Why have one unique house when you can have three … in one of Scotland’s most scenic islands? Located in Geary on the Isle of Skye’s dramatic north-eastern Waternish coastline, Mint Croft comprises croft house, traditional blackhouse, and a recently completed corrugated steel-clad bothy, plus three outbuildings and almost seven acres of croft land.
But what makes this even more desirable, the current owners – a professional builder and designer – have painstakingly restored the two older vernacular houses over the last 11 years using traditional construction techniques and undertaking most of the work themselves.
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Built circa 1800, the blackhouse would have been the crofters’ original home, which they would have shared with their animals. Now united with an adjoining hayloft, the blackhouse is a characterful one-bedroomed home complete with turf roof – dug from the surrounding and enhanced at different times of the year by bluebells and orchids.
The accommodation comprises open-plan living/dining/kitchen, the latter featuring a DeVol kitchen with marble-tiled splashback and black Indian limestone flooring, while the restored original gable wall highlights exposed stone in contrast to the remaining plastered walls. An inner corridor leads to the rear of the house where there’s a bathroom, concealed storage, and stairs to an amazing bedroom with a glazed wall framing the croft and the seascape.
The croft house, built in 1934 from village stone, replaced the blackhouse as the family home. Behind its white painted façade is a wide hallway, cloakroom, and open-plan kitchen/dining room with sea views – the latter also a feature in the sitting room, a more intimate space with oak flooring.
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Upstairs are two double bedrooms with high ceilings and exposed Douglas fir beams, and family bathroom. The croft house also has a very pretty herb garden to the front, outbuildings and sheltered rear garden.
At the top of the site, the bothy is finished in a similar black-clad vernacular to an island outbuilding – inside, its open-plan living/kitchen/dining space has mono-pitched ceilings and currently doubles as a bedroom.
The current owners, who design and hand-make exquisite items of furniture under their brand, Forstaris, are moving to Edinburgh. Mint Croft is exceptional in every sense – for sale at £845,000 with Inigo’s London office.
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