Jimmy Savile’s notorious mountain cottage will be demolished within weeks, its current owners have promised, after it was damaged in a huge fire.
An outbuilding at the Allt-na-Reigh Scottish Highlands home in Glen Coe, once owned by the notorious BBC sex offender, was engulfed in flames over the weekend.
The cause is currently unknown but the isolated home set in the spectacular beauty of the Glen Coe mountains has been repeatedly targeted by vandals since Savile’s death in 2011.
Over the years it has been smashed up, stripped out and covered in graffiti with words like words like ‘beast’ and ‘paedo’, since the DJ’s crimes were exposed.
Retail boss Harris Aslam bought the cottage in 2021 and plans were approved in June to demolish the property and give it new life with a four-bedroom home.
But he said plans to tear it down have been hastened by the blaze and demolition is now set to start as early as spring of this year.
‘While we have been in the process of securing a building warrant, recent events have accelerated our engagement with Highland Council’s building standards team to ensure the site is made safe as a priority,’ he told the Oban Times.
‘We recognise the public interest in this site but we kindly ask that people refrain from attempting to access the area.’
Savile is thought to have abused up to 20 of his 500 victims at the whitewashed house which sits alongside the A82.
But he would often use it to host guests, including the then Prince of Wales who had dinner there in 1999.
After Savile’s death in 2011 the remote white-washed property stood frozen in time until police raided it a year later to hunt for evidence of his crimes.
The pervert’s hairbrush, documents, ashtray and even his food were seen scattered around the empty home just as he left them.
Other rooms in the cottage contained bunk beds and a double bed all made up neatly with fresh bed linen.
The paedophile’s former cottage has now turned into a dark tourist attraction for many walkers visiting the location.
But the building’s poor condition makes it a health and safety concern and recent images from inside the lair show collapsed ceilings, smashed walls and piles of debris.
Savile bought the building from renowned Scottish mountaineer and Hamish MacInnes who invented the ‘Pterodactyl’ ice-axe and the eponymous MacInnes stretcher, used by mountain rescue teams worldwide, while living there.
Retail boss Harris Aslam bought the cottage for £335,000 in 2021 and plans were approved in June to demolish the property and give it new life with a four-bedroom home.
‘Planning permission for the cottage’s demolition was approved in June 2024, alongside plans for a contemporary, architecturally refined residence designed to blend harmoniously with Glen Coe’s breathtaking landscape,’ he said.
‘Given the sensitive nature of the surrounding environment and the complexity of the project’s design, specialist construction methods will be required, meaning development will take time.
‘However, we remain fully committed to beginning demolition as soon as possible, with broader redevelopment targeted to start in Spring/Summer 2025.
The latest blaze closed the A82 between Tyndrum and Ballachulish Bridge, a crucial route between the Central Belt and Fort William.
Aslam and his family vowed the new replacement home would be ‘sympathetic’ to the surroundings.
They intend to build a new four-bedroom – a one-and-a-half storey house, with a two-storey rear section.
The plans include naming the outbuilding of the site ‘Hamish House’ after the famous mountaineer.