Much of Glenurquhart was part of the Balmacaan Estate[1][2] (also known as the Glen Urquhart Estate),[3] owned by the Grant family of Seafield between 1509 and 1946.[1][2] The estate was rented to the wealthy American industrialist and local benefactor Bradley Martin late 19th and early 20th centuries[4] and flourished in the 1880s and 1890s, but went into decline after the 1920s.[1][2] The estate then changed hands so frequently that the issue was raised in parliament.[5] The best forestry wood had been felled during World War 2[3][6][7][8] and the estate was dissolved in 1946.[1][2] Balmacaan House, near Drumnadrochit, was abandoned soon afterwards,[2][3][1][6][7][8] set on fire by vandals in the 1960s and demolished in 1972.[2][3][1][6][7][8]
In 1946 Bunloit Farm was separated from Balmacaan Estate and Bunloit Estate was formed round it,[9][10] near the small settlement of Balbeg, on the north west shore of Loch Ness, about 4 miles south of Drumnadrochit.[9][10]
