Boleskine

[FavouriteTipple]

Folks, here's the most comprehensive article about the house fire I've found. Very sad.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/inverness/788749/fire-nightmare-before-christmas/

[Mithril46]

Mildly interesting, but really only because Page and Crowley had lived in the house. And both have

been wildly accused of things mired only in speculation. Never been to England, but supposedly

because of the ancient age of many structures and history, more people in the U.K. accept

supernatural events as a matter of course, not a symptom of psychosis as here. Oh well.

[FavouriteTipple]

Mildly interesting

The very human habit of venerating the residences of and places associated with celebrated people is fairly well-established at this point in history. Jimi Hendrix's London flat is now a museum. James Joyce's Martello Tower home in Dublin is a museum. Sam Wanamaker rebuilt Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Lincoln's birthplace is a National Historic Park. The list goes on.

As for your high-faluting suppositions about symptoms of psychosis, England (Boleskine is in Scotland btw), the U.K. or indeed any other part of the world that you have not yet visited, sir, well, your trolling, culturally-biased statement speaks for itself. Good day to you.

[IpMan]

Mildly interesting, but really only because Page and Crowley had lived in the house. And both have

been wildly accused of things mired only in speculation. Never been to England, but supposedly

because of the ancient age of many structures and history, more people in the U.K. accept

supernatural events as a matter of course, not a symptom of psychosis as here. Oh well.

Well, don't know about the psychosis part in the states, after all some of the most popular programming here is based around the supernatural and hauntings in particular. All things not being equal, that would be the exception. Regardless, the UK or the States, people believe what they do and superstition dies hard. Shit, people still believe in the Amityville Horror and that was debunked over a decade ago. Don't even get me started on the Gettysburg Battlefield, The Dakota, or 90% of the mansions in New Orleans & Savannah.

[Mithril46]

There are certainly many places in the U.S. where the supernatural or "paranormal" activity is more

accepted than in other places or regions. You can even call the "Bible Belt" in the Southern U.S.

such a place. As I stated, I have never been to the U.K.. Apparently the books I have read and the

shows I have watched about English hauntings were propaganda and somehow were intended to

make English or Scottish people look unscientific or unsophisticated. Where I live it is not practical

or wise to mention things like that(paranormal,etc.), but I think overall every person feels differently

about such things. Anyway it's pointless to argue about such things, or what came before the Big Bang.

[FavouriteTipple]

Last word from me on this subject. One ought to seriously question the validity and the editorial agenda of any media, or indeed any system of thinking, which makes or alludes to the subjects being "unscientific or unsophisticated", as this is the insidious process which dehumanises certain people, ignores or belittles their cultural heritage, and gives licence to others to assume superiority and dominate. History and our current world is full of such examples. For fun, here's a list of Scottish scientists as reference to their backwardness as a people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_scientists

Returning to this thread, someone's home has burned down, which is an awful material fact. Nothing to do with the paranormal or supernatural, unless one believes certain trashy television shows or hysterical tabloid media, or even vengeful belief systems. Then again, science is slowly realising all sorts of things that lie beyond the spectrum of the human eye, mind and spirit. But that's another story...

Edited January 5, 2016 by FavouriteTipple
fixed a typo.

[IpMan]

My money is on an electrical fire. Jimmy renovated the home significantly in the 1970's and I would assume he would have upgraded both plumbing and electrical at that time to industry standard. However, in the 1970's, there was a copper shortage which resulted in switching to aluminum wiring as the industry standard from the late 60's until the late 70's. Aluminum wiring is notorious for electrical fires and was discontinued around 1978, 79'. Since Jimmy supposedly only spent a couple of weeks there while he owned it, and then sold it in 92', I doubt the aluminum wiring was updated to proper copper wiring. Best bet to find out would be to access the public records for the town the house is in and pull all building permits relating to Boleskine for the past 45 years to find out. In fact it would probably be interesting to pull those permits regardless of the situation due to historical  significance and curiosity. Unless one lives in Calcutta, re-wiring a house requires a building permit issued and inspected, before, during, and after construction.

Edited January 5, 2016 by IpMan

[Moddey Dhoo]

I'll post any decent pix of the house if and when I get them.

 

Thank you.

I had hoped to visit Boleskine someday, but I guess that dream is over.

