Hebridean home proves self build haven

The island of Harris in the Outer Hebrides provided an opportunity for a very special self build project for Lesley and Brian Knox.

The couple fell in love with the island and its ever changing landscape and wanted to reflect it in their dream family home, the Times Online reported.

Ms Knox told the news source: "The original idea was to have a house that expressed the local landscape and that had a feeling of Harris, but was not a sort of Walt Disney-type pastiche - the original idea was to have a broch with a fish shed."

A fish shed it certainly is not, however, with its ancient colourful Lewisian Gneiss stone foundations, red cedar timber clad tower, hillside position and low construction.

The tower features lead roof covering, while the rest of the house is covered by natural slate tiles for an authentic touch.

Harris is noted for its dramatic landscape, with the north of the island dominated by rugged mountains and the east featuring some of the world's oldest rocks, dating from the Ice Age and 'The Bays', a series of tiny inlets.