In Timsgearraidh, a village in the Isle of Lewis, lays Uig Sands, a scenic bay with a river flowing from the hills on one side and a beautiful sandy beach on the other.
Overlooking the bay is Hebrides House, a stunning holiday home which allows travellers to bask in the surrounding nature.
Now living in London, owners Jen Topping and her husband Sam Maynard both have strong island connections – Jen’s mum is from the Isle of Lewis, while her husband lived on the island for 20 years, working as a photographer and film maker.
The couple wanted their children to have a stronger connection to not just the island, but its people too, and longed for a location where their children could explore the hills and sea in the same way Sam had while living there.
So, Jen and Sam decided to create a “home away from home”, enlisting the help of Scotframe to supply the timber frame kit to make their dream a reality.
Creating the Dream
Jen and Sam purchased the land in early 2020, which meant they were spending their COVID-19 lockdown time designing the home.
Being able to get the structure wind and watertight quickly was a key factor in Jen and Sam choosing timber frame to build with.
“The weather can be a little temperamental!” says Jen. Choosing timber frame offered a convenient option, as the house could be fabricated off the island in a factory, and then transported across to the Isle of Lewis to be installed in a much quicker time than traditional masonry building offers.
The Self-Build Begins
In June 2022, Jen and Sam began the build. “It was fairly stressful at times, but we were so lucky to have such a great bunch of people working on it!” says Jen.
They enlisted award-winning Edinburgh based GRAS architects to design the house, and we worked closely with their team to ensure Jen and Sam’s plans came to life using our timber frame kit.
When the build commenced, Jen and Sam took over the management themselves and entrusted their builder, Kenny Macarthur, to pull together the trades required to deliver the project.
The build completed in the summer of 2024 after a smooth process. “During the design and construction phase, Scotframe were very thorough in ensuring that the house would match our architect’s plans. They worked well with our builder to ensure that the foundations and all elements married up.”
“We’re delighted with the final build. The house is finished to such a high standard, it’s easy to heat and is warm and toasty!”
A Comfortable Build
The ‘toastiness’ of Hebrides House comes from the high-performance insulation housed within the walls of the home. Valutherm+ is our factory-injected, closed panel insulation solution, which adopts a fabric first approach to prioritise energy efficiency within the building envelope.
Not only does this increase thermal performance, but it helps to reduce the energy used over the lifetime of the building.
Advice for Future Self-Builders
While Jen and Sam benefitted from a smooth build process, sometimes self-build projects can go off-track. “The main thing is to make sure the foundation and Scotframe’s plans are all completely aligned, and that your architect, timber frame designer and builder are completely in sync,” Jen advises.
“Our foundations and timber frame matched perfectly thanks to the efforts of everyone to ensure they were aligned in the design, specification and manufacturing stages.”
A Home for All to Enjoy
Hebrides House benefits from four king-size bedrooms, two living spaces with cosy log fires and plentiful views of the stunning scenery from every angle.
Alongside the main house sits a fully contained annexe with a bedroom, lounge, kitchen and bathroom which houses a bathtub placed perfectly to take advantage of the views through the window.
The whole house is available to be booked, or in the winter months, couples can take advantage of booking just the annexe for a cosy weekend away.
Many people dream of building their own home, and at Scotframe we pride ourselves on supporting customers to make their dreams a reality.
To find out more about self-building, and how Scotframe can help, please contact our team.
To keep up-to-date with Hebrides House, follow them on Instagram or visit their website.