Boleskine House
The water of Loch Ness laps at the bank of the enigmatic Boleskine House. Boleskine is an old place and has existed in the records since the 13th century. Interestingly enough, the house was built on the site of the very first kirk. This is notable not just because the church had a graveyard, but because of the nasty urban legend that the kirk caught on fire during service and all those inside perished. It was built in the 1760s as a hunting lodge and was later expanded in the 1830s to be a permanent residence. Interestingly enough, with the addition, there was a tunnel linking the home to a graveyard.
I mean, we've barely gotten started an Boleskine house doesn't seem like a place to cozy up and call home. But, like all blogstonishing stories, it only gets stranger. In 1899, Aleister Crowley purchased the home the Fraser family, who had kept the home in the family for over a century. Crowley bought the home because he believed it was the perfect home to sequester himself away in as he practiced the magic in an infamous grimoire entitled The Book of Abramelin.
Just to set the scene, we have a remote family home located on Loch Ness where Aleister Crowley is now attempting to practice ancient magic.
When Aleister was living there, it was said strange activity in the small town increased greatly. A local workman Crowley employed went mad and tried to murder him. A butcher who received a note from Crowley was said to have accidentally cut his own hand off.
It’s said that the ritual failed, despite months of trying, and that he left the home and dozens of unrestful spirits in it and thus the legacy of the strange home continued.
Jimmy Page later purchased the house. He had a lifelong fascination with the occult and even owned an occult bookstore in London called The Equinox. He bought the home for the same reason so many of us would be drawn to visit: Crowley owned it.
While Jimmy Page only lived there for a few weeks, his childhood friend who helped restore the home lived there for years with his family. According to the Scotsman, “Dent had to contend with streams of ghouls making pilgrimages to Boleskine because of its association with Messrs Crowley and Page.”
Page sold the home in the 1990s and since then it has been occupied either as a residence or a guest home/inn.
Currently, it is being restored by a Keith Readdy and his wife Kyra. According to the Scotsman, the couple says: “We have a holistic vision for Boleskine House. We hope for it to be more than just a plain old visitor attraction.” They have quite a bit of work ahead of them as the home was ravaged by a fire in 2015 and was in disrepair afterwards.
When it’s re-opened, will you visit?
The blog image is by Aaron Sneddon, Aerial Scotland. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Thanks to Brendan for this blogstonishing suggestion!