Former home of 'world's wickedest man' to become holiday destination

The former home of black magic master Aleister Crowley is to be restored as a historic visitor attraction with 10 ‘hobbit’ style holiday homes to be created in its grounds.

Boleskine House at Foyers near Loch Ness and its former owner, occultist Aleister Crowley. PIC: SWNS/Creative Commons.

Boleskine House at Foyers, which overlooks Loch Ness, was home to the occultist, who has been described as the ‘wickedest man in the world’, in the early 1900s but was abandoned after a six-month ritual went wrong.

Later bought by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and then owned by a Dutch family, the house was bought by Keith Readdy and his wife Kyra in 2019 but was destroyed by a fire months later.

Mr Readdy, a researcher in comparative religion and author of a book on Crowley’s legacy, is now trustee of the Boleskine House Foundation, which has lodged plans to rebuild the 18th Century property and open out parts of it to visitors.

A statement from the foundation, which has denied it is to become a place of “pilgrimage and ritual”, said it wanted to restore the building to its original form as built by Lord Lovat, chief of the Fraser of Lovat.

It added: “In addition to this, we have put in a planning application to build 10 cabins which will be sunken into the hillside with grass roofs. The cabins are designed as a form of ‘hobbit hut’ with a large circular window and are designed to be hidden in the landscape.

"The intention is for these eco-cabins to be available for tourists and families who would like to visit the Highlands for a holiday to enjoy the Loch Ness area and for walking and cycling holidays.

“The planning application of course is of public interest because this is Aleister Crowley's former home. As historians and bastions of heritage conservation, our take on Aleister Crowley is not one of sensationalism or alarmist conjecture as many will find in the popular press, but rather academic in nature, seeing Crowley as a historical and cultural figure of his time.”

Once rebuilt, limited guided tours of the ‘impressive public rooms’ and grounds will be offered.

In a letter to Highland Council’s planning department, the foundation said the house’s previous owners were part of the Boleskine House story but did not “directly influence its future use.”

The letter added: “There is no intention for the house to become a place of pilgrimage or ritual, nefarious or otherwise. Indeed, such matters are strictly

prohibited by the Foundation’s constitution, and it could not undertake such actions in any event as it would be a breach of Scottish charities law.”

The historic environment conservation team at Highland Council have supported the restoration given the listed building was at “considerable risk of being lost”.

A statement said: “In this case, the proposal seeks a faithful, conservation-led restoration of the building, based on historical research, with a small number of sensitive alterations.”

Crowley, who bought Boleskine in 1900, conducted various black magic rituals at the house including a six-month long experiment to raise his Guardian Angel.

It is said the experiment was not properly completed, with the spirits raised never fully banished leading to a number of unexplained events at Boleskine.

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