A STUNNING home complete with a 260-year-old temple and links to Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess is on the market for £895,000.
The unique property in Edinburgh combines a luxurious modern house attached to a two-storey temple built in 1759.
Craigiehall Temple was once part of the British Army’s Craigiehall Estate and is half a mile from where Hess is rumoured to have been held after parachuting into Scotland in 1941.
The main building on the estate, Craigiehall House, was also the site of the official surrender of German forces in Norway in 1945.
The temple itself features a pillared portico which was once part of Craigiehall House and was designed by Sir William Bruce, the architect behind the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official residence in Edinburgh.
The temple was incorporated into the design of a six-bedroom home in 1992 and one of the bedrooms is on its upper floor. On the ground floor is a spacious dining hall.
There was once a third floor but in 1977 this was removed after it was judged a risk to aircraft at the city’s recently-expanded airport.
Craigiehall Estate, on the western outskirts of the city, dates from the 12th century. The Earl of Annandale, who owned the land in the late 17th century, commissioned the construction of Craigiehall House in 1695.
It was inherited by Charles Hope-Weir, the son of the Earl of Hopeton, who in 1759 constructed the temple as an ornamental feature.
The estate, including the house and temple, was requisitioned in 1939 for use by the armed forces during WWII.
According to a book documenting the history of Craigiehall Estate and house by Major CB Innes, Hess was held at the estate. On 10 May 1941, Hess parachuted into Scotland, landing in a field near Eaglesham, around 50 miles south-west of Craigiehall.
Major CB Innes’s story is based on a photograph of Hess supposedly once on display at Craigiehall.
In 1945, the estate was used to negotiate the surrender of Germany’s forces in Norway. The surrender document was signed there on May 12, 1945.
The temple and house, which are now separate from the estate, are linked on the ground floor by a hallway which leads in dining room. A spiral stone staircase leads to the upper storey which boats a huge circular bedroom with views over the estate. Both rooms feature open fireplaces.
A Latin inscription on the temple can be translated as “live happy while you can among joyful things”.
Writing in their brochure sellers Clancy Hendrie Legal say: “The main body of the house is also arranged over two floors with the reception areas on the upper floor and the bedrooms on the lower floor.
“The arrangement has been designed to take advantage of the stunning open views over the valley.”
