‘The only parts of that house that can be salvaged are the four outer walls!’ This was a comment by a prospective purchaser of Asknish House in late 2016 to our clients, who conceded in time following their purchase of the house that this was not entirely inaccurate. However, despite this pessimistic viewpoint and the desperate state of the structure, the potential for the property to be redeveloped into a comfortable and impressive family home was clear.

Asknish House is a large B-listed Georgian country house close to the water’s edge of Lochgair in Argyll. The house was originally constructed in 1780 partly from the ruins of an earlier 17th century dwelling further south on the site and sits within estate grounds which include a steading building to the north of the house, a tall stone sundial and a laundry building perched next to a burn which runs through the grounds.

A phased approach was used for the project - firstly make the building safe before undertaking a variety of structural repair works to the building and making it weather tight, and then following this, works to the steading structure close to the house were then actioned, before finally fitting out the house with intricate, honest internal finishes, complementary to the age and fabric of the building.

The house combines sensitive heritage detailing with modern finishes and technology. For example, a whole-house ventilation system is employed throughout the house and it is heated using a large wood chip boiler located in the adjacent steading building. Insulated lime plaster-on-the-hard is used as the internal finish to the external walls which when combined with a lime harling external finish helps the walls to breathe.