So what DO you do when a 40ft sperm whale washes up on your doorstep?
...and other life lessons of couple who staged the ultimate escape from the rat race to spend 30 gloriously eccentric years ‘marooned’ on their own Scots isle
THEY admit it was not exactly a rational choice – more a leap of faith. When Richard Rowland and Dorota Rychlik swapped their comfortable life in London to buy a run-down mansion on a tiny island on the most northerly fringes of Scotland, their friends didn’t just call them irrational, but downright mad.
After all, how many city types have headed north for a calmer and more peaceful lifestyle – only to give up when overwhelmed by the realities of wilderness living?
But despite the challenges of being so remote – will the builders be willing to travel? Can we persuade our family to visit? What on earth will we do with the huge whale that’s washed up on our doorstep? – the former solicitor and his art dealer wife managed to create an idyllic island paradise for themselves which has lasted nearly 30 years.
In 1993 the couple moved to Vaila Hall, a magnificent but badly neglected 17th Century manor house which stands in spectacular isolation on its own private island, a ten-minute boat trip from the Shetland mainland.
Now, as they grow older, the pair have decided to sell up and move on. And having put their house and island on the market for £1.75 million (a boat and herd of sheep may also be thrown in), they have reminisced about their three decades as laird and lady of Vaila, describing remarkable wildlife, days marooned by storms, and a host of riotous
It took eight people three weeks to cut the meat off the whale and use diggers to bury it
parties. They also spoke about the whimsical decision that first took them to the island.
Mr Rowland said: ‘It probably wasn’t a very rational decision. I mean you aren’t rational if you buy an island but there really is nowhere like it. We’ve had a fantastic 30 years.’
And for anyone thinking about buying Vaila, he said: ‘One would hope that they would share our dream. They may have totally different aspirations – but you need to have a dream if you want to live on an island.’
For the couple, their dream of island life began a world away from Shetland, in the bustle of north London.
Having formed a bond after the death of their previous partners, Mr Rowland and Ms Rychlik were living in a two-bedroom townhouse in the city.
Fantasising about a new start, they started to hunt for a property project – a ‘doer-upper’ in Scotland.
Searching the Buildings At Risk register, they found Vaila Hall – a mansion that had been deserted for 13 years. The fact that it was on an island at the far end of the country made it only even more enticing. ‘We came up to the Isle of Vaila for the first time ever to view it and we just fell in love with it,’ said Mr Rowland.
The appeal is obvious: the main house, with its grand stonework, stepped gables and round tower, dominates, with a determined eccentricity, the bare expanse of the largely treeless island.
As soon as they moved in, the couple set out to prove that isolation is not the same as loneliness – by throwing a massive housewarming party. With the house still in poor condition after years of being empty, they erected colourful yurts to accommodate their guests.
Over the subsequent years they took great pleasure in mirroring the exploits of one of the island’s previous owners, the 19th Century Yorkshire mill owner Herbert Anderton who used Vaila as his summer residence and venue for his lavish parties.
In 1994 Ms Rychlik and Mr Rowland threw their own circus-themed wedding with performers flocking to the island. They said: ‘We were dressed as ringmasters with tophats and we had circus performers come to do juggling, and plate spinning. There was a pantomime elephant and cow and Japanese stilt-walkers. Some guests came dressed as human cannonballs.’
The couple also hosted Mr Rowland’s daughter’s wedding more recently in 2010 which was a traditional Shetland affair, with 150 guests dancing in the Great Hall. An orchestra even sailed across the choppy waters to perform a specially composed piece in the Minstrels’ Gallery for the celebration.
‘The island and the house is a great place for parties. Vaila Hall has been the equivalent of a party house for us,’ Mr Rowland said.
While the remoteness of their home has not robbed them of company, it has presented them with other difficulties. For example, they are frequently stranded for days at a time when their island is battered by Atlantic storms.
The couple said: ‘We are regularly marooned on the island but Shetland weather is so changeable that you can have a storm one day and it’s then fine the next.
‘It’s pretty rare to have a lengthy period where the weather is too inclement to come across – but
we always rather enjoy being marooned.’
Isolation has brought other, practical, challenges – such as how to lure tradesmen to the island for the renovation their new home so desperately needed.
