Old Argyll House is a beautifully restored but comfortable historic C17th house with 2 acres of private gardens, luxuriously equipped as a holiday home for up to 18 guests, in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, by the side of the Holy Loch, Argyll in Scotland.

The house is well situated for sight-seeing around the West Coast. The immediate area is renowned for some of the best walking in Scotland, and it’s a great base for fishing, riding, shooting, golf, sailing or cycling. We’ve put in 6 fishing rods, 8 bikes for different sizes (with helmets), and 4 bags of golf clubs. There’s loads to do in the area, and some great local pubs and restaurants, but the house is certainly comfy enough for people who don’t want to go anywhere else!

The house consists of highest standard of four star quality throughout with 8 bedrooms (5 doubles, two twin or triples, one bunk room) and 3 bathrooms.

With a large sitting room with open fire, wood-panelled dining room with open fire, kitchen-breakfast room with Aga, downstairs snug with big TV, DVD and wood-burner, plus a games room and a separate snooker room, the living accommodation is flexible and comfortable enough to suit most types of parties.

The 2.5 acre garden, like the house, is absolutely unique. Originally built by the family of the Duke of Argyll in 1693, the house was owned in Victorian times by the Younger family, who founded the amazing Benmore Gardens a couple of miles away, which still contain the tallest trees in the UK. They also planted a huge variety here. With streams, waterfalls and a huge variety of plants, it’s simply a stunning garden.

There’s a croquet set, football goal, cricket and badminton sets, a 13 foot trampoline, barbecue and the all important “midge machine” in the garden. As well as the ¾ sized billiard table in its own room, there is a small games room downstairs with a dartboard plus a multifunction entertainment table with table football, air hockey, table tennis, mini-snooker etc. There is also the sauna to enjoy. In addition there is a great selection of games and jigsaws as well as a pretty decent library and over 100 CDs. The snug features a 32” widescreen TV with CD surround-sound, Sky Sports & Movies plus a variety of videos and DVDs.

*Please note, locations shown on the maps are approximations only

The house is situated on the shores of the Holy Loch, adjacent to the Argyll Forest Park, and is perfectly placed for exploring the Cowal peninsula, the West of Scotland generally, and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, within which it sits. Two minutes from the Benmore Botanic Gardens, it's a 10 minute drive from Dunoon, 35 from Inverary, 40 from Loch Lomond or the Island of Bute. The "long drive" to Glasgow is less than an hour and a half. Via the M8 and ferry from MacEnroes Point at Gourock, we are just 70 minutes from Glasgow Airport.

The walking all around is absolutely fantastic, and from the house itself there are half a dozen spectacular routes that take you into some magical places in the Forest Park. You can do circular routes that take anything from an hour and a half to eight or nine hours. We’ve left you maps and guides in the sitting room, and more details are available from the tourist office in Dunoon.

Cycling is a really great way to see the scenery in the area – and the topography is such that you don’t need to do much back-breaking hill work. We’ve equipped the house with 6 kid’s bikes of different sizes and a couple for grown ups

Generally you are fantastically positioned to see some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. The views aren’t bad from the house itself, but drive up to Loch Fyne and down to Loch Lomond, or into the Kyles of Bute, or down the Maccrahanish/Mull of Kintyre peninsula, and you’ll see vistas to take your breath away. If the weather’s no good, you are 75mins from Glasgow by Ferry and M8, and less than 2 hours from Edinburgh if the traffic’s okay. They are both great cities to visit.

Benmore Botanic Gardens are only three miles away towards Loch Eck and are an absolutely amazing set of gardens planted and cared for originally by the Younger family who previously owned the house. Awesome trees, including the tallest in Britain and a great tea shop too.

Strone’s pretty, 9 hole course is well-signposted, just over a mile away. Innellan is another nice 9 hole course, about 15 minutes away. Cowal has 18 holes and is a bit closer just above Dunoon. There’s also a 9 hole course 25 minutes away at Tighnabruich with lovely views up the Kyles of Bute. Visitors are welcome any time there isn’t a match on all three courses. You are welcome to use the four sets in the house.

The River Eck is one of the most expensive trout stretches in the West of Scotland and mostly carved up by timeshare. Fortunately, though, there’s a mass of very good value options for both loch and river fishing locally, with daily and some weekly permits available. We’ve supplied half a dozen rods and some basic kit – spinning and casting.

We are really well-served for good pubs. Whistlefield Inn and Coylet Inn, up the side of Loch Eck at 10 and 5 minutes respectively, are both well-recommended – we’ve included menus in the house information pack. The more easily walkable pubs are both fine, too, providing big portions of good basic pub food. Dunoon has dozens of cafes, bars, takeaways and restaurants. The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar trades a bit on reputation price-wise but is a landmark destination in these parts and only about 35 minutes away.

An option is to use our friends at the award-winning 'An Lochan' in Tighnabruich to cook a celebration meal for you so you can make the most of the opportunity to relax in the gorgeous panelled dining room  They can do anything from a kitchen supper for the Aga to a full-blown formal four course dinner. We’ve had great feedback on all the meals Roger and his team have done for our guests here.

- Security deposit: £350. This is paid prior to arrival and will be refunded in full after departure subject to damage inspection.
- Capacity: The property will sleep a maximum of 16 adults and 2 children.
- Linen & towels: All linen and bath towels are included in the rental price.
- Energy costs: Included in the rental price.
- End of stay cleaning: Included. Please leave the property in the state that you found it.
- Arrival time: 4pm onwards.
- Departure time: 10am.
- Pets: Please enquire.
- Smoking: No smoking in the property.
- It is recommended that all guests take out insurance to cover against potential cancellation and any accidental damage caused during your stay at the property.