[Mithril46]

That is some interesting story about the wiring situation. Hate to say this,  but I do feel another owner not as thrifty as Page

would have automatically updated the wiring. It's not as if Page bought some half collapsed, roof leaking  derelict mansion

somewhere with the electric not even functioning, and  he would be sinking $100,000 just to get the power on. I am sorry

my comments about  the U.K.  attitude towards the supernatural  were misinterpreted. I suppose it must have come out

like I believe all Brits and Scots don't leave their house  without consulting a horoscope,, and that every odd sound in a 

house, castle,etc., must be coming from mysterious paranormal  sources. And of course not everybody screams psycho

if somebody says ghosts were seen, but don't tell a cop that. Just know that on a person to person basis wherever a person

comes from, I have no set attitude about their supernatural beliefs, among  MANY other more important things.

[sam_webmaster]

Fire at house formerly owned by guitarist Jimmy Page 'not suspicious'

STV | 11 January 2016

A fire which destroyed a mansion formerly owned by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and occultist Aleister Crowley was not started intentionally, investigators say.

The blaze broke out at Boleskine House on the eastern bank of Loch Ness at around 1.40pm on December 23.

Around 60% of the B-listed mansion was destroyed in the fire, which took hours to bring under control.

Investigators are confident the fire was not suspicious but have been unable to establish its cause.

Crowley, who became infamous for his books on the occult, lived at Boleskine House between 1899 and 1913.

Former Led Zeppelin guitarist and Crowley memorabilia-collector Jimmy Page bought Boleskine House in 1970 but spent less than six weeks there before selling the mansion in 1992.

It has since been used as a private residence and a guest house and was put up for sale in 2009 for £176,000.

http://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/1338633-blaze-at-house-formerly-owned-by-aleister-crowley-not-suspicious/

 

[The Only Way To Fly]

Wow, 176,000 punds is NOT really that much money. I should have bought it then!

[SteveAJones]

6 hours ago, The Only Way To Fly said:

Wow, 176,000 punds is NOT really that much money. I should have bought it then!

It's the taxes, utilities and maintenance that will get you.

[FavouriteTipple]

Good to hear it wasn't arson.

BBC report on same: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35290939

Local paper report: http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/Historic-Loch-Ness-house-fire-not-thought-to-be-deliberate-12012016.htm

[Cecil.]

On 13/01/2016 at 8:02 PM, FavouriteTipple said:

Good to hear it wasn't arson.

BBC report on same: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35290939

Local paper report: http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/Historic-Loch-Ness-house-fire-not-thought-to-be-deliberate-12012016.htm

Thank you for the links, I guess now it will come down to what happens next to the house, if there is the will to rebuild it.

[FavouriteTipple]

Folks, as you will see from this new silent video, Boleskine House is destroyed.

Contrary to news reports, only 10-15% of the House survived the fire last December. The structure looks terribly damaged, looks beyond repair due to multiple roof and wall collapse, which, with strict building regulations, makes any reasonable chance of restoration unlikely.

As reports have stated, there was nothing suspicious about the fire. The house had old electrical wiring. It is a sad loss, but then all things must pass. Let it be. [with apologies for a Beatles reference on a Zep forum.]

 

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by FavouriteTipple

[IpMan]

46 minutes ago, FavouriteTipple said:

Folks, as you will see from this new silent video, Boleskine House is destroyed.

Contrary to news reports, only 10-15% of the House survived the fire last December. The structure looks terribly damaged, probably beyond repair due to multiple roof and wall collapse, which, with strict building regulations, precludes any reasonable chance of restoration.

There is nothing suspicious about the fire. The house had very old electrical wiring. It is a sad loss, but then all things must pass. Let it be. [with apologies for a Beatles reference on a Zep forum.]

 

 

And a George Harrison reference as well. Excellent sir, nothing wrong with that.

[FavouriteTipple]

7 hours ago, IpMan said:

And a George Harrison reference as well. Excellent sir, nothing wrong with that.

Indeed! But you never know when you're dealing with a lot of Zep zealots.

Edited February 9, 2016 by FavouriteTipple

[Moddey Dhoo]

On 1/4/2016 at 5:59 PM, FavouriteTipple said:

 

Thank you.

I had hoped to visit Boleskine someday, but I guess that dream is over.

[IpMan]

What I find strange is, in the States, if you purchase an old home and choose to do even minor renovations, the city will require you to, at that time, bring everything else up to code. If you will not do this they will deny any permits. Also, if you list a home for sale which no longer meets code the buyer must sign an "as-is" agreement. In regard to historic homes one is required to bring the home up to code within a certain amount of time after purchase, regardless of whether you wish to renovate or not. I am assuming these things work differently in Scotland? Why was this historic home allowed to not be up to current code owner after owner? It is such a shame something like a re-wire & modern breaker system, which for a home the size and age of Boleskine would have run about $10,000 - $15,000, was never done. Such a small amount of money when one considers the wealth and status of all the owners from the 1970's until the present day.

