Hello from the Highlands via Essex!

[Adrian]

Hello everyone, 

My partner, my son and I have left the flatness of the Essex coast and have bought a little piece of heaven in the West Highlands of Scotland. Basically a 7 acre field, no house, just a ruinous and ancient stone barn. We have planning permission for a new dwelling and for renovation of the barn. We are bounded by the River Aray and have a large pond fed by a mountain burn. There is mains electric on site and a fully filtered ready to go private water supply. The plot was once part of a much larger farm called Ladyfield which features in a few novels by the Scottish author Neil Munro who spent much of his childhood there with his maternal grandmother in the second half of the 1800s. The earliest record we have found so far is of a tenant present in 1812! The house they would have occupied was demolished just a year or so ago but sadly the materials were removed from the site including all the slate which would have been exactly what we needed for renovation of the barn roof. 

I have spent my life earning money from carpentry/building and from my music. I write and perform my own songs and have toured the UK, parts of Europe and Canada. My partner is an advanced nurse practitioner and walked straight into a job at the nearby doctors surgery. So we are all set to go, well as I actually sit and type we are still waiting our final entry date which is expected to be in the next 48 hours. The plan is to get our static caravan on site and hooked up and get comfy. Then first move will be to get a new roof on the barn and rescue the structure which is all in all pretty sound but with the current state of the roof it is only a matter of time before it deteriorates. Then it will be time to work on the Scottish building warrant and hope to start our build when the weather breaks n the new year. 

Looking forward to keeping in touch with like minded folks on here and enjoying the ride...

 

[Cpd]

Welcome and greetings from west coast argyll. Looks absolutely fantastic!!!! What a great barn to have as your staging area for a new build. Really looking forward to seeing your progress. 

[ProDave]

Hello and welcome from the Eastern Highlands.

 

That barn looks great and in the short term I am sure you are going to find it a very useful storage and work space during the build.

 

Knowing how cramped a static caravan can be, I would set up a laundry in the barn and have the washing machine etc in there, rather than rattling away in the 'van.

[Adrian]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

Hello and welcome from the Eastern Highlands.

 

That barn looks great and in the short term I am sure you are going to find it a very useful storage and work space during the build.

 

Knowing how cramped a static caravan can be, I would set up a laundry in the barn and have the washing machine etc in there, rather than rattling away in the 'van.

Cheers Prodave, definitely got plenty of storage there, its about 20m x 5m! Also fortunate that the previous owners had a Portakabin on site which we will use as laundry room etc. It's a pretty neat starting point..

1 hour ago, Cpd said:

Welcome and greetings from west coast argyll. Looks absolutely fantastic!!!! What a great barn to have as your staging area for a new build. Really looking forward to seeing your progress. 

Thanks CPD, so good to know you folks are around and I'll look forward to keeping in touch.

[MikeSharp01]

Welcome to THE forum for self builders and like minded types..

 

Looks like a stunning project - enjoy the good weather.