Overview of Kinloch Castle

A remarkable Edwardian mansion-house located on the east coast of the island of Rum in the Inner Hebrides, Kinloch Castle overlooks Loch Scresort. Built as a summer palace in between 1897 and 1906 by the wealthy English industrialist George Bullough (1870 - 1939) in a Tudor-Gothic style, its stone was brought from Arran, hence its distinctive reddish hue. It was remarkable for the modern conveniences fitted by the spendthrift Bullough. These included lighting, powered by hydro-electricity, central heating, double-glazed stained-glass windows, sophisticated showers and an early telephone system. There was a conservatory, now lost, which housed hummingbirds and, in the garden, were heated pools with alligators and turtles.

The castle was sold by the Bullough family in 1957 and is now owned by the government environmental agency, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The castle remains almost unchanged, with its original furniture and fittings, and is run as a hotel. Despite its Category 'A' listing, SNH have struggled to maintain the castle and in 2003, it featured in the BBC television programme Restoration.