HOW COVID STOPPED BOB’S HEART BEING IN THE HIGHLANDS… AND NOW UK HOMES CRISIS THREATENS HIS £3m SALE

Dylan’s stately Highlands home is caught in Britain’s financial crisis, putting his £3m asking price in jeopardy.

The historic estate with landscaped grounds has been his and his brother’s for more than a decade and was described as a bolt hole. 

It isn’t, it is a beautiful part of Highlands history set against forest, mountains and lakes. Aultmore House is an Edwardian Country manor in the village of Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorm National Park.

Bob bought it in 2006 with his younger brother, David, for £2.2 million ($2.8 million).

Sadly, the pandemic kept them both away from the magnificent mansion for a long time.

Tom Stewart-Moore of Knight Frank, which is handling the sale, said: “Up until about pre-Covid times, Bob and his brother would normally go there for a few weeks a year.They bought it because it’s stunningly beautiful and most importantly, very, very private.” 

You get to the house by a tree-lined driveway and it has16 bedrooms with garden views,11 bathrooms, four reception rooms, music room. 

The Zimmerman brothers did the place up too, rewiring, putting in new heating and water systems – but they kept loads of period details, including an entry hall with a limestone staircase with a wrought iron and wooden balustrade. 

Surrounding the home are 25 acres of gardens dotted with statues, fountains, and stone gazebos. And there are three cottages. 

Magnificent house like Bob’s usually survive in a housing crisis, but the knock-on  of  money becoming more expensive, local taxes rise and just the general running day-to-day slow things down.

UK house prices have fallen 5.3 per cent in the last year, according to Nationwide’s August house price index – the biggest drop reported since 2009.