From Trump’s Turnberry to the Dane who owns more of the country than King Charles, the mega-wealthy are obsessed
There is clearly something about Scotland. There must be, as a flurry of American millionaires – and even billionaires – are investing in the country’s wilder corners including, reportedly, a friend of George Clooney. Trump is at it too, developing a brace of luxurious properties, with further developments backed with Indian and Danish money. So who is investing in what and why?
The why is simple. I’m writing this at 57 Nord, a design-led brace of self-catering oases overlooking iconic Eilean Donan Castle. Out of floor-to-ceiling windows, Highland massifs soar above the island-studded loch. An otter has just splashed by; last night saw not only shooting stars, but also a meteorite and the Northern Lights. This natural drama – and space, with over 10 per cent of Europe’s coast – has attracted a new breed of accommodation that didn’t exist when I started writing about Scotland 20 years ago.
“There is indeed something about the Scottish Highlands,” 57 Nord’s London-born owner Mumtaz Lalani, tells me. “Here you are alone with nature. This really resonates with people in today’s world, particularly if you’re living in a big bustling city and are constantly connected to technology.”
Scotland has certainly resonated with Discovery Land Company (DLC), the company associated with Clooney’s friend, who are behind the massive new £300m Taymouth Castle project in Highland Perthshire. They’ve snapped up over 7,000 acres, from the castle where Queen Victoria stayed (said to have inspired Balmoral), through to a flurry of surrounding houses, a hotel, and boathouse in the adjacent village of Kenmore on the banks of Loch Tay. This is the majestic loch Ed Sheeran is also rumoured locally to have bought property on.