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GLEN OF TRANQUILLITY"12 Acre Scottish Glen For Sale". There was one picture and a contact number.
Now the Glen is up for sale again, Fiona McBain casts an eye across an historic land.
When he first walked through the house, into the glazed conservatory and saw the panorama of College Glen before him, Victor Sentinella was sold; when a fully grown stag with a great rack of antlers strolled across the river and disappeared into the forest, he wondered which PR agent the vendor was using.
This is picture postcard Scotland.
College Glen is just a few miles from St. John's Town of Dalry, a pretty village in Kirkcudbrightshire: an area of the Borders which can claim without blushing, to have some of the best scenery in our country. The journey there takes us past pine forests and glistening lochs; colours are a mix of deep greens and browns, reflective blues, and the yellows and reds of gently swaying wild flowers.
When you arrive at this 12 acre glen, you cannot help but marvel at the foresight of the builder who, in 1997, gained planning permission to construct a house here. There can be few homes with such a spectacularly perfect outlook.
Set back from the road and elevated in its position, the property looks straight down the Glen, bordered on its western boundary by the Water of Ken, with waterfalls tumbling down through deep gorge faces below the property to join the confluence with the River Deugh, then meandering on their joint way down to Loch Ken. Rainbow and brown trout are in abundance here and only the occupier of College Glen has fishing rights on the river.
Dramatic hills and the dense Galloway Forest frame the scene, and the eye is pulled up towards Dundeugh Hill, and the ruins of its castle, at the further point.
College Glen is designated an Environmentally Sensitive Area; rare wild orchids and other species of flora are in abundance, whilst Skylarks nest on the ground.
Sheep graze in a separate 5 acre stretch of rolling pasture to the right, know as College Linn, which runs down to the river, and which is currently let by Victor to a local farmer.
Real potential could be gained from College Linn, as the acquisition of planning permission to build another house there is thought possible. The Carsphairn Development Plan is a local movement aiming to increase the residential development of the area, and encourage new smallholdings. As a site it could be worth as much as £150,000.
The house itself is a three double-bedroomed bungalow in the Scottish style, and provides a large kitchen with Bosch appliances, a spacious living room with feature fireplace, dining room, utility room, an en-suite shower room to the main bedroom, as well as a family bathroom. The integral conservatory, glazed on three sides, is an obvious and striking feature.
Outside, the house stands on a 65 foot square gated forecourt, with two terraces and a well planted garden. A separate freestanding garage, large workshop and storeroom block, with water and power laid-on, is ideal for simple conversion to office, studio space or additional accommodation. A specially designed nesting box, built into the gable of the garage block, has seen a resident Barn owl raise two successive broods of six owlets in the past two years. June of 2004 has her settling there again.
Victor describes to me how he happened upon College Glen and tries to portray his feelings for the place: "I'd been reading In The Sticks for probably three or four years. I used to enjoy reading about these remote houses, and found the idea very attractive, really as a pipedream.
"I spotted the advert and saw what looked very, very appealing to me - the ideal type of setting I was looking for. So I set off at midnight from West Wittering in Sussex to take a look; that's 470 odd miles door to door, but I arrived by 10 a.m.
"I spent about an hour walking around, and when I walked in here I knew it was right."
Now as I am seated in this perfectly positioned conservatory, I understand the magic of the place. A more serene spectacle would be hard to imagine.
"It's a paradise", says this retired Londoner. "The sense of space is uplifting. Just to look out over the magnificent views; it's as close to perfection as is possible."
Yet the serenity betrays a past which is something less than peaceful. Three hundred and fifty years ago, College Glen was used by the Scottish Covenantors as a secret haven; indeed the Old English definition of "College" is a meeting or gathering place.
This was a group who endured vicious persecution as they tried to uphold the ideals of Presbyterian worship in place of the Catholic traditions. Priests were driven from their chapels if they would not swear loyalty to the religion of the Crown, and hundreds of followers were tortured and put to death in many unimaginable ways.
In a bid to continue their religion, ordinary folk from the Parish would trudge many miles to secluded locations to hold clandestine services in the open-air.
College Glen was an ideal location for the Covenantors; lookouts were easily able to spot approaching troops from all four points of the compass.
Authentification of its history is detailed in the book "Lights & Shadows of Scottish Character & Scenery", by John Gordon Barbour, and published in 1824. One chapter describes an event where the Covenantors were able to surprise a party of soldiers on a bridge, pushing them into the stream below before making their escape. This bridge marks the far northern boundary of College Glen today.
Gazing across the scene, it is hard to conceive of feelings of fear and apprehension such as the Covenantors must have endured during their time here. As I witness the extraordinary beauty spread in front of me, I simply feel wonderment. One asks oneself if this Glen, seen through the eyes of those Covenantors, gave them even more conviction to uphold their version of God's word and rejoice in the land afforded them.