Skye Shed / Dualchas Building Design / Hebridean Homes

Some of you will know that we are underway with building a house. Some of you have even helped me to source some materials! We are in no rush, and it will be done when it is done. It has taken a fair bit of time to try to get things right, and at the same time it has been a disappointment to find that the oldest of skills are dying out, that old products and materials are now either unavailable or astronomical in price, and that so much is controlled by regulations. But we live in 2012, not 1912 and so we've tried to make the best informed decisions we can at every stage, listening to both the 'oul hands' and the younger men who know about present-day improvements. We'll never do this again in our lives, so we'll take our time and try to get it as right as we can. It would be nice to be moved in later this year. (But 'boast not thyself of tomorrow...')

Vernacular buildings are very rare around the countryside of Ulster nowadays. Which is why I thought that posting this information here might be of interest to some readers. Some friends of ours (the husband is a Scot) tipped us off about a holiday house they had heard about on the Isle of Skye which is a combination of modern architecture and traditional forms. It is available to rent during the summer months upon request. Here is a photo:







(photo gallery available here)


SkyeShed itself (website here) might not be everybody's cup of tea, but the portfolio of the architectural firm who designed it, Dualchas Building Design of Glasgow (and Skye) is magnificent - click here and be prepared to spend a fair bit of time enjoying their work.

What's really interesting is that the same firm also offer kit houses under the brand name Hebridean Homes. Any of these would look great nestling in between a few County Down drumlins, or on the foothills of County Antrim's hills and glens.