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.
-
Six beautiful homes around the world, from Portofino to Provence to Palm BeachAn exquisite villa tucked into a hillside? A A breathtaking apartment created to make you feel like you're flying through the endless blue skies?
-
The 'greatest battle for 300 years': England's great estates face up to a green futureThe climate crisis will affect us all. All over Britain, major landowners are stepping up to tackle a warming world and biodiversity loss.
-
Six beautiful homes around the world, from Portofino to Provence to Palm Beach
An exquisite villa tucked into a hillside? A A breathtaking apartment created to make you feel like you're flying through the endless blue skies?
-
An idyllic home where the forest meets the sea, for sale for the first time in over half a centuryLittle Aston is a graceful, charming home with superb gardens and its own orchard, as well as some of the south coast's most beautiful areas right on its doorstep. Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
'Just look at those stairs. Just as an art form, they are bewitching, like the shell of a nautilus': The lure of buying a stairway to heavenIt seems like madness to buy a house purely because you fall in love with the staircase — but sometimes, they are simply so beautiful that it's impossible to resist. Toby Keel takes a look at some glorious examples of staircases we've seen in Country Life in the last couple of years.
-
A one-of-a-kind waterfront estate with two private beaches is for sale on the same storied American island that Jackie Kennedy, the Obamas and Princess Diana have all visitedBeach Farm on Martha’s Vineyard — a favourite summertime holiday destination with prominent American families — is a perfect melding of New England and Scandinavian design styles.
-
The architect who created the MI6 building only designed a tiny handful of houses — and one of them is now up for sale in one of London's most bucolic spotsSir Terry Farrell designed the beautiful, light-filled, T-shaped Drum House in Petersham, with gardens laid out by John Sallis Chandler, who has won multiple RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medals.
-
'True waterfront homes are finite... miss one and it could be years before you see another like it again': Why the best waterfront property always hits the spotThere’s no denying the appeal of waterfront property, which now sells for some 51% more than its inland equivalent, finds Knight Frank. Annabel Dixon explores the shore.
-
19 charming homes for sale, from picture-perfect cottages to beachside retreats, as seen in Country LifeThis week's selection of some of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life this week.
-
Tim Burton is selling the house he shared with Helena Bonham-Carter, a sublime home on the Thames that comes with three private islandsMill House in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, might just be the perfect English country home.
