Boleskine House: Former Highland home of occultist Aleister Crowley and Led Zeppelin founder is sold

The former Highland home of occultist Aleister Crowley that was largely destroyed by fire four years ago has been sold.

Occultist Aleister Crowley (pictured) conducted a series of black magic experiments at Boleskine House on the banks of Loch Ness and claimed his work had been successful in gathering demons. PIC: Creative Commons.

The new owners of Boleskine House near Loch Ness will be hoping for a new peaceful chapter in the property's story with it understood the house is to become home to a charitable foundation and opened up to the public.

Those who have bought the property have not been named but they plan to fully restore the house where Crowley centred his black magic investigations after he bought it, aged 25, in 1899.

It was later bought by Led Zeppelin founder and guitarist Jimmy Page in the 1970s with the rock god owning the "most notorious home in the Highlands" for around 20 years.

Boleskine House after the devastating fire of 2015. The new owners have urged the public to stay away given the dangerous state of the property, which is to be fully restored. PIC: SWNS.

A blaze in 2015 caused extensive damage to Boleskine House with the fragile building now a danger to the public.

It has long drawn those curious in the occult but the new owners have urged people to stay away until the house is fully repaired and restored to a safe state.

Paranormal investigators Highland Paranormal carried out a recent survey at the property, which did not pick up any supernatural activity, and was contacted by the new owners.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page outside Boleskine House, which he bought in the early 1970s. PIC: Douglas Corrance/The Scotsman.

Highland Ghosts said on its social media channel: "Following on from our investigation we are delighted to have been contacted by the new owners of the property who have kindly shared their vision with us of restoring the property and grounds to their original state, while also creating a non-profit charitable trust so that the public in general will be able enjoy the house and grounds for generations to come.

"Highland Paranormal will be supporting this project moving forward and we would like to wish the new owners all the best with this amazing project to restore a key part of the area's heritage.

"Meanwhile the owners have asked that due to the current dangerous state of the house, that the public in general stays away from the building and grounds until construction work has been completed and the house is opened to the public."

A spokesman for Highland Ghosts said it could not comment further on the plans for the building.

Crowley, aged just 25, bought Boleskine in 1899 after looking for the right location to carry out a series of rituals from the Book of Abramelin.

It was a text central to Crowley’s new religion - Thelema - which he believed would help him make contact with his holy guardian angel.

He reportedly required “a house in a more or less secluded situation” with a door that opened to the north from where the oratory could be delivered.

From there, Crowley planned to banish the demons once they had been summoned to a terrace, which would be covered in ‘fine river dust’.

It is the full process could take up to six months.

Of his experiments in the Highlands, Crowley - who styled himself Laird of Boleskine and Abertarf - wrote: “The demons and evil forces had congregated round me so thickly that they were shutting off the light. It was a comforting situation. There could be no more doubt of the efficiency of the operation,”

It is said the consequences of Crowley’s time at Boleskine were long felt, with several personal tragedies associated with the house.

One employee of the estate attempted to kill his wife and children, it was claimed in Crowley’s diary. His lodge keeper, Hugh Gillie, suddenly lost his two children in sudden, unexplained circumstances.

A housemaid is said to have gone made with a local butcher cutting off his hand while dealing with Crowley’s order.

In 1960 the new owner of the property, Major Edward Grant, killed himself with a shotgun in the bedroom that had been used by Crowley for many of his satanic rituals.

While unconfirmed tales about Boleskine’s past keep re-energising themselves, the property has enjoyed a quieter period with a Dutch family latterly using it as a holiday home.

They sold up after the fire - and were reportedly "utterly devastated" that their home was destroyed.