With its dozens of private bedrooms, spacious hallways and sea views, it sounds like the perfect home for a large family.
But this is actually a notorious Scottish prison which was once branded the “hate factory” and housed some of the countries toughest convicts.
HMP Peterhead, in Aberdeenshire, shut last month and was due to be demolished later this year.
But now the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has offered a lifeline for the 14-acre site, by placing it on the market for an undisclosed fee.
Although Peterhead Prison has an incredible amount of space and tight security, it also needs a lot of work to its 126-year-old cells, particularly the mould-ridden and windowless “silent room” which catered for the worst behaved inmates.
Despite it’s flaws, J&E Shepherd Chartered Surveyors claim the property could be used for “residential development, commercial/industrial uses and port-related uses”.
A spokeswoman for the SPS refused to disclose a guide price for the site, but admitted if someone can find a use for it, they will halt their plans to demolish the dated prison.
She said: “The jail has gone on the market and the buildings are included in the sale.
“However, we are still working on a demolition plan for the site, which has yet to be finalised.
“At the moment, there is no date for demolition to start, although we expect to have the contract awarded in about three weeks.
“If we were to get an agreeable offer to buy the site and the buildings, then we would not go ahead with the demolition plan.”
HMP Peterhead and its north-east neighbour HMP Aberdeen were both shut last year after the construction of HMP Grampian, in Aberdeen.
The new jail, which lies next-door to the decaying HMP Peterhead, cost £140m to build and is due to open in March.
It will have a capacity for 500 inmates, compared to the lowly 142 and 220 that HMP Peterhead and HMP Aberdeen could cater for.
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