MacCrimmon Cairn and Husabost Estate purchased by business couple with ancestral links to property

A successful business couple from Lincolnshire, England, has purchased the Husabost Estate, which includes the hallowed MacCrimmon Cairn at Borreraig, on the Isle of Skye.

The new owners, Brian Barr, who was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, is the chairman of Autocraft Drivetrain Solutions, and his wife, Debra, a finance consultant and former contestant on the “The Apprentice” reality show, were the winning bid for the nearly 1,400-acre estate with a purchase price of at least £1.325-million (about $2.2-million).

Barr’s ancestors were crofters on the estate going back more than 200 years. The West Highland Free Press reported that he and his wife plan to renovate the derelict Victorian house and create a “community co-operative farm” while continuing with the several tenant farmers on the property.

The sale of the property was managed by the Highland Society of London Gold Medallist and Skye native Euan MacCrimmon.

Earlier in the year, Eric Stein of Florida worked to pull together a coalition of investors to purchase the estate and renovate the house as a piping education centre.

Dozens of pipers from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the remote MacCrimmon Cairn, often to perform a piobaireachd. The cairn was erected in 1936 with an annual rental price of one penny and the playing of a piece of ceol mor. The “penny and a piobaireachd” tradition continues.

At publication time, Brian Barr had not yet responded to a request for comment on plans, if any, for the cairn.