If you are going to name your home ‘The Haven’, you had better have the goods to back that up. According to the dictionary, a haven is a place of safety and refuge. I also believe it is a place of tranquility and beauty. Not always the easiest ingredients to perfect in a property.
But looking at An Cala, the Scots Gaelic translation for The Haven, it is not impossible. The property, for sale with Strutt and Parker for £775,000, is quite unlike anything I have ever seen north of the border.
Situated on an inlet near Oban on Scotland’s western coast, the house offers five bedrooms and four reception rooms, plus some tantalising gardens.
Originally three properties, An Cala was combined in the 1930s before its renovation by the current owners, who have lived there for the past 40 years. The original conversion was conducted by Col Arthur Murray and his wife, the actress Faith Celli (famed for her role as Peter Pan in London’s West End).
Murray and Celli’s conversion not only created this 3,800sq ft home, but also the gardens, which were designed by the celebrated Thomas Mawson & Sons. So beautiful are they, and were they, that they have featured on the cover of Country Life and in The Times.
The feature on An Cala in Country Life on March 7, 1991. The gardens were also on the front cover that week.
Situated on the shore of the Firth of Lorn, the gardens have long been a member of Scotland’s Garden Scheme, and feature a waterfall, lily ponds, a wild garden with glorious Azaleas, Japanese flowering cherries, indigenous rock outcrops and plenty of space to sit and enjoy the glorious view. In all, 2.9 acres
Inside, the home has been fitted to a high standard, with a pleasing mix of Scottish period flair and modern comfort.
Set over two floors, the heart of the property is occupied by a large kitchen/breakfast room with island, a double-height drawing room, conservatory, dining room and sitting room. Upstairs, you’ll find five bedrooms, four of which come with sea views.
The property is located on the Isle of Seil, with the mainland reached by the Clachan Bridge. The nearby village of Ellenabeich offers a shop, oyster bar, restaurant and brewery, as well as ferries to the other islands. Oban itself offers plenty of amenities, as well as trains to Glasgow and beyond.
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