Located in Nethy Bridge, within the Cairngorm National Park, the property is being marketed by Knight Frank.

Dylan, now 82 years old, along with his brother, David Zimmerman, purchased the 16-bedroom, A-listed mansion 17 years ago for £2.2m. The stately home features a number of reception rooms, a music room, 11 bathrooms, and an additional seven attic bedrooms. The estate also includes cottages, a walled garden, a large greenhouse, and a croquet lawn, all spread over 25 acres.

The sale is attributed to the inability of Dylan and his brother to visit the property since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tom Stewart-Moore, from estate agent Knight Frank, which is marketing the property, said: “Up until about pre-Covid times, Bob and his brother would normally go there for a few weeks a year.

“They have staff who run the property and it’s in very good order. The house and the cottages are let during the summer. They bought it because it’s stunningly beautiful — and most importantly, very, very private.”

The Edwardian mansion was constructed between 1911 and 1914 as a vacation home for Archibald Merrilees, whose father co-founded Russia’s first department store in the 19th century. Following a decline in family fortune during the Russian revolution, the property changed hands in 1922 and has had a varied history. It has been a hunting lodge, a WWII convalescent hospital, a finishing school run by a Kiwi spy, and a luxury B&B. The property also gained some fame featuring in the TV drama “Monarch Of The Glen”, The Herald reports.