Comedian Rory Bremner sells his seven-bedroom Scottish country mansion for £2.7m – £1m over the asking price – after restoring it to its former glory
- Comedian Rory Bremner bought the 10,000 square foot property for 2009 for £1.5 million
- The property was built for Captain James Paton who made his fortune with the East India Company
- Paton used a network local informers to track down a group of robbers and assassins known as Thuggees
- Bremner paid £1.5m for the house in 2009 but said he spent an ‘astronomical sum’ refurbishing it
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Comedian Rory Bremner has sold his Scottish country mansion for more than £1 million over the asking price.
The Edinburgh-born impressionist has sold Crailing House near Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, for £2.7 million.
The 59-year-old had been splitting his time between the A-listed pile and a family home in the Cotswolds.
He and his sculptor wife Tessa Campbell Fraser, 54, decided to move south permanently for work and their children’s schooling.
Rory Bremner and his wife have sold their Scottish Regency mansion for £2.7 million having purchased the seven bedroom property in 2009 for £1.5million – however, the comedian admitted he spent an ‘astronomical sum’ renovating the house
Bremner said his wife Tessa Campbell Fraser grew up near the house and visited regularly as a child
The couple decided to sell the house and move permanently to their home in the Cotswolds as it was easier for their family’s school commitments
The 19th century Regency-style mansion was designed by William Elliot for James Paton, a captain in the East India Company
The house, which boasts seven bedrooms and five bathrooms, was put on the market by estate agents Knight Frank for offers over £1.695 million in 2019. Property records show it was sold in December for £2.7 million.
The entertainer purchased the 10,000 square foot property in 2009 for £1.5 million but said he spent an ‘astronomically expensive’ sum restoring it to its former glory.
His wife grew up in the Borders and as a child had visited Crailing House. When Bremner saw that the property was for sale, he convinced his wife to view it.
They fell in love with the 19th century Regency-style mansion, designed by the architect William Elliot for James Paton, a captain in the East India Company.
Paton, who worked for the East India Company was tasked with tracking down members of the Thuggee sect, who he claimed were assassins and robbers, who targeted travellers and killing them with special cumberbands which they used to garrote their victims.
In an interview with Knight Frank magazine Country View, Bremner said: ‘It’s a very special place for us. It’s the perfect family house in every way.
‘I saw it and fell in love with it. I told Tessa “It’s simply lovely,” and she replies “Over my dead body”. I don’t know how I convinced her but she agreed to look.’
Rory Bremner, pictured here with his sculptor wife Tessa Campbell Fraser, admitted they spent ‘astronomical sums’ refurbishing the house, claiming he must have employed most of the local tradesmen in the area over the past decade
The Paton family owned the estate from 1802 to 1948, when it was bought by the 12th Marquis of Lothian
Bremner and his wife carried out a ‘thorough and extensive refurbishment throughout the mansion’ which was modernised
The Paton family owned the estate from 1802 to 1948, when it was bought by the 12th Marquis of Lothian. The remains of a 12th century chapel are still in the grounds, as well as an expanse of parkland with 300-year-old oak trees.
Bremner and his wife carried out a ‘thorough and extensive refurbishment throughout the mansion’ which included re-slating and re-leading the roof, chimney restoration, replacing broken stonework and switching to an efficient wood chip biomass boiler.
The couple also had a ha-ha – a sunken wall – created in the 15 acre grounds and the former dining room was converted into a kitchen with a central island and Aga.
Bremner added: ‘We basically had to start from the roof down. It was astronomically expensive.
‘I think we must have hired half the tradesmen in the local area over the years.’
Bremner added: ‘We basically had to start from the roof down. It was astronomically expensive. I think we must have hired half the tradesmen in the local area over the years’
The property is in the Scottish Borders and over looks Oxnam Water and is four miles north east of Jedburgh