A grand Scottish country house presented in simply perfect style, with an indoor pool from where you can look out at red squirrels playing on the lawn
The Tullybelton Estate in Perthshire offers a slice of immaculate Scottish country life, with the Highlands on one side and Edinburgh just an hour away.

The other day a colleague and I were having a conversation about how people look for houses. There are dozens, if not hundreds of things that go in to the nature of how we choose, with location traditionally at the top of the list in most cases.
It’s not always location that is the starting point, however, particularly in these days of people move from city to country. When you’re flexible on where you go to begin that dream life, the first step is rather different: setting your price bracket. Almost all of us have a rough idea of a maximum and minimum when we set the sliders on the search pages at countrylife.onthemarket.com (other property portals are available). For some, that might be £400,000; for others it might be two or three times that; and for some, ten or even twenty times that price.
Anybody setting their maximum price to £7 million will be spoilt for choice. There’s everything from a breathtaking penthouse flat at the most iconic building in St Andrews to a 13-bedroom castle to an extravagant Cheshire mansion to a three-bedroom flat in one of London’s smartest streets. And sitting among those places will be the house we look at today: Tullybelton House on the Tullybelton Estate, in Bankfoot, a few miles off the A9 just north of Perth, and on the market via Rettie at £6.75m.
This grand and handsome Victorian mansion dates to around 1850, not that you’d know it to step inside. Every inch of the place has been completely refurbished in exacting detail, so much so that it’s almost got a touch of top-end new build feel about it — something that will help ease buyers’ minds about the potential for maintenance costs when buying a 170-year-old property.
While it loses out on presenting a cosy, lived-in feel, it has a smart finish that brings to mind a freshly-opened country house hotel.
That hotel-style feel extends to the bedrooms and bathrooms, which mix modern design with traditional architectural features.
The main house is huge. It’s not far short of 14,000sq ft, sitting within 250 acres, and boasts three main reception rooms and six bedrooms, all en-suite.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
There is a wealth of other spaces, from an eyecatching orangery to a billiards room with a full-sized snooker table.
There is also fine swimming pool — indoors, of course, given that we’re in Perthshire — that has a glass wall to one side, so that you can take a dip while enjoying the sight of red squirrels gambolling though the grounds.
As well as the main house there’s also the coach house, which has been fitted out very much as a working area: it includes the office spaces, gym, garaging and laundry, as well as the boiler rooms that power the house. There are also three cottages, each with two bedrooms, elsewhere on the estate, as well as woodland and a loch.
While the Tullybelton Estate is an ideal secluded country retreat, it’s very well connected: Perth is less than ten miles away, while you can be crossing the Forth Bridge in under an hour. Yet the Tay Forest is almost on the doorstep, and the Cairngorms National Park just half an hour away.
Spectacular Scottish castles and estates for sale
A look at the finest castles, country houses and estates for sale in Scotland today.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.
-
The shortlist celebrating Britain's best museum gift shops
Our Friday morning news review on museum shops, beech trees, ash dieback, and a rail replacement service you'll be happy to see the sight of.
By Toby Keel Published
-
The fate of the last wolf in Britain? Country Life Quiz of the Day
Our daily quiz tests your gut instinct, powers of deduction and downright luck. Unless you happen to know all the answers for sure.
By Toby Keel Published
-
Exotic gardens that delight and surround a Grade II-listed manor for sale in Cornwall
Trenarth Manor is a property steeped in history that is reflected in its thoughtful interiors and glorious grounds.
By Penny Churchill Published
-
Keira Knightley's Black Doves home is up for sale — and it's a beautiful villa in the neighbourhood dubbed 'South London’s answer to Notting Hill'
The five-bedroom mansion in London’s up-and-coming Crystal Palace stars as the home of Keira Knightley’s character, Helen Webb.
By Annabel Dixon Published
-
A sublime Huf Haus in West Sussex with some of the finest gardens in the county
Whitehanger in the Marley Heights was built in 2011 and is 'functional, affordable and easy to maintain'.
By Penny Churchill Last updated
-
World-famous Junction Beat on the River Tweed is up for sale for the first time in 50 years
Break out the rod, tackle and chequebook, as one of the world's most celebrated stretches of salmon angling hits the market.
By James Fisher Published
-
A $26 million Hollywood mansion that might be Beverly Hills' prettiest
The former home of supermodel Christina Estrada is a tremendous Italian-style home just off Sunset Boulevard.
By James Fisher Last updated
-
A five-bedroom family home that would host the perfect Henley party
Church Field in Fawley is spacious and magnificently well appointed, both inside and out.
By James Fisher Published
-
Five classic country houses for sale, from an equestrian home to a manor with a wisteria-draped pool, as seen in Country Life
Our pick of some of the best houses to come to the market via Country Life this week includes a house with a beautiful outdoor pool,
By Toby Keel Published
-
A £15m Kensington penthouse with a Mediterranean-style ‘garden in the sky’
Arranged over the fifth and sixth floors of a Victorian mansion block, the immaculate apartment has views that stretch as far as Battersea Power Station.
By Annabel Dixon Published