TRESHNISH

The 4 Treshnish cottages (Studio, Shieling, Shian and Duill) change over on Fridays. Guests are invited to arrive after 5pm on the Friday afternoon at the beginning of their holiday and must depart on the Friday morning by 10am at the end of their holiday.

Situated on the edge of the traditional farm ‘square’ (farm yard), this small and romantic cottage looks out over a distant corner of the owners' garden to the sea with the isles of Coll and Rum in the distance. Shieling (old Scots for 'sheltering place') provides comfortable self-catering accommodation for a couple.

When we first came to Treshnish in 1994, Shieling was a semi derelict generator/tool shed but its rounded corners and vernacular detail inside revealed that its original purpose had been as a dwelling. So we decided to restore Shieling to its former use and it is now a uniquely appointed cottage with maple floors throughout and cosy, central heating supplied by the Treshnish Farm biomass district heating scheme.

The entrance porch leads into the delightful open plan kitchen/living room. Granite worktops, ceramic hob cooker, dishwasher and fridge/freezer make this a very well equipped kitchen area - with small farmhouse table and chairs beside a decorative antique dresser (housing books, CD selection and games).

At the other end of the living room between the two windows – one with a westerly view over the old ‘stack yard’ and the other looking over the stone garden wall towards the sea – is the comfortable sitting area tastefully furnished with sofa, armchair, freeview TV, little tables and my grandmother’s antique Shetland spinning wheel similar to those used in this dwelling many many years ago.

The restfully decorated bedroom with double bed and en-suite bathroom (shower, W.C., and basin) leads from just inside the living room entrance. Its easterly window has a view over the farmyard towards the hills behind Ensay and catches sunrises all year round.

There is a small gravel patio and grassy lawn with garden furniture - and wonderful views over the field to the sea.

An exciting Renewables project took place during the winter of 2008-2009. We installed a District Heating Scheme heated by a 70 kW Froeling Wood-chip Boiler. All the heating and hot water needs for the 4 Treshnish Cottages, as well as the Farmhouse, the office and Laundry are now provided by zero carbon wood chip harvested from Mull forests, chipped and processed within 15 miles of Treshnish. This not only benefits the environment but the local economy as well.

In October 2009, after many years in the planning, we finally installed a 6kW Proven turbine on the small hill to the south of the Treshnish steading. This supplies Studio with ‘home made’ green electricity, as well as the office, laundry and other sheds within the Farm steading building. Any excess is exported to the national grid.

Treshnish and Haunn Cottages