Nwicker60
31-Oct-11, 23:08
Keen interest in lonely house where time stood still
IT has no running water, or electricity supply yet the sale of the thatched longhouse situated high on the east coast of Caithness has attracted considerable interest nationwide since it was put up for sale.
The deadline for offers closes on Friday and it’s possible that this unusual des res commanding breath-taking views over the Moray Firth, could hit the £200,000.
A significant number of people from all over the country have expressed an interest in the thatched but-and-ben, home to the hardy Mowat sisters for decades. The successful bidder will be faced with quite a challenge, in terms of renovation work as the Corr has remained much the same when it was in the 300 years since it was built.
The Mowat pensioners, Minnie and Georgie Keith eked out a Spartan existence in their modest abode, in the shadow of the county’s biggest peak, Morven, cutting their own peat for fuel and baking their own bread an oatcakes on an iron griddle, threshing their own corn. Water had to be drawn from a spring, a quarter of a mile trudge over moorland, in all weathers.
The sisters’ worked the land amounting to some 20 acres, kept a flock of 30 sheep and didn’t have to go the shop for their milk which came from four cows living at the opposite end of their self-contained home. A hard life?...in an interview they once gave, Minnie said that the crofting way of life was the only one they knew in their home, frequently cut off by winter snowstorms, and added: “I wouldn’t swap places with someone living in skyscraper flats in the city.”
It’s possible though that the longhouse may remain in its unique time warp. Bruce de Wert, head of Wick solicitors and estate agents, Georgesons, acting for relatives, said that the interest declared in the property, local as well as national has come from people keen to preserve the building as a museum. Other potential owners want the land for agricultural purpose which might be sold separately from the longhouse.
Mr de Wert said that the two deals option might be the best outcome, at the end of the day.
IT has no running water, or electricity supply yet the sale of the thatched longhouse situated high on the east coast of Caithness has attracted considerable interest nationwide since it was put up for sale.
The deadline for offers closes on Friday and it’s possible that this unusual des res commanding breath-taking views over the Moray Firth, could hit the £200,000.
A significant number of people from all over the country have expressed an interest in the thatched but-and-ben, home to the hardy Mowat sisters for decades. The successful bidder will be faced with quite a challenge, in terms of renovation work as the Corr has remained much the same when it was in the 300 years since it was built.
The Mowat pensioners, Minnie and Georgie Keith eked out a Spartan existence in their modest abode, in the shadow of the county’s biggest peak, Morven, cutting their own peat for fuel and baking their own bread an oatcakes on an iron griddle, threshing their own corn. Water had to be drawn from a spring, a quarter of a mile trudge over moorland, in all weathers.
The sisters’ worked the land amounting to some 20 acres, kept a flock of 30 sheep and didn’t have to go the shop for their milk which came from four cows living at the opposite end of their self-contained home. A hard life?...in an interview they once gave, Minnie said that the crofting way of life was the only one they knew in their home, frequently cut off by winter snowstorms, and added: “I wouldn’t swap places with someone living in skyscraper flats in the city.”
It’s possible though that the longhouse may remain in its unique time warp. Bruce de Wert, head of Wick solicitors and estate agents, Georgesons, acting for relatives, said that the interest declared in the property, local as well as national has come from people keen to preserve the building as a museum. Other potential owners want the land for agricultural purpose which might be sold separately from the longhouse.
Mr de Wert said that the two deals option might be the best outcome, at the end of the day.