the country’s famous spots for golfing, as well as being only a 45-minute drive from Edinburgh. She also said there’s a village nearby but surprisingly, there are still people who live in that town who don’t know Myres Castle exists because of how well hidden it is behind big, mature trees.
“People in the village sometimes don’t know we’re here, which just seems crazy,” she said. “People say, ‘We’ve driven that route for 30 years, and we’ve never known that was there. ‘”One of the reasons the couple was drawn to Myres Castle was its rich history.
Amanda said she’s always felt as if they were “borrowing a property for a bit of time. “Myres Castle was originally built in 1530. DTX Images/SavillsThe Savills listing says the property’s roots date back to 1530, when it was originally constructed by a man called John Scrymgeour.
Notably, he was the person who oversaw the refurbishment of Holyrood Palace, an estate kept by the royal family to this day. Knowing just how many people have walked through the doors of Myres Castle over the hundreds of years it stood has always fascinated Amanda. “I’ve always been very interested in Scottish history,” she said.
“You do feel as though you’re just borrowing this amazing property, which has had this incredible history. “Remnants of the castle’s colorful past are everywhere, Amanda said. The oldest part of the home is the dungeons, used today as the family’s storerooms.
Inside Myres Castle. DTX Images/SavillsThe idea of owning a dungeon may sound more unsettling than the reality. Amanda says Myres Castle’s dungeon is the oldest part of the entire property and features an ancient staircase and high-vaulted ceilings.
According to Jamie Macnab, the Savills agent handling the sale of the home, the dungeon likely has a “brutal history. “But whatever happened there in the past is firmly in the past, Amanda said. Today, it’s used simply as a storage room.
Given the history, Amanda said she’s always been “desperate to see a ghost. “The dining room. DTX Images/Savills”I would love to see a ghost,” she said, before clarifying that she hasn’t yet at Myres Castle.
However, she said has heard footsteps throughout the castle, which is about as supernatural as it gets. “Definitely, there are lovely feelings of benevolent energies,” Amanda said. “Occasionally, we’ll hear some footsteps and things, but sadly, no ghosts.
“Ghosts, dungeons, and 500 years’ worth of history aside, Myres Castle has evolved into a home fit for a modern family. The billiards room. DTX Images/SavillsBy the time Amanda and her husband bought Myres Castle, two of their three children were already grown up and had moved out of the family home, she said.
Nevertheless, the whole family has gotten the opportunity to experience living there. “It’s been fabulous for grown-up children,” she said. Every so often, Amanda said her kids would ask whether they could bring groups of friends over for staycations.
“It’s been an amazing party house for them,” she added. Until the late 1990s, the castle didn’t have a proper kitchen. That all changed when the Barges put in a “fantastic family kitchen,” Macnab said.
The kitchen. DTX Images/SavillsMacnab, who has overseen the sale of Myres Castle twice before, said that up until the 1990s, the castle didn’t actually have a proper working kitchen. The first owner was a descendant of the famous Scottish Fairlie clan, according to Macnab.
“A most magnificent man,” he said. “He lived in it, looked after by his housekeeper, and there was no room that people nowadays would recognize as a kitchen. “Instead, the owner had a small utility room with an electric cooker where the housekeeper used to cook his meals.
But thanks to the Barges, that’s no longer the case. “The one thing the Barges did was a fantastic family kitchen,” he said. Myres Castle can sleep over 20 guests in its 10 bedrooms, which all have a very “different feel,” Amanda said.
Each bedroom is distinctly decorated. DTX Images/SavillsThe property is home to a host of bedrooms. Within the castle itself, there are three on the ground floor and seven on the upper floors.
Elsewhere on the grounds lie the Courtyard Cottage, which has three bedrooms, and the Gate Lodge, which has one, according to the listing. “Every bedroom has a very different feel,” Amanda added. From the colors of the walls to the decor and furnishing, there’s no bedroom quite like the other at Myres Castle.
However, Amanda said the one thing the rooms have in common is that they are incredibly comfy. “People will go, ‘Oh, where’d you get that duvet? Where did you get the pillows?'” she said. “There’s something about the rooms that they’re exceptionally comfortable, but they are all different.
“Perhaps the quirkiest bedroom in the castle is the blue-striped Tented Room, which Amanda said she wouldn’t “want to wake up with a hangover in. “One of the 10 bedrooms. DTX Images/SavillsOut of all the bedrooms at Myres Castle, one of the most eye-catching ones is the Tented Room.
According to Amanda, its blue-striped design was handpainted and, on closer inspection, contains extraordinary details of little painted mice going into a hole. “It’s quite fun,” the homeowner said. “But I don’t know if I’d want to wake up with a hangover in the Tented Room.
“The bathrooms are also quite distinctive – and for a medieval castle, you’d be surprised at how good the water pressure is in the shower, Amanda said. The castle showers have “amazing water pressure,” Amanda said. DTX Images/Savills”We have amazing water pressure and immediate hot water, and that’s pretty unusual in an old building,” Amanda said.
Though castles often get a reputation for being “cold and drafty,” the opposite is true of Myres Castle, she added. There’s well-functioning central heating – the Barges installed an on-site biomass boiler, which has the added benefit that there are no heating costs, Amanda said. One of Amanda’s favorite memories from living at Myres Castle happened just a few months ago when her daughter got married there.
The Barge’s daughter got married at the castle in July. SavillsAfter nine years, Amanda said she’s created so many “fond memories” of her time at Myres Castle. But one memory that sticks out happened only recently, in July, when her daughter chose to tie the knot at home.
She said the bride and her bridesmaids got ready for the big day in what is known as the Rose Room. “It’s a very feminine room and you also look out onto the garden,” Amanda said. “The Rose Room is pretty special.
Henry and I, that’s where we would normally hang out the most. ” Speaking of weddings, Amanda and Henry have run Myres Castle as a boutique wedding venue over the years. The wedding venue.
DTX Images/SavillsA few years after buying Myres Castle, Amanda said someone suggested to her and Henry that it could make an incredible wedding location. “It has a sort of rustic feel with the castle element as well,” Amanda said. Eventually, they made their vision of turning their home into a part-time luxury wedding venue a reality.
Per their brochure, the Barges can offer accommodation at the castle for up to 24 people and host wedding parties with up to 200 guests. But since the castle is still very much their family home, they try to schedule weddings for the summer. “Any time you have a wedding,” she said.
“A guest will go, ‘We never knew this was here. ‘ And they will say, ‘This is the most beautiful place to have a wedding. ‘”Although their chapter at Myres Castle is coming to an end, Amanda said she hopes the new owners will keep the doors open for all people to enjoy it.
Myres Castle. DTX Images/SavillsEven though Amanda has loved calling Myres Castle home, she said she and Henry knew they were never going to live there forever. “It’s not the type of building you would grow old in,” she said.
“We’re sort of ready for another adventure, but probably on a smaller scale. “So with the sale, the future of Myres Castle is now up in the air. But Amanda said she does have certain hopes for the new owners.
On top of having someone live there who would respect the history of Myres Castle, she said ideally a new owner would continue to allow others to experience it. “I would hate the idea that its doors would be shut to people being able to enjoy it,” Amanda said. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/medieval-scottish-myres-castle-on-sale-for-millions-photos-2022-10
