The new owner of a Highland castle has drawn up plans to restore it as a private home.
Carbisdale Castle near Bonar Bridge was sold to a London-based investment company last autumn.
Now the FCFM Group have applied to Highland Council to make a number of changes to the listed building.
The castle was most recently used as a youth hostel but has been lying empty for a number of years.
Many of the planned changes involve removing additions to the castle for youth hostel use.
One notable addition is the creation of a new basement level featuring a spa and pool area.
After buying the castle in September last year, the FCFM Group said they aimed to restore Carbisdale “to its former glory as a world-class private residence in the highlands of Scotland”.
The company did respond when requested for further comment yesterday – but the planning application made to Highland Council gives further details of their plans.
The new spa area would be built in the existing basement space, with the pool being built under the castle’s terrace.
It would also include a new window which would open up “excellent views” over the Kyle of Sutherland – and views have always been important at Carbisdale.
Elsewhere plasterwork throughout the castle would be repaired to match the original.
Items such as panel radiators introduced when the building served as a youth hostel will be removed and replaced with cast iron column radiators.
A total of 28 timber framed sash windows are to be installed.
In the grounds existing gas tanks located on the entrance court are to be removed and reinstalled in a new location buried out of view near the south entrace.
Meanwhile “crude” floodlights mounted on scaffolding is to be removed and replaced with new “discreet lighting”.
Work is also to be carried out on the clock tower, with a new electronic mechanism which allow the castle’s bells to chime on the hour.
The developer has been forced to apply for permission to carry out the works because of the building’s listed status.
Carbisdale is the last castle to be built in Scotland and was constructed between 1906 and 1917 for Mary Caroline, duchess of Sutherland.
It was always claimed the location was chosen so that the dowager duchess could look down on Sutherland and her relatives by marriage when they passed underneath in their private train.
Carbisdale was operated by the Scottish Youth Hostel Association for 65 years until it closed in 2010.
A previous deal to turn the historic property into a luxury hotel fell through amid much controversy.
Promises were made of millions of pounds worth of investment and the creation of up to 90 jobs.
