Five years ago, when Lynne John was seeking a holiday that would be an antidote to her husband Gareth’s stressful City job, she settled on the Isle of Skye.

The island’s charms persuaded the couple to totally change their lives and move there. They are now enjoying their retreat from the rat race in a beautifully renovated 19th-century whitehouse croft set in wild meadowland in the Waternish area.

“We originally bought the 10-acre field as we thought we might get permission to build a house on it,” explains Lynne. “But we became aware that locals didn’t favour this idea — not that anyone objected, but we got the drift. However, when Tern House came on the market, people in the area let us know about it. When we talked to the sellers, we decided to buy it right there and then.”

They bought Tern House, a one-and-a-half-storey, three-dormer croft in 2002, and although a renovation and extension project might not have been their original intention, they are delighted with the result, achieved in collaboration with the Skye-based architects Dualchas Building Design. “We got on very well with Dualchas,” explains Gareth, who has now retired. “We were ready to be flexible and this worked well. If you’ve got an architect, give them the freedom to do the design.”

Gareth, however, wasn’t quite prepared for the initial advice given by Mary Arnold-Forster of Dualchas. “When Mary first saw the house she said, ‘Put your sledgehammers down — what you need is a bulldozer’,” laughs Gareth. “I envisaged living in it and doing it up over a 10-year period. But Mary said if we progressed in this way, in 10 years’ time we’d still have water coming in everywhere.”

The house, which first appears on the 1877 Ordnance Survey map, had had various extensions added over the years, which had gradually pushed it into the adjoining hillside, causing flooding. Gareth had to dig 10ft of soil away from the back of the house to re-direct the water. As luck would have it, he trained as an agricultural scientist, so he knows a thing or two about irrigation.

The next task was to “strip the house back to its original bones as far as possible,” says Gareth.

Originally the property was a dormer cottage with three tiny bedrooms. On the ground floor, the living area had been augmented by an L-shaped kitchen extension built in about 1900. In the angle of the L were further later additions.

The new design was intended to create more internal space, which meant stripping away the additions at the back.

The architects also wanted to respect the original frontage of the house. The windows had been moved around, which spoilt the visual balance of the house as well as making it structurally unsound.

“So when we stripped it back to the walls, we intended to leave the two end gables and all of the front wall but ended up with only half the front wall as the other half fell down,” explains Gareth. “It had to be pulled down because there was a gap you could put your arm through.”

Eventually, the front wall was rebuilt and the windows repositioned in their original places. The house was made light and airy by removing the original back wall and placing a steel joist along its length. This released a lot of internal space, as well as forming a bridge and support between the house and the new glass extension at the back.

Tern House is now largely open-plan on the ground floor, with the main living area in the original house. The new kitchen and dining area are in the glass extension, forming a U-shape around an impressive new oak staircase. The exception to the open-plan arrangement is a small wet room and snug sitting room that occasionally doubles up as a bedroom. The first floor now has two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

The neutral colour palette, characterised by Caithness granite on the floors and worktops, white walls and solid oak floors, is enlivened by colourful artworks and a vibrant red rug in the living area, as well as a pillarbox-red table and Aga in the kitchen.

The house has handcrafted oak doors and a bespoke kitchen built by Stuart Shone of Ardvasar. The oak staircase was built in situ by a joiner working with the project’s builder, Davie Kerr.

“This was the first big refurbishment that Dualchas have done and they found it fascinating to work with the old house,” continues Gareth. “We wanted it to feel very modern inside but to respect the old bones of the old house, and this has been achieved.”

The couple were also happy with the £170,000 budget and the year-long construction period. “We had some horrendous weather,” says Lynne. “Also supplies often take a long time to come through. But we decided to go with the flow.”

Gareth says: “This is the Isle of Skye so things will get done when they get done. I can’t bring residual rat-race attitudes of ‘I want it done now’ with me. You have to remind yourself of this — it’s a discipline in itself.”

It’s obviously a discipline the Johns are content with, for they are in the process of renovating an adjoining byre with a view to renting it out as holiday accommodation.

“We said to Dualchas, ‘do what you’ve done but on a smaller scale’. It’s a mirror of the house except downsized,” says Gareth. “It’s taking time but we’re almost there.”

Tern House, mail@ternhouse.com; Dualchas Building Design, 01471 833 300, www.dualchas.com

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