Rooms with a

▼ The sitting room has been renovated...

House, on the banks of breathtaking Loch Ewe in Wester Ross, was not always the luxury retreat it is today.

When owners Elizabeth and Craig Thompson bought the 1980s-built house near Aultbea in 2010, it was tired and vacant.

Craig, who works in education quality assurance, had been living with his family in The Netherlands at the time. He recalls: “The property’s location and potential – in that order – were what attracted us. “Elizabeth and my daughter actually viewed it, as I was abroad with work. It didn’t look much as it had been empty for a while. It felt pretty unloved. “The original design had small windows and a solid wooden door at the back, so it was only when they saw the amazing view that they knew this was the house we had been looking for!”

The family, who now live just outside Gairloch where Elizabeth runs the popular Coastcoffeeco café at the harbour, decided to renovate and capitalise on the panorama.

Craig says: “We undertook a pretty extensive renovation, including making the lounge and kitchen all open plan, installing the picture windows and double French doors in the lounge and also window-doors in both of the downstairs rooms.

“We had seen houses with wraparound decks in New Zealand and wanted to create the opportunity to step out of the bedrooms and lounge on to the deck and take in that amazing view.

“We enlarged the downstairs bathroom by combining it with a former office. “Upstairs we also played about with the layout, so that both the double and the twin rooms have an en suite bathroom.” The transformation took four years to achieve, with the couple working on it during their holidays. The end result is a luxurious, four-bedroom retreat with three sumptuous bathrooms, an expansive living area and cosy separate snug. Craig says: “The house was completely re-wired and fitted with wired-in smoke and CO2 alarms. We did all the finishing and decorating ourselves.” Having worked in hospitality,