A remote Scottish farmhouse perfectly rooted in its dramatic landscape
Few landscapes can be as peaceful and yet subject to constant motion and change as the west coast of Scotland. Perched above a tidal pool on a remote Hebridean island, this traditional old farmhouse, recently restored by the model and writer turned interior designer Saffron Aldridge and her business partner Scarlett Supple, embodies this contradiction perfectly. From its huge windows, the sky can alternate between rain storms and sunshine in a matter of minutes, the sea grows rougher and calmer by turns, and distant hills blur and reappear again over the course of the day. Yet the interior is a place of deep calm and comfort, the ideal place to retreat to from the commotion of everyday life.
When Saffron acquired the house three years ago, it coincided with the establishment of her interior design studio, Aldridge & Supple, with Scarlett. Having met her years earlier on a different project (Scarlett was previously an interior designer for Soho House), Saffron had been impressed by her talent; they stayed in touch and, when Scarlett decided to set up on her own in 2020, they joined forces. Saffron’s creative eye, honed by her background in fashion and art, as well as her extensive travels, alongside Scarlett’s experience and interior design credentials, make for a formidable combination. The farmhouse would be a testing ground for many of their ideas as well as a showcase for all the things they do best.
Built around 1905, the stone house was a ruin when Saffron came across it. The pair began with the architectural work, extending the footprint of the house and building back into the rockface behind it, adding a grass roof so the structure feels embedded in its surroundings. ‘The landscape here is so breathtaking,’ says Scarlett. ‘We wanted to make sure that there was the right balance in the proportions of the building, so we did a lot of research into Scottish houses of this period. We also worked with a team of incredibly skilled local carpenters and contractors who understand the local materials and traditional building methods.’
The resulting house is pleasingly balanced between enveloping comfort and a liberating sense of space. One side contains the expansive sitting room, open to the roof and designed around the view over the sea to the mainland and the mountains beyond, with huge steel-framed french windows that lead onto a terrace. This room opens directly into the kitchen and the other, two-storey side of the house, where smaller spaces – a snug and boot room, flower room and bedroom – occupy the rest of the ground floor, and a generous bedroom and bathroom take up the entire first floor. ‘I love that you enter the house through a small, cosy boot room,’ says Saffron. ‘Then come out into this big, open space where you can breathe and feel free.’
The captivating outside world takes centre stage in the interiors. The view is one aspect of that and the outside can be brought into the sitting room by opening the beautiful, hand-crafted doors to the terrace. But Scarlett and Saffron also took great pains to find the right organic materials to set the interior in its environment. Wood and stone predominate: on some walls, the stone has been left in its natural state; on others it is evened out by lime render. Timber from fish farms, aged over time by seawater, has been used for the ceiling beams and wonderfully textured kitchen cabinets, while Norfolk pamment tiles, loved by Saffron since her childhood, lend further rusticity.
Despite the large, open spaces, there is a great sense of warmth and comfort that runs through the house, conjured up by the pair’s clever use of textiles and their considered layering of art, antiques and bespoke pieces. Texture is everywhere – from the thick bouclé wool curtains that line the windows, to the knobbly metal surface of the handmade bronze four-poster bed. Antiques of different styles and periods are well placed in dialogue with each other, such as an 18th-century Spanish desk next to a primitive woven chair in the sitting room, and unusual forms such as the single-plank coffee table add visual interest.
Earthy, organic tones, drawn from the heathery, mossy terrain, complement the overall feeling of calm.‘I didn’t want crazy colours,’ Saffron explains. ‘There should be nothing to distract you from the environment outside.’ Scarlett agrees, ‘Where there is pattern, we’ve made sure the prints are faded and washed out, so as not to jar with the organic palette.’ The Aldridge & Supple-designed rug in the sitting room is a good example, enlivening the natural texture subtly with a faded black motif. Even the brownish pigment of the hand-poured concrete work surface in the kitchen seems to take its cue from the hills outside.
What ultimately pleases Saffron the most about her Hebridean retreat is the evidence of care and consideration in every inch of the place. Craftspeople and artisans, many of them local to the area, have worked on so many elements of it and, even when she looks at the vintage artworks, mostly found in flea markets, which are scattered across the walls, she sees the dedication that the anonymous artists gave them: ‘I look at everything and see the talented people involved. I could sit in the house for days just feeling happy with what we have achieved’.
Aldridge & Supple: aldridgeandsupple.com
Martin Morrell1/5Saffron (left) and Scarlett have used the same essential design elements in this rustic building as in the main house, giving it a satisfying coherence. These include salvaged timber cladding, simple rough-hewn wooden furniture and dramatic full-height steel-framed windows. The flooring is a reclaimed pitch-pine parquet, laid on the diagonal, sourced from Ted Todd.
Martin Morrell2/5Designed by Aldridge & Supple, the units were built by a local joiner using weathered fish-farm timber and topped with hand-poured concrete. Reclaimed pitch-pine cladding and Norfolk quarry floor tiles showcase a large post-war artwork from Dorian Caffot de Fawes, an antique oak table and elm benches, and a French bank of drawers from Pure White Lines. The woven lampshade is from Portobello Road
Martin Morrell3/5This space off the entrance hall is warmed by an Esse wood-fired stove. Arts and Crafts leather chairs and a built-in three-sided bench provide comfortable seating
Martin Morrell4/5Walls lined in reclaimed pitch pine complement the bespoke staircase made from Douglas fir and intricately bent pitch pine by skilled local artisans. In the snug off the hall, a custom-made jute rug designed by Aldridge & Supple picks up on the tones of the wood and the leather Arts and Crafts armchairs
Martin Morrell5/5The traditional-style cast-iron bath from Drummonds, positioned to make the most of the view, is paired with a salvaged and refurbished set of shower mixer taps and a brass towel rail, all from Original Baths. The bronze ‘Rupert’ wall light is from Hector Finch