In Phoenix we have the historical Wilow district just a wee bit west of downtown. Those homes were built from the 1920's - 1950's and are great homes. However, in the early 2000's when these homes were going like hotcakes you were required to bring these homes up to code within 180 days of purchase. These are homes which at the time sold for between $250,00 - $600,00...much, much less expensive than Boleskine.

What a shame.

 

[Mithril46]

Well, not sure if this is of interest, but my father built houses, was an architect, could wire a house(although was not

certified). Actually codes vary tremendously even in the U.S., obviously though in richer areas and historic places

usually there are stringent rules in place. For example, my cousin's former house in Weymouth, Mass. had series

wiring in the house. That is very old and it means one outlet/fuse blows, the whole house goes out. They were never

required to update to parallel wiring, which only knocks out a few outlets at a time. I hate to steer blame to Jimmy,

as other owners could have updated the electric as well. But given Jimmy's wealth and supposed dedication to 

Crowley, here is an example of Jimmy's cheapness actually leading to a bad outcome. Not entirely his fault, but other

rock stars I'm sure would have updated the electric pronto, as you could actually die from the situation.

[JTM]

6 hours ago, Mithril46 said:

Well, not sure if this is of interest, but my father built houses, was an architect, could wire a house(although was not

certified). Actually codes vary tremendously even in the U.S., obviously though in richer areas and historic places

usually there are stringent rules in place. For example, my cousin's former house in Weymouth, Mass. had series

wiring in the house. That is very old and it means one outlet/fuse blows, the whole house goes out. They were never

required to update to parallel wiring, which only knocks out a few outlets at a time. I hate to steer blame to Jimmy,

as other owners could have updated the electric as well. But given Jimmy's wealth and supposed dedication to 

Crowley, here is an example of Jimmy's cheapness actually leading to a bad outcome. Not entirely his fault, but other

rock stars I'm sure would have updated the electric pronto, as you could actually die from the situation.

Page wasn't cheap, he only owned Boleskine for a short period of time and as a guy in his twenties all he would have cared about is where he was going to plug in his HiFi and his Guitar amp, I doubt a rewire would have been considered at the time.

  

[Moddey Dhoo]

29 minutes ago, JTM said:

Page wasn't cheap, he only owned Boleskine for a short period of time and as a guy in his twenties all he would have cared about is where he was going to plug in his HiFi and his Guitar amp, I doubt a rewire would have been considered at the time.

  

Yep, I agree, and I think I had read that Page only spent a TOTAL of 6 weeks at Boleskine.

[FavouriteTipple]

Some good points there. However, I don't think apportioning blame is appropriate or constructive. In the great scheme of things when the architectual and cultural histories are being updated to cover the (possibly) final four decades of the House's existence, it seems reasonable to ask why a succession of apparently wealthy owners failed to future-proof Boleskine by re-wiring the entire site. But to point sharp internet fingers at former or current owners seems a tad unfair (and smacks of wealthy envy, wrote this fiscally challenged writer!).

If you see the Youtube video showing the interior of the house, you can see what look like the dreaded electric storage heaters in some rooms. As anyone in these islands will tell you, these heaters are expensive and useless. So that would indicate that an electrical rewiring might have to include a entire heating replacement, which would definitely be a big job in such an old house. Which brings us back to the succession of wealthy owners who might have been in a position to afford to do this. If only we had Captain Hindsight to help us... Coulda! Woulda! Shoulda!

All in all, it is a definite loss to a landscape that already is witness to the shells of burned out or abandoned manor homes, gentry mansions, and crofters' cottages.

Can anyone who saw the video and knows about construction and house damage give their opinion on the feasibility of restoration? Looks like a total loss to these layman's eyes.

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by FavouriteTipple

[Moddey Dhoo]

1 hour ago, FavouriteTipple said:

Can anyone who saw the video and knows about construction and house damage give their opinion on the feasibility of restoration? Looks like a total loss to these layman's eyes.

 

I have some experience in house restoration as a investor, and from what I see in your video I would say the house will be raised (tore down). Very sad!

[JTM]

30 minutes ago, Moddey Dhoo said:

I have some experience in house restoration as a investor, and from what I see in your video I would say the house will be raised (tore down). Very sad!

It's only bricks and mortar, the remains of what was just an ugly looking bungalow anyway. If  there was no Crowley or Page connection nobody would give a fuck. The name Boleskine House conjures up the idea of some kind of impressive mansion, which it most certainly was not.

Edited February 10, 2016 by JTM