The Hen House, at Fiscavaig on Skye, has drawn inspiration from Hebridean agricultural buildings;image © Andrew Lee

A new generation of innovative holiday homes are reinvigorating the Scottish islands.

It was early morning when our ferry approached the Outer Hebrides, the sun still working on the last wisps of sea fog and a hundred or more dolphins playing alongside. We docked at Stornoway, picked up groceries then drove south to Harris — over desolate moorland, then on roads clinging to mountainsides that offered glimpses of glittering sea lochs far below and golden eagles high above. The only things breaking the spell of all this natural splendour were the occasional houses we passed: not pretty, ancient, stone cottages but 20th-century bungalows, either white or grey pebble-dashed, often with awkward dormers added to the roof and chunky plastic windows and doors, and usually — despite the huge expanse of open land on all sides — set right beside the road.......Continue Reading

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