Live next to the queen for (sort of) free

LONDON - It's an offer so cheap only the rich could be tempted: living in a castle next door to the queen, rent free.

Invercauld Castle, a sprawling baronial mansion in the heart of the Scottish Highlands surrounded by thousands of acres of land, needs a tenant.

Capt. Alwyne Farquharson, chief of the clan that bears his name, has no male heir and is offering a 20-40 year lease for what the British call a "peppercorn" rent.

Here's the catch: Whoever moves in to the home, which borders the Balmoral estate of Queen Elizabeth II, must agree to spend $740,000 on renovations and operating costs of about $165,000 a year.

"There has been a lot of interest from all over the world. It is a truly splendid place," said Guy Galbraith, of the leasing agent FPD Savills in Edinburgh. "The only fly in the ointment is that you are going to have to come up with a lump of capital to stay there."

Farquharson, the 16th Laird of Invercauld, inherited the estate in 1941. His nearest descendant, a nephew, has no plans to live in Scotland and it will be years before that nephew's children are old enough to assume responsibility for the castle.

"We are looking for someone to take it on until the next generation can assess what they want to do," said estate manager Simon Blackett. "We have a number of people, from America, Europe, Great Britain and the Far East who have been to look and are revisiting."

The castle, which dates from the 1700s, sits on an estate of 108,000 acres and has three keepers' cottages. Red deer roam in the forests, and tenants can fish for salmon on the River Dee or shoot grouse on the dramatic foothills of the Cairngorm mountains.

Blackett said the renovations needed at the castle, with its paneled dining room, ballroom, butler's accommodation and antique Victorian furniture, include central heating and upgraded furnishings such as carpets and curtains.

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