Inside 'haunted' Highland manor once owned by Aleister Crowley following multi-million pound restoration

A house twice ravaged by fire and previously owned by both the famous and infamous will soon be opening its doors to the public.

STV News has had a sneak preview of the restoration of Boleskine House – exactly ten years after a fire almost wiped the property off the map.

Built as a hunting lodge for the Fraser clan in the 18th century, its history has been shrouded in beheadings, hauntings and the occult.

The Boleskine House Foundation charity has rescued the historic building on the banks of Loch Ness, adamant that its story lives on.

Bar inside restored Boleskine House STV News

The manor was once owned by occultist Aleister Crowley, who self-professed himself as the “wickedest man in the world”, and in the 1970s by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page who reportedly collected Crowley memorabilia.

Foundation chief Keith Readdy, an academic who has also worked in hospitality, entertainment and property development, said: “To be able to be involved in a project of this scale, to be able to retrofit a building like this and have the opportunity to do it and to work with all the people paid and unpaid with this, it’s been second to none so far as life experience goes.

“We celebrate Crowley and all of the historic owners of the house as important cultural figures that had something to add or to offer to our studying arts, culture, heritage and history.

“I was interested in history, interested in music. I’ve been a big rock ‘n’ roll fan. I find the owners of the house, the history of the owners of the house, very interesting. I love the Scottish Highlands. I have ancestry here.”