House Hunting in Scotland: A 16th-Century Hotel for Under $2 Million

A Historic Hotel Between Glasgow and Edinburgh

$1.73 MILLION (1.5 MILLION BRITISH POUNDS)

Built in the 16th century and rebuilt 300 years later, this 12,798-square-foot manor house sits on the outskirts of Falkirk, a town in the central Scotland county of Stirlingshire.

The house, known as Powfoulis Manor, anchors a 17-acre estate near the River Forth that also comprises several outbuildings including stables, a workshop, garage, two-bedroom staff cottage and guest wing with 16 bedrooms built in the early 1970s.

The property has been sold just twice in five centuries, said Harry Maitland, a director at Savills UK in Kinross and the listing agent. Since 1952, the current sellers’ family has lived on the second floor and operated a hotel out of the manor house’s lower levels.

“It could work well for a family with a stay-at-home business, which is quite desirable at the moment,” Mr. Maitland said. “It could also work as a retreat, or with luxury holiday pods in the gardens.”

A narrow lane off a country road leads to the estate’s gates and stone walls, with indentations of castellated stonework. An arched carriageway rises to the entrance in place of steps. “We see a lot of beautiful, traditional homes, but I’ve never seen that feature in a home like this,” Mr. Maitland said.

At the crest of the carriageway, a glassed-in wooden pavilion leads to the main entrance. The first level houses the hotel’s public areas, including a lounge with an ornate plaster ceiling complementing a marble fireplace and garden-facing windows.

Along with two large dining areas and a function room, the main level has a tavern with classic fixtures including a wood-topped bar with a tufted leather base and backlit shelves. The room opens to a wrought-iron balcony and rear gardens. Ceilings throughout the lower level rise as high as 15 feet, Mr. Maitland said.

The second floor houses six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and two sitting rooms, one with a fireplace. “It’s a lovely, homey environment away from the business, totally private to them,” Mr. Maitland said. The furniture, though not included in the sale, is negotiable.

While the main house is protected by strict Scottish heritage laws, the two-story guest structure is not, “so it shouldn’t be too difficult to demolish and replace with a garaging space,” Mr. Maitland said.

Powfoulis Manor is about 30 miles equidistant between Edinburgh to the southeast and Glasgow to the southwest — “the most…