Restoration of Scotland's 'Boleskine House' Could be Complete by Spring of 2022

A photograph of the Boleskine House in 1912, taken during Crowley’s ownership. (Aleister Crowley) — A photograph of the Boleskine House in 1912, taken during Crowley’s ownership. *(Aleister Crowley)*

Property developers Keith and Kyra Readdy said recently that restoration of Scotland’s infamous Boleskine House could be complete as early as the spring of 2022, and plans for its use in educational tourism continue.

“It will be great to be finally putting things inside the house rather than the relentless removal of rubble from inside," Keith told the Inverness Courier. “We plan to restore the building to the grand Georgian Hunting Lodge that it once was, that will include a panel room, a whisky room, a formal dining room and a library with books on the house’s past. But our very first job will be much more mundane, we are planning to remove a concrete render that was put on the building over the granite stone. We want to restore the granite and apply mortar to repair it. After that, the plan is then to put the roof on the building. We have planned for this work to place over the winter into spring 2021. We will then start to restore the inside. We plan to be finished by spring, 2022."

“It is hoped that the Boleskine House Foundation can one day be more than just the caretakers of the estate, but a forum that will enrich people with the importance of history and heritage, education and learning in branches of philosophy and Western esotericism, archaeology, and Scottish history, and to act as a place to engage the arts and humanities through collaborative projects," he added.

A fire on the property in July of 2019—the second in five years—set back its restoration, but work has since continued.

The interior of the Boleskine House was almost completely consumed by a fire in 2015, which left only the exterior walls and part of the roof intact. The remaining roof structure was destroyed by a second fire in 2019. (Galbraiths) — The interior of the Boleskine House was almost completely consumed by a fire in 2015, which left only the exterior walls and part of the roof intact. The remaining roof structure was destroyed by a second fire in 2019. *(Galbraiths)*

Prior to the fire, plans for the property’s development had been moving forward following its purchase by trustees of the Boleskine House Foundation.

The Boleskine House, once owned by infamous occultist Aleister Crowley, rests on the shore of Scotland’s Loch Ness—famed for its monster sightings—and Crowley was said to have purchased the house in order to perform an elaborate ritual invoking his guardian angel. The ritual, which involved abstinence from sex and alcohol, also required Crowley to summon the 12 Kings and Dukes of Hell, in order to bind them and remove their influence from the magician’s life.

Crowley owned the house from 1899 to 1913. Following his ownership it changed hands several times, each time being marked by tragedy—including one owner who used a shotgun to commit suicide in Crowley’s former bedroom—before being bought by musician Jimmy Page in 1970. Page himself was an avid occultist and follower of Crowley.

Page sold the house in 1992, and the house changed hands twice more before being mostly consumed by fire in 2015.

The property was purchased in 2019 by Kyra Readdy, who bought Lots 1 and 3, and William Clifford-Banks, who bought Lot 2.

Readdy and Clifford-Banks are members of a board of trustees belonging to the Boleskine House Foundation, a “not-for-profit group aimed at restoring and maintaining the Boleskine House estate."

“When it comes to heritage property I feel that we are guardians for future generations," Kyra said in a statement on the Boleskine House Foundation website. "It is my privilege and honor to work on this project and to be able to secure the future of the house.”

In a similar statement, Clifford-Banks said “I would like to dispel the negative rumours about Aleister Crowley and restore the estate as a space to host well-being and mindfulness events such as yoga and meditation retreats, and provide a place for lectures, conferences, and even ceremonies.”

The foundation has reportedly been in talks with occult organization Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) regarding the restoration project and the property's use following its completion.

The O.T.O. is an initiatory secret society known to include sexual elements in their magickal practices; founded at the beginning of the 20th century and still active today, Aleister Crowley was perhaps its best known member.

Members of the O.T.O. practice a religion known as Thelema, based on Crowley’s teachings.

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