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 > > >

hmmmm. Wonder how close to the asking price they came. Based of replacement cost, the Balfour Castle listing appeared to be priced well, depending on the condition. I suppose someone buying it would not be dependent upon the bedroom income for a living. It certainly wold be a nice place for a wedding reception. The high speed interenet is a must these days. And the alcohol license! On Mar 28, 2009, at 6:39 AM, Sian Thomas wrote: > 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 >