A Traditional Long House Self Build

The framed view that dominates the south wall of John Cameron’s dining room could rival anything found on the walls of a national gallery. Yet this spectacular scene, featuring a sweep of Strathspey meadow culminating in the snow-capped peaks of the Cairngorm Mountains, is a living and breathing real-time landscape — and it’s just one of the many bespoke and site-specific details that set John’s contemporary rural self-built croft apart from so many of the generic kit houses that have become such a familiar sight in the current Highland landscape.

Yet Cameron Croft does not attempt to set itself apart as an all-singing, all-dancing addition to the dramatic landscape. Instead, the simple one-and-a-half-storey timber frame structure respectfully follows the low-slung, landscape-hugging form of the traditional rural long house, and includes familiar details such as a slate pitch roof and white render finish. But it also provides a clever contemporary twist by featuring extensive glazing – around two thirds of the south elevation is glass – and materials and finishes that are technologically top-notch and maintenance-free. But ironically, although the touches are bespoke and the materials first rate, Cameron Croft was built within budget parameters of £200,000 — comparable to the cost of a standard kit house.

The croft occupies part of a nine-acre site that John purchased from a local farmer around five years ago. John, who is originally from the area, admits that if it wasn’t for the family connection within the area, then securing the site would have been very difficult. But the deal, to buy nine acres, would suit all parties involved, as the farmer would still be allowed to graze his livestock on the land, whilst John would have an ideal site on which to build his new home. Normally, building on such a location would be contrary to local planning consent, however the enlightened approach of the local councillor to give some support to limited applications was acknowledged in order to allow farmers to realise some capital. But this situation was about to change. For in 2003, when Cameron Croft was nearing completion, the house and site were assimilated into the newly designated Cairngorms National Park — a safeguarded area of great natural beauty, which would be under the jurisdiction of a new Park Authority.

When John had bought the land a few years previously, he had taken a chance in purchasing it without planning consent. This consent was eventually given, however, on the basis that the new home should follow a traditional style. “There was initial planning resistance to our proposals, due to the fact that the house was modern,” admits the project’s architect, Philip Flockhart of Edinburgh-based Morris & Steedman Associates, “But when I met the chief planner on site with a model, he thought it was fantastic. After resistance they showed great support.”

Little wonder, since the house addresses the site beautifully. “There were no parameters to exactly where the house should be located,” continues Philip, “but we decided to place the house at the back of the site so that you can see the expanse of the field opening up towards the landscape. Harnessing the view east towards the nearby river also determined the site.” In order to maximise the views, the windows are arrayed in a long south-facing strip to capture the sun and scenery. Contrastingly, the north wall is unbroken by openings. This blank wall is echoed in the garage wall which extends the appearance of the building as a long white strip in the landscape. “It’s a simple and obvious solution, putting the rooms to the south and the circulation to the back on the north side. Great views and passive solar gain to the south and minimal heat loss to the north makes practical and economic sense,” explains Philip.

Many of the structural components and material finishes also make sound practical and economic sense. These include low-maintenance elements such as a white STO self-finish render. The gutter is also unusually posi­tioned on the roof slope, allowing an uncluttered clean line between wall and roof to ensure that snow loading doesn’t dislodge it. The natural slate roof structure, which is essentially timber trusses suspended off steel beams and spanning between the cross walls, is trimmed with maintenance-free powder-coated alumini­um, as are the windows externally – with wood internally – which will require little in the way of painting.

Normally, the kind of glazed façade that characterises the house would relate to an entirely open plan interior, but John was keen to pursue a more traditional self-contained room layout. “I wanted separate rooms rather than an open plan arrangement, for cosiness. The kitchen and dining area is more of an open plan space as this is used as a gathering place. It’s a very social area.” As a result of this interior arrangement, the windows are positioned to correspond to the cross walls which divide up the rooms.

In terms of the internal arrangement, the croft comprises two entrance porches at either end of the north wall spine, with the main entrance located at the east of the building. The straight linking corridor along the length of the house is cleverly lit from above via a series of NorDan roof windows. John admits that this roof glazing is also instrumental in allowing air to circulate throughout the house, which is a must on a hot Highland summer day. Spine walls separate the south-facing accommodation, which includes the sitting room to the west, the kitchen and dining area in the heart of the house, and an en suite bedroom to the east.

Directly above the dining area and ground floor bedroom are two additional bedrooms — one open plan, the other a self-contained en suite arrangement. Above the sitting room, a storage attic has been created. “Most houses of this kind don’t think about storage,” explains Philip. “But what we did was sacrifice the entire roof area over the sitting room to attic space for storage. However, we also raised the roof ties, which has resulted in a nice high ceiling in the sitting room: it’s 10 foot high, which makes it a big room.”

The interior colour and material palette echoes the crisp minimalist finishes of the building’s exterior. These include a Caithness slate fireplace, containing an easy-to-maintain Baxi log fire, designed by Philip. “The open log fire was priority number one,” says John, who is also able to burn peat which he digs himself from the nearby moss. Caithness slate features extensively on the floor finishes, as does cherry wood. Continuing the timber theme, locally produced untreated larch is used in the decking, porch, screen and garage, and is already silvery with weathering. The timber finishes form a soft, natural adjunct to the house’s direct, mono­chromatic palette.

The 12-month construction process was “remarkably painless”, according to Philip. “The contractors, AW Laing of Grantown-on-Spey, were fantastic. In fact, when they had the frame up, they then neatly pasted up all of our drawings on the walls, which they methodically followed — I’d never seen this approach before. They were terrific contractors and did a terrific job. This is probably the best contract I’ve been involved with.” There were, however, a few added dimensions to the build due to the remoteness of the site.

All the services had to be brought in: “The only public service I get is collection of the bins!” exclaims John. Drainage is achieved via a septic tank and the rainwater that comes off the roof goes straight to a soakaway system. “The water is too far away so we had to find our own water supply,” John continues. “Duly a man came with birch twigs and indicated where he believed we should drill, and sure enough there was the water!” The water supply, essentially a pressurised pump, has to go through a treatment system, which is located in an insulated, thermostatically controlled cupboard in the new larch-clad double garage. This cost around £10,000 to install — however John maintains that it is money well spent.

John admits that this is probably the first as well as last self-build project that he is likely to take on, however he also concedes that it was worth the wait. More so, it would appear, since Cameron Croft was assimilated into the Cairngorms National Park — its protected status has inevitably led to soaring land prices. “Although this is a small one-off house, it was a great opportunity to test ideas and create something a little bit different in the countryside,” concludes Philip. “I think we have also ended up with a very valuable asset.”