I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief - one of the things I want to do for my 40th (I know I'm a puppy, but it's huge to me) birthday trip to Orkney is spend one night at Balfour! Thanks for the happy news this morning Heather Heather Gehron-Rice, M.Div. 131 N Charlotte St Lancaster, PA 17603 USA (717)393 4323 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sian Thomas" <sian.thomas@btinternet.com> To: <orcadia@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 6:39 AM Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Orkney Properties... > Balfour castle now has new owners. Little is known about them at > present, or their intentions for the castle but it sounds like they > intend continuing running it as an hotel. The first thing they did was > put wi-fi internet access in! > > > > stephen davie wrote: >> I noticed this evening, that there seems to be quite a raft of >> properties floating on the market in Orkney. Perhaps it is just that >> I found a website with the bulk of the listings, or perhaps it is >> this new economy speaking to people. Lots of "doubling up" going on >> here in Canada, with family members merging their housing, as the >> economy continues to shrink faster than GM's bailout money. >> >> One add which was cute, suggested that if you moved to Stronsay, you >> could avoid traffic jams! haha. Over to you Bruce. Bin stuck in the >> rush hour traffic lately? >> >> Then the Balfour Castle is for sale, and comparing it to a Muskoka >> Estate near my place, the price at 2.7 million pounds is virtually >> justifiable, in an economy with some long term prospects that aren't >> so unholy scary. Indeed, the photos are just lovely, and the 14 >> bedrooms and 10 baths are a delight. To ever replace the stoney lofty >> structure would be virtually unthinkable. I further did not know that >> the property is indeed one that affords world class waterfowling. It >> would be the ultimate b and b. >> >> All the places posted seem to reflect a drop in price. There did not >> seem many with acreages a few years back, and indeed the prospects >> below two hundred thousand pounds, were few and sketchy. >> >> Indeed two of the places for sale are priced at thirty five and forty >> five thousand pounds respectively. One of these has six acres, on >> Sanday in think, and the other little place, only six miles from >> Kirkwall in Tankerness.... a wee rocky fixer-upper. >> >> It will be interesting to see how things fair in Orkney in the new >> world economic storm. I suspect, that like farming communities here, >> people will do better there than in the big cities to the south. >> Farmers near here say that in light of the fact that they live within >> a budget, and have no propensity for unrestricted spending frenzies >> on borrowed money, that their lives will be the same, basically. That >> frugality is evident in Orkney, and will shortly prove it's value >> methinks. And the expatriated Orkney families of yesteryear, will >> continue to return and explore their roots, and in some cases invest >> in their heritage with a property there. Orkney is indeed a world >> class attraction. >> >> So, not much news from the green isles these days. I still have two >> feet of snow some places in my yard, but that will soon disappear. >> Spring here, as in Orkney, is a tonic for the soul. >> >> Cheers....Stephen in central Canada >> >> ( the doonies in 2009!) >> _______________________________________ >> Orcadia Group Photo Album >> http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Certainly contact them! Don't know if they plan making changes before they re-open,or indeed if they will run as a regular hotel. As I say news is sketchy at the moment, though they have applied for an alcohol license so are likely to trade. I think the previous owners in recent times generally had it as a place for weddings etc rather than as a general hotel. But hopefully you will get your wish! Sian Heather Gehron-Rice wrote: > I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief - one of the things I want to do for my > 40th (I know I'm a puppy, but it's huge to me) birthday trip to Orkney is > spend one night at Balfour! > Thanks for the happy news this morning > Heather > Heather Gehron-Rice, M.Div. > 131 N Charlotte St > Lancaster, PA 17603 > USA > (717)393 4323 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sian Thomas" <sian.thomas@btinternet.com> > To: <orcadia@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 6:39 AM > Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Orkney Properties... > > > >> Balfour castle now has new owners. Little is known about them at >> present, or their intentions for the castle but it sounds like they >> intend continuing running it as an hotel. The first thing they did was >> put wi-fi internet access in! >> >> >> >> stephen davie wrote: >> >>> I noticed this evening, that there seems to be quite a raft of >>> properties floating on the market in Orkney. Perhaps it is just that >>> I found a website with the bulk of the listings, or perhaps it is >>> this new economy speaking to people. Lots of "doubling up" going on >>> here in Canada, with family members merging their housing, as the >>> economy continues to shrink faster than GM's bailout money. >>> >>> One add which was cute, suggested that if you moved to Stronsay, you >>> could avoid traffic jams! haha. Over to you Bruce. Bin stuck in the >>> rush hour traffic lately? >>> >>> Then the Balfour Castle is for sale, and comparing it to a Muskoka >>> Estate near my place, the price at 2.7 million pounds is virtually >>> justifiable, in an economy with some long term prospects that aren't >>> so unholy scary. Indeed, the photos are just lovely, and the 14 >>> bedrooms and 10 baths are a delight. To ever replace the stoney lofty >>> structure would be virtually unthinkable. I further did not know that >>> the property is indeed one that affords world class waterfowling. It >>> would be the ultimate b and b. >>> >>> All the places posted seem to reflect a drop in price. There did not >>> seem many with acreages a few years back, and indeed the prospects >>> below two hundred thousand pounds, were few and sketchy. >>> >>> Indeed two of the places for sale are priced at thirty five and forty >>> five thousand pounds respectively. One of these has six acres, on >>> Sanday in think, and the other little place, only six miles from >>> Kirkwall in Tankerness.... a wee rocky fixer-upper. >>> >>> It will be interesting to see how things fair in Orkney in the new >>> world economic storm. I suspect, that like farming communities here, >>> people will do better there than in the big cities to the south. >>> Farmers near here say that in light of the fact that they live within >>> a budget, and have no propensity for unrestricted spending frenzies >>> on borrowed money, that their lives will be the same, basically. That >>> frugality is evident in Orkney, and will shortly prove it's value >>> methinks. And the expatriated Orkney families of yesteryear, will >>> continue to return and explore their roots, and in some cases invest >>> in their heritage with a property there. Orkney is indeed a world >>> class attraction. >>> >>> So, not much news from the green isles these days. I still have two >>> feet of snow some places in my yard, but that will soon disappear. >>> Spring here, as in Orkney, is a tonic for the soul. >>> >>> Cheers....Stephen in central Canada >>> >>> ( the doonies in 2009!) >>> _______________________________________ >>> Orcadia Group Photo Album >>> http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >>> >>> >>> >> _______________________________________ >> Orcadia Group Photo Album >> http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > >