Long view

Property of the Week

Ahouse that adapts with your changing needs is a blessing and Rock Cottage, in the charming Argyll village of Ardentinny, is more flexible than most.

It is a traditional west coast cottage, dating from the 1800s, which has served as the area’s post office and general store, but was a virtual ruin in 1986 when Paul Addis came across it.

He says: “It had no electricity and needed a complete overhaul but I liked the shape of the building and its situation. It looks out onto almost the full length of Loch Long.

“I believe it has been used for many years as a navigational marker.”

Ardentinny is a ribbon settlement that runs south to north along the western side of Loch Long in the Argyll Forest Park, which is itself within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

It is a quiet spot but, although it feels remote, it is quite accessible and residents can commute to Glasgow via the Dunoon ferry 14 miles away.

The village has an enviable sense of community and good amenities for its size.

It is a perfect spot for outdoor pursuits with access to some lovely beaches, the loch itself for boating and sailing and a wealth of forest walks, including taking in the towering Californian redwoods at the celebrated Benmore Botanic Garden.

Ardentinny has a church and village hall, a community garden and the refurbished Ardentinny Hotel, while the nearest shop is at Strone, a couple of miles away.

Dunoon, accessible via a regular bus service, has supermarkets, restaurants, a library, hospital, cinema, leisure centre and swimming pool.

Deciding to take on the Rock Cottage project almost single-handedly, Paul’s first task was to strip out every piece of wood to get rid of the dry rot.

He says: “I ended up with just four walls and rebuilt the interior from there.

“The room configuration stayed the same, however, as I liked the original layout.

“The only thing I did change was the barn at one end of the building – it became a big kitchen with an Aga stove in it.”

The project took 18 months and Paul did all the work apart from the re-roofing.

He says: “I did have some experience in doing up houses but this was a lot bigger than any previous project. However, it was fairly straightforward and I took my time and got it right.”

He had help from a local architect and says: “When I couldn’t figure something out I’d pop in to see him for help.”

When it was first complete the house was used as one home, and lived in permanently by Paul, but over the years he has travelled more with his work and when it became apparent that he and his wife Lynda were spending more time in Edinburgh than Ardentinny he looked to adapt the cottage to serve as holiday lets when he wasn’t there.

Two dining kitchens are at opposite ends of the building with a kitchenette housed in the middle one of the three rear extensions.

The clever configuration means that it can be used as one, two or three separate houses but all the doors are interconnecting and it still feels like one home when being used all together.

There are five bedrooms in total, with a sitting room, dining room and the large dining kitchen with a glorious sun room attached.

Because the cottage is largely one room deep, all the public rooms and all but one of the bedrooms have views out to the shore, the loch and the mountains beyond.

Paul says: “It is an ever-changing view. I enjoy sailing and when we had a yacht, we could moor it outside, which was lovely, but just looking out of the window you also see dolphins, porpoises, otters and seals and all manner of seabirds.”

There is also the odd sighting of a submarine heading into Coulport opposite.

As a holiday let, the property has worked very well, and you can see Rock Cottage continuing to provide a holiday home for its next owners as well as a source of income.

At the back is a completely enclosed and very private garden, dominated by the huge rock that gives the cottage its name, and great air of permanence, however it is used.

It is an ever-changing view. Just looking out of the window you see dolphins, porpoises, otters, seals and all manner of seabirds