Bought for £2.2m, yours for £750k – the house that’s lost £1,309 a day

IT WAS one of the most expensive properties in Scotland when it sold for a massive £2.2 million.

Now the owners of mansion house estate Strathgarry House have proved it is possible to shave two-thirds off the value of a home in just three years – by gutting it and then putting it back on the market.

The ten-bedroom Victorian property near Killiecrankie – which has salmon fishing pools at the bottom of the garden and boasts grounds totalling 23 acres, a 19th-century walled garden and a private tennis court – has been put up for sale at offers over £750,000.

That is £1.45m less than its sale price of three years ago, meaning it has lost £1,308 a day since its previous purchase.

Although the property market in Scotland has taken a hit from the recession, higher-end homes have been better protected than cheaper ones due to a continued supply of cash-rich buyers – or purchasers with a large amount of equity in their existing homes.

The property, which is four miles from Pitlochry, has undergone significant work since it was bought by the current owners – who are said to be planning to move because of a “change of circumstances”. The 7,255sq ft main house has been stripped out to a shell ahead of a complete renovation project that had been planned by the existing owners.

However, the two-storey courtyard complex, known as Wester Strathgarry, has already been fully refurbished and offers two cottages and a galleried “great hall”, which was used by the previous inhabitants as an intimate concert hall.

“This is the most amazing chance for someone to snap up a real bargain,” said Jamie Macnab of Savills, which is marketing the property alongside CKD Galbraith.

“A lot of money has already been spent on the property and, although the house obviously still requires major expenditure to complete the restoration, being able to finish it off to suit your own requirements, and to your own taste, is great.”

He added: “The location is fantastic and having your own salmon fishing at the bottom of the garden has to be every fisherman’s dream.”

Strathgarry owns about half a mile of single bank fishings on the River Garry, which runs close to the property.

A planning application was approved by Perth and Kinross Council in 2009 for “Alterations and extension to house and stable annexe” and “erection of ancillary outbuildings within grounds”.

The owners subsequently began work on the property but are understood to have decided to sell before completion. The main property is described as being in “shell condition with a refurbished new roof and new windows”.

The marketing brochure goes on: “It offers scope to be completed as a traditional country house, to be reconfigured into something more modern or subdivided.”

According to documents from the Land Registry Scotland, the property was sold for £2.2m on 3 October, 2008, after 13 years in the ownership of the previous inhabitants.

According to the property website Zoopla, which estimates the current value of a home based on the average rise or fall in prices in the surrounding area, Strathgarry House should be on the market for £2.1m – that is only 3.5 per cent lower than the selling price three years ago.

The average property in Scotland has dropped 1.1 per cent over the past year, according to the latest figures from the Nationwide building society, which tracks house prices across the UK.