Sir Andy Murray’s art collection has grown so vast that he has had to relocate pieces to his luxury hotel in Scotland, his wife Kim has revealed.
The couple live in a lavish Surrey mansion, but the sheer volume of artwork that the tennis legend has collected has left them with no more room for additional pieces.
The 38-year-old who hung up his racket after last year’s Paris Olympics, is an avid art enthusiast and owns works by renowned artists such as Damien Hirst and Maggie Hambling.
Murray’s interest in art is believed to have been ignited when he sat for a portrait by Hambling during his playing career. However, his passion now seems to have gone a bit too far, with his extensive collection now spilling over into the couple’s five-star Scottish hotel, Cromlix.
Speaking to Homes and Interiors Scotland, Kim said: “Andy is constantly buying large-scale artwork and we are running out of space at home. So we end up bringing a lot of it to Cromlix on a sort of rotational basis so that our guests can enjoy our personal collection as much as we do. Freeing up space at home is, of course, an added bonus for me.”
Despite his love for collecting art, Murray previously revealed that his own attempt at creating a masterpiece ended in disaster. In a 2019 interview, he admitted that his wife was far from pleased when he left their house splattered with paint after trying his hand at painting.
“It’s like most things, really,” he said. “You think, ‘I could do that’ or, ‘That’s not difficult’. My wife was out that night. I was by myself in the house.
“She came back from dinner and was like, ‘What the hell have you done?’ I ended up with paint on the ceiling and all over the floor. It was horrific.”
The Murrays’ choice to relocate part of their art collection to their hotel comes after they received warnings over their plans to renovate the venue, which is near the three-time Grand Slam champion’s hometown of Dunblane.
The pair bought the hotel for a reported £1.8 million in 2013 and hosted their wedding reception there two years afterwards, having converted it into a five-star luxury destination.
Major refurbishment work has transformed Cromlix into one of Scotland’s most coveted locations, with accommodation priced at up to £950 per night.
However, since assuming control of the establishment in 2022, the Murrays have faced multiple warnings concerning their proposals for additional renovation work.
They recently submitted plans to convert deteriorating stable and kennel buildings on the grounds into extra storage space, only to receive warnings about potentially disrupting roosting bats and birds during the work. In a statement submitted to Stirling Council, the Scottish Wildlife Trust informed the pair that a bat survey must be conducted by a specialist before any decisions are taken regarding the proposals.
Bats enjoy protection under UK law, making it an offence to kill, possess or handle them without a licence, or to interfere with their habitat in any manner.
“Bats and their roosts are fully protected by law from damage and disturbance,” the trust said. “The reason this protection includes bat roosts which are not currently in use, is that bats use different roost sites at different times of year.
“Bats may be disturbed by movement, noise and outdoor lighting during work, and by movement, noise and outdoor lighting even afterwards. A bat survey should be carried out by a suitably qualified ecologist or bat specialist before decisions are made. All recommendations about minimisation of damage/disturbance and about mitigation measures should be followed.”
Set within 34 acres of private grounds and woodland, Cromlix boasts 10 bedrooms, five suites and a one-bedroom lodge, alongside its own private chapel, tennis court, pickleball court and a restaurant operated by an award-winning chef.
Constructed as a Victorian mansion, it was handed down through generations of the Drummond family, before the Murrays assumed control of running the establishment three years ago.