After suffering more than a decade of neglect, the house required seven years of work. As well as legions of builders and specialists from Shetland to install a central heating system and deal with woodwork and plasterwork, decorators were recruited from London, 800 miles away – and many stayed on the island for weeks at a time.
The secret, Mr Rowland, explained, was to entice tradesmen onto the remote island with the promise of home-cooked food and beer on tap from the cellar.
Even after renovations, the house – which has four reception rooms and six bedrooms – retains many of its distinctive period features.
Speaking of the vast Grand Hall, Mr Rowland said: ‘It’s as it was in 1900, and the furniture is all largely the same. There were two green leather settles, which we had completely restored because the leather was completely falling apart. We’ve also added a suit of armour, we thought it needed it.’
As well as a formal dining room and library, the house contains a Birds and Beasts room. ‘It has a lot of stuffed birds in it. There are about 30 cases of taxidermied birds in the house, all from Shetland or the island. It also had two massive polar bear skins on the floor so we’ve continued the tradition by having a tiger skin as well,’ the couple said.
Although polar bears and tigers are exotic additions, the pair have been surrounded by plenty of native wildlife – not all of it friendly.
Otters and orcas are often spotted from the island’s seven miles of coastline, while the rugged cliffs, rocky outcrops, caves and pebble beaches are visited by seabirds such as fulmars, kittiwakes and puffins as well as curlews, snipe and oystercatchers.
Mr Rowland has learned to be wary near the great skuas’ nests. He said: ‘The great skuas are the frightening ones because they nest on the open moorland so you can’t see their nests and they are very protective. They come and divebomb you – you have to wear a hat and carry a stick during breeding season because they are less likely to dive at you then.’
Troublesome in a very different way was the arrival on the couple’s doorstep of a 42-foot sperm whale. Nicknamed ‘Bony Dick’, the creature’s remains washed up on the shore one January.
Mr Rowland said: ‘It was dead before it washed up. It was a young male, about 20 years old, and it weighed about 40 tons. Dorota ended up mobilising the council and they towed the whale to an inlet where it was more accessible.
‘It then took eight people three weeks to cut the meat off it and use diggers to bury it. She had to buy them all plastic overalls to wear whilst they did it because the smell was horrendous. The overalls then went straight in the bin.
‘The head of mammals at the National Museum in Edinburgh came up to advise us on how to take care of the bones. We had to bleach them, use ammonia, then cover the bones with tarpaulins for three years whilst they dried out.’
Once the bones were ready, the couple converted a barn to display the beast’s impressive skeleton – which is now visited by Shetland schools.
One part of the pair’s dream was to turn their island into Shetland’s first organic farm. Their herd of 200 hardy Shetland sheep could also be included in the forthcoming sale, although Mr Rowland admits he would be sad to see them go.
He said: ‘It took ten years to create that herd. Shetland sheep are fantastic because they don’t need much maintenance and they lamb themselves. Dorota is a trustee of the textile museum so we have bred them for their natural colours.’
Mr Rowland, 77, and Ms Rychlik, 60, are reluctant to give up Vaila but acknowledge they are ‘getting on’ and it was a matter of practicality. None of their children can take the property on but Mr Rowland said Vaila had been great for the grandchildren. ‘I was actually sent an emoji of someone with tears when they heard we were selling,’ he added.
Handling the sale is Luke French, director of Savills’ Edinburgh office, who said: ‘The juxtaposition of the dramatic, elemental land and seascape with the exquisite craftsmanship of historic Vaila Hall makes for a quite extraordinary property. A rare prize indeed for the next owner.’
It’s a sentiment that echoes the words of 20th Century English Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman, who once visited the island and remarked: ‘I can think of few nicer places in the world.’
Mr Rowland, who described himself as a ‘Londoner at heart’, summed up the requirements for island life. ‘There are the challenges of just getting across the water. Everything is different on the island from normal life.
‘It’s just important that people have got to follow their dreams because if they thought about the practicalities of it then they would never come.
‘But it’s a wonderful island and it’s been a wonderful home.’
It is a great place for parties. Vaila Hall has been the equivalent of a party house for us