Historic Loch Ness home used for black magic rituals and once owned by Led Zeppelin guitarist to reopen

A house by Loch Ness once used by occultist Aleister Crowley to perform black magic rituals is to reopen to the public after it secured lottery funding for its ongoing restoration.

Boleskine House at Foyers was bought by Mr Crowley in 1899, with the home later acquired by Led Zepelin guitarist Jimmy Page, whose caretaker lived in the property.

The house, which has long attracted the curiosity of those interested in Mr Crowley and his work, was largely destroyed by two fires in 2017 and 2019 but is set to open for public tours next year.

A young Aleister Crowley, English author and occultist, bought Boleskine House in 1899 with his ownership long linking the property to Black Magic rituals and experiments. PIC: Getty. | Getty Images

The Boleskine House Foundation bought the property after the second fire and has spent the past three years restoring the pile, which will be used for tourism and education.

Chairman Keith Readdy said the £250,000 award was a “monumental step” for the organisation and the community

He said: “It allows us to complete the interior restoration of this treasured site, preserving its legacy for future generations to experience and learn from. We are profoundly grateful for this support and look forward to bringing this vision to life.”

The charity has lodged an application with Highland Council for the interior work.

The plans include the recreation of an 18th Century Georgian-style kitchen, dining room and wood panelled drawing room. A library and research room have also been proposed.

The charity was earlier granted permission to build 10 ‘hobbit’ style cabins in the grounds for guests.

The restoration could cost about £1.5m to complete and the foundation hopes to open the property to the public in 2025.

Mr Readdy is a researcher in comparative religion and author of a book on Mr Crowley’s legacy.

The foundation earlier said the house would not become a place of “pilgrimage and ritual” and that while the previous owners were part of the story of the property, they did not “directly influence its future use”.

Mr Crowley bought Boleskine after looking for the right location to carry out a series of rituals from the Book of Abramelin.

It was a text central to his new religion, Thelema, which he believed would help him make contact to his guardian angel.

His plan was to banish demons that had been summoned to a new north door built into the house.

It is said Mr Crowley, who styled himself as Laird of Boleskine and Abertaf, had to leave his Highland home on business before the full six-month ritual was concluded, with it claimed the demons were left gathered at the house.

Guitarist Mr Page bought Boleskine in the 1970s but only visited a handful of times, with his caretaker Malcolm Dent living there full time.

The Scotsman

Mr Page went on to claim “bad vibes” surrounded the house, which went on to feature in The Song Remains The Same, the documentary which followed the band on their 1973 tour of the United States.

Mr Dent lived happily at the house and raised his family there until Page sold up in the 1990s. It was later bought by a Dutch couple.

The foundation said the designs “reimagine the historical elements of the B-listed building, with a nod to important eras of the house’s past, while reducing its carbon footprint.”

The lounge design is inspired by the Egyptian revivalist trend of the Victorian era with rooms to be adorned with reclaimed Jacobean fireplaces, providing a “grand finishing touch”.