Work will soon begin on the refurbishment of one of the most photographed buildings in the world of golf.
Councillors yesterday nodded through a £35 million bid by American billionaire Herb Kohler’s company to convert Hamilton Hall in St Andrews into luxury flats.
The red sandstone building, built in 1895 as the Grand Hotel, overlooks the 18th green of the Old Course and has formed the backdrop of images seen across the world of some of the world’s top golfers clinching victory.
Since it was used as student residence by St Andrews University it has lain abandoned and its condition has deteriorated.
However, contractors will soon be able to move in and breathe new life into it as the Hamilton Grand.
Owner, the Old Course Ltd, which also has the Old Course Hotel and Dukes Course, was unable to give a start and completion date for the project yesterday.
However, a spokeswoman said, “We’re looking forward to starting construction on what is such an iconic Scottish building.”
Old Course Ltd, owned by plumbing magnate Kohler, bought Hamilton Hall a year ago for £11.5 million.
The building had been put back on the market by its previous owner US businessman David Wasserman, who bought it from the university after his vision for luxury timeshare apartments failed to materialise.
While the old hotel deteriorated there were worries about such a prominent structure being left to fall into a state of disrepair.
Planners told councillors that the Hamilton Grand proposal for 26 apartments and a public bar and restaurant was an opportunity to secure a long-term, economically-viable solution for the building.
The apartments will operate as an extension to the Old Course Hotel, sold on long-term leases but let for holiday accommodation when empty.
The project will see the restoration of one of the building’s domes destroyed by fire in the 1970s and crudely replaced with a plastic dome.
Important historic details are to be restored, including the timber staircase which has already been reinstalled, stained glass windows being restored off-site, and plasterwork.
A roof extension is also to be created, with an external terrace, and the east wing demolished.