Inside a minimalist new-build on the Isle of Skye

Ben Kendrick and Alison Davidson

24 January 2025 at 7:57 am·5-min read

modern wooden house overlooking lake and mountains — A contemporary minimalist new-build on Skye Huntley Hedworth

Dominic Houlder has been coming to the Isle of Skye since the 1970s, when his mother bought a traditional croft in Boreraig on the shores of Loch Dunvegan. ‘I spent many happy holidays on Skye as a child,’ he says. ‘I always look forward to coming back. My work as a professor of strategy at the London Business School takes me all over the world and I’ve lived abroad a lot, but Skye has been a constant throughout my life.’

When Dominic’s mother died in 1998, he kept the cottage and rented it out as a holiday let, but he yearned for a place of his own, somewhere more spacious that was more his style. Luckily, a plot of land next door to his mother’s croft was available and a seed was sown.

outdoor wear in wood clad storage area in hall — A bespoke bench seat and hanging area in the hall is ideal for keeping coats, bags and boots tidy Huntley Hedworth

‘In 2004 I met Neil Stephen of Dualchas Architects and we knocked ideas around about what was possible. I also looked at what was being built around Skye. Originally, I’d thought about a traditional black house – I had seen some on the Isle of Lewis and they’re common throughout the Highlands – but I felt it might end up being a pastiche with its thatched roof and stone walls and decided instead to go for something more contemporary,’ explains Dominic.

room with views and modern sofas and armchairs — The minimalist style in the living room has modern upholstered furniture from Skandium and Ligne Roset Huntley Hedworth

They came up with a plan for a modern, shed-like structure that would chime with its surroundings, incorporating galvanised metal, which is seen on the tin roofs in the area, and larch, which is plentiful locally, and featuring a limited colour palette taken from the landscape – heather, bracken, stone and the lowering sky. ‘Everywhere you look, the old stone crofts have been repurposed into sheds with crinkly tin roofs, and I wanted to bring that feel to the build,’ says Dominic.

grey island kitchen unit and wood dining furniture in plywood clad room with stone floor — Another partition wall contains the kitchen/dining area, built by Dualchas, with charcoal grey units and Caithness slate worktops. The walls and ceiling are clad in white-oak-veneer plywood Huntley Hedworth

Planning permission was granted and the building work started in September 2009. The main structure is long and low and linked to two separate buildings that house guest rooms and a garage. It is clad in larch that has weathered to a soft silver grey. Huge full-height windows look over a ‘lochan’ – a small loch with the sea beyond. In keeping with Dominic’s open-plan vision, the main living space is open to the ceiling but has been split into three sections with partition walls – there’s a lounge, then a dining and kitchen area and a studio/study, all with a minimalist vibe.

timber clad room with white bathroom furniture and dark stone floor — As elsewhere in the house the floor tiles in the bathroom have been designed to line up perfectly with the ply-clad walls, which creates a harmonious look Huntley Hedworth

The partition walls were originally rendered in cement, but it proved impossible to get a consistently smooth finish over such large surfaces. However, they found a man in Glasgow, Hugh Smith, who specialises in Venetian plaster, which consists of thin layers of burnished plaster to which ground marble is added. The result is a pale grey finish that gleams in the light.

Inside is based on a grid system – the 600 x 600mm Caithness stone floor tiles line up exactly with the white-oak plywood wall panels. ‘I was keen to keep it simple with carefully selected pieces of furniture. There’s concealed storage in the walls –I want to look at the building, rather than what’s in it. Clean, Scandi designs work well and, in fact, anything from Skandium looks good here,’ says Dominic. ‘The house has been designed for how I live and work. It lends itself to writing and concentrating, and I can develop lectures. And with substantially better telecoms, life is a lot easier than it used to be.’

grey wood clad exterior of single storey contemporary building in rural setting — The modern, single storey structure was designed and built by local architects Dualchas. It’s clad in local larch that has aged in the wild elements to a soft silver grey Huntley Hedworth

Although Dominic still travels extensively with his work, he says he would rather be here than anywhere else in the world. ‘There’s a natural rhythm to being here that I don’t get anywhere else, which makes it very calming.’

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