A remote coastal cottage where author Sir Compton Mackenzie wrote his classic novel Whisky Galore has gone on the market for over £325,000.
The five-bed house is located in the Outer Hebrides on the tiny Isle of Barra which is home to just 1,100 people.
The windswept location inspired Sir Compton to pen the hilarious story of a parched island community going to great lengths to recover thousands of bottles of whisky washed up from a shipwreck.
The author also wrote Monarch of the Glen from the living room of the cottage that looks out on to the sandy beach and the Sea of the Hebrides.
Sir Compton Mackenzie’s former property, called Suidheahan, is situated on the beach on the tiny Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides
The five bed house where the novelist wrote his classic Whisky Galore has gone on the market for offers over £325,000
The island, that has a population of just 1,100 people, is so remote it requires a five hour ferry ride from the Scottish mainland to reach it
A bust of Sir Compton, who died in 1972, still sits in the house which was passed down to the writer’s Shakespearean actor nephew Alan Howard before he too passed away in 2015
Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie was born in 1883 in County Durham but had a strong Scottish links and would often refer to the Highlands as his spiritual home – prompting the move to Barra in the 1930s
In 1949 Whisky Galore was adapted into a film by Ealing Studios starring Gordon Jackson (left) two years after Sir Compton published the novel
The island is so barren it requires a five-hour ferry ride from the Scottish mainland to reach it. Or, a small plane carrying 12 people arrives from Glasgow three times a day and uses the flat beach close to the cottage as an airstrip to land.
The property, called Suidheahan, was built in 1935 for Sir Compton who moved to Barra full time. He wrote Monarch Of The Glen in 1941 followed by Whisky Galore in 1947.
After he died in 1972, the cottage passed down to his nephew, the Shakespearean actor Alan Howard whose death in 2015 has now prompted the property’s sale.
It has a kitchen, dining room, utility room, drawing room, a master bedroom with en suite bathroom and four further bedrooms.
Peter Gillespie, of estate agents Savills which is selling the cottage, said: ‘Suidheachan is an utterly unique property in surely one of Scotland’s most distinctive and stunning locations – by Barra’s unforgettable white sands and crystal clear waters.
A spacious high-ceiling drawing room