Fringed with broad sandy beaches, and centred on a house dating from 1650, there is much that is striking about the 143- acre Tresness estate. It occupies a spur of land jutting south from Sanday, one of the northernmost islands that make up Orkney. Behind the dunes, over the course grass, there is a private settlement that was once home to 29 people. Today, it could be yours for offers over £395,000.

“Tresness is unique. Whenever I go there it feels like a different, special place,” says Jim Craigie, the softly spoken Orcadian engineer who is selling the estate. “If I could afford it, I would move there myself and get to work on its renovation.”

From many sellers such sentiments might be dismissed as hyperbole, but Craigie is as far from being a slick salesman as you could get. He grew up on Westray and spent long childhood summers on his uncle’s farm near Tresness. “There is a remoteness, a cut-offness about Tresness that is different even in the context of Orkney”, he says.

You can see what he means. Getting there from central Scotland involves a plane to Kirkwall, a second plane to Sanday and then a 20-minute drive over the beach before you enter the private world of Tresness (a four wheel drive is recommended).

It has not been farmed intensively since the 1950s, leaving a network of fields that have been allowed to return to their natural state. Tracks, walls and outbuildings are a reminder that this was once home to four hard-working families. Grassland forms 83 acres of the estate, the remainder being sand dunes and foreshore.

At the end of the track is Tresness House, a tidy, B-listed home with three reception rooms and two bedrooms. It has been maintained, though not occupied, in recent years, but gives every impression of being ready for immediate entry. The plumbing and wiring date from the mid-1990s and it has clearly been cared for. Two of the receptions look west and have corniced ceilings. Indeed, at the time it was built, this was clearly a very grand house indeed.

Surrounding the house, walls and outbuildings form a courtyard. Beyond them are the dovecot, store, byre, horsemill, mill, stables and four semi-detached cottages. All are well beyond habitability, but have the potential to be saved — subject to the necessary permissions.

Although it gives the impression of being a simple farm, the estate dates back to the 17th century. In 1650 the land was acquired by the Trail family, who had travelled from Fife with a relative of Mary Queen of Scots. In all probability, however, the peninsula has been occupied for 4,000 years. There are Neolithic chambered cairns on the land, and the house was reputedly built on the site of a Viking settlement.

Quite what the next owners of the estate will do with it remains open to question. The soil on Sanday has always been regarded as among the most fertile of the northern isles, particularly when augmented with seaweed. So a return to productive farming — at least by someone wanting to be self sufficient — is a possibility. In recent years there have been some modest grants paid for simply allowing the fields to return to nature. So even left as it is, the land will produce a modest return, at least for the moment. Perhaps most likely, the estate will become someone’s retreat from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world. In this capacity, it is hard to see how it could be bettered. It is remote — but you can get to the island’s airport in 20 minutes. It is also possible to sail there, of course, as long as you have a nearby mooring.

Tresness might easily have featured in a John Buchan novel as the sort of place to which Richard Hannay would have journeyed to get to the bottom of some international conspiracy as he did in The 39 Steps. Indeed, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the composer and Master of the Queen’s Music, is a long-time resident of Sanday and has composed numerous works inspired by the island’s wild beauty.

If you fancy Orkney, but don’t want an undertaking on quite the scale of Tresness, there are other options. Lows, a Kirkwall-based law firm, is currently marketing Anchor Cottage, a four bedroom, two reception house in 1.5 acres on the same side of Sanday. The asking price is offers over £180,000.

Ruah, a three-bedroom, stone-built Victorian house on the waterfront in Stromness, is being marketed at offers over £95,000. Or you might consider a 1.5 acre plot on Rousay, with planning permission to build a 2 or 3 bedroom house with sea views for offers over £25,000.

Orkney has much to tempt. You could wait a long time, however, for anything that will quite match Tresness.

Strutt & Parker, 0131 226 2500; Lows, 01856 873 151

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