Old Kilmun House is a lovely, luxurious holiday home picturesquely situated in two and a half acres of private gardens at the side of the Holy Loch in the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park in Argyllshire. After three seasons, now, we hope we are getting nearer our aim of making it the most comfortable and best-equipped holiday house available in the West of Scotland. We’ve got 4 stars from the STB and a fifth is apparently pending…

With a large sitting room with open fire, wood-panelled dining room with open fire, kitchen-breakfast room with Aga, downstairs snug with big TV, DVD and wood-burner, plus a games room and a separate snooker room, the living accommodation is flexible enough and comfortable enough to suit most types of parties – and at most times of year. We’ve tried to make it more luxurious and better equipped than our own house, so that even a wet weekend will be a comfortable and memorable one.

The 2.5 acre garden, like the house, is absolutely unique. Originally built by the family of the Duke of Argyll in 1693 – the Campbells have a family mausoleum next door at Old Kilmun Church – the house was owned in Victorian times by the Younger family, who founded the amazing Benmore Gardens a couple of miles away, which still contain the tallest trees in the UK. They also planted a huge variety in ours. With streams and waterfalls and a huge variety of plants, it’s a stunning garden. Our immediate neighbour (who lives in the Victorian wing which the Youngers added to the house) makes occasional use of one small private bit of lawn, but your party will generally have the run of all the gardens and the woods.

The house is well situated for sight-seeing around the West Coast. The immediate area is renowned for some of the best walking in Scotland, and it’s a great base for fishing, riding, shooting, golf, sailing or cycling. We’ve put in 6 fishing rods, 8 bikes for different sizes (with helmets), and 4 bags of golf clubs. There’s loads to do in the area, and some great local pubs and restaurants, but we’ve also tried to make it comfy enough for people who don’t want to go anywhere else.

There’s a croquet set, football goal, cricket and badminton sets, plus the 13 foot trampoline, barbecue and all important “midge machine” in the garden. As well as the ¾ sized billiard table in its own room, there is a little games room downstairs with a dartboard plus a multifunction / convertable entertainment thingy with table football, air hockey, table tennis, mini-snooker etc. Or you can go and play in the sauna.

We’ve supplied Monopoly, Outburst, Pictionary, Scrabble, Backgammon, Chess, a few jigsaws etc for days or evenings when you don’t fancy anything more energetic. There’s a pretty decent library with loads of Scottish authors represented, and over 100 CDs. The snug features 32” widescreen telly with CD surround-sound plus a variety of videos and DVDs. Our package includes Sky Sports and Movies. This web-site features a virtual tour with 360 degree photography of lots of the rooms, as well as a gallery of other photos, info about things to do in the area, and some useful links. If there is anything else you need to know, you can contact us.

Another option is to use our friends at the award-winning An Lochan in Tighnabruich to cook a celebration meal for you so you can make the most of the opportunity to relax in our gorgeous paneled dining room  They can do anything from a kitchen supper for the Aga to a full-blown formal four course dinner.  We’ve had great feedback on all the meals Roger and his team have done for our guests here and at our other property Ormidale House

If you have any queries at all, don’t hesitate to call us. We only have the two houses; we’re more than happy to answer queries by phone or email as you prefer. We look forward to welcoming you to Old Kilmun House some time in 2008 or 2009.

John Davies