The house from a 1911 postcard
Earlier Houses: There was very likely at least one earlier house on, or near, the site of the current house.
Built / Designed For: Lt. Col. William James Scarlett
House & Family History: In 1989 property developer Malcolm Potier paid £5.4 million for Isle of Gigha and made his home at Achamore House. Potier declared bankruptcy in 1994, after which the Swiss bank that held the mortgage repossessed the island. Things got worse for Potier in 2002, when he was sentenced to six years in prison in Australia after he paid £4,600 to an Italian man to kill a woman with whom he had once been romantically involved (the man took the money and didn't carry out the murder). Achamore House was listed for sale by Savills for £795,000 in 2018 and sold for an undisclosed sum in 2020.
Chapel & Church: Achamore is known for the 20th century woodland garden that was created by Sir James Horlick between the end of World War II and the 1970s. The garden is today owned by the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust.
Architect: John Honeyman
Date: 1882-84
Title: Buildings of Scotland: Argyll and Bute, The
Author: Walker, Frank Arneil; Sinclair, Fiona
Year Published: 2000
Publisher: London: Penguin Books
ISBN: 0140710795
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Category B
Park Listed: Listed as a Garden & Designed Landscape
Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: John Carstairs MacNeill, until 1856. James Williams Scarlett, 1856-82. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: Lt. Col. William James Scarlett, 1883-88; Scarlett family here until 1919. Major John Allen, 1919-37. Richard Hamer, 1937-?1942. Somerset de Chair, ?1942-44. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir James Nockells Horlick, 4th Bt., 1944-72. D.W.N. Landale, 1970s. Malcolm Potier, 1989-2002. Derek Holt, until 2002.
Current Ownership Type: Unknown
Primary Current Ownership Use: Unknown
House Open to Public: Limited Access to Grounds Only
Website: https://www.visitgigha.co.uk/
Historic Houses Member: No