The Laird of Balavil, Allan
Macpherson-Fletcher lives in a home that has been in his family since the
1790s.
Balavil Estate
Balavil was designed and
built by Robert Adam for a wealthy Georgian, James Macpherson who made his
fortune from the East India Company.
Later, the estate survived
because a “good marriage” was made with a family that had attained their
fortune during the Industrial Revolution.
Balaval today has 18
bedrooms, a large dining room, a gunroom, updated kitchen and no central
heating. The estate includes 7,000 acres.
The Balaval estate was made
famous when it was featured as Kilwillie Castle in the popular British
television drama, Monarch of the Glen.
The Macphersons are the last
of the old families in the great house of strathspey.
Most of the neighboring
estates in the Central Highland near Inversness have already been sold off to
billionaires from around the world.
These landlords who spend
only 2 to 3 weeks out of the year at these estates are liked by the
Scottish for they employ many locals year-round to maintain these properties
inside and out.
During an interview with The Telegraph in 2013 Allan Macpherson-Fletcher
announced he has put his estate up for sale, which means an end to an era in
the Central Highlands.
Allan Macpherson while
studying agriculture at Aberdeen University did not intend to become the Laird
of Balavil.
But when the A9 had plans to
built through the estate his elderly Aunt Peg begged him to help out. When she died he took over.
He fell in love with a local
widow who was the daughter of a shooting tenant at Balavil. His wife Marjorie
and him have 5 children and have been married for 38 years.
Macpherson has worked to
maintain the estate as a commercial operation for the last 40 years.
In its heyday in the 1930s
the estate had a carpenter, two foresters, four games keepers, six gardeners
and eight farm staff. There was also fourteen staff in the house to look after
the family.
During the seven seasons Monarch of the Glen was filmed at
Balavil the 1000 pound daily fee helped the estate keep going.
These days Macpherson has a
housekeeper and one gamekeeper. He brings in additional staff only when needed.
Macpherson, who is 63 years old, is the estates’ gardener and landscaper.
He is not sad about letting
the estate go for his children have other plans.
The Estate’s Ghost
Macpherson mentions
the buyer of the estate will also inherit the home’s friendly ghost.
The presence of this female
ghost was first noticed while renovating the home’s kitchen. They opened a
small room that had been sealed off under this room.
The ghosts name is Sarah and
she has caused quite a stir over the years.
Her name is known for she at
one time was a maid in the home. She fell in love with the butler but he felt
she was beneath him in station.
Devastated, Sarah then threw
herself from a bridge into the Raitts Burn--taking her own life.
The laird describes Sara as
“kindly and well-meaning.” The family has never felt threatened by her.
She is not a traditional
house ghost. She does not rattle the china or turn the lights on and off.
She instead has often folded
discarded clothes left by guests of the estate. They wake to find their clothes
neatly folded on the edge of their beds.
For the family she often
turns the coffee pot on in the early morning and stokes the fire in the kitchen
on bitterly cold days.
Twice she has been blamed for
the wallpaper peeling off in one bathroom. She turned the hot water taps on and
let them run full blast.
While The Telegraph crew were taping the interview with Macpherson the
batteries in their microphone inexplicably went dead each time he mentioned
Sarah.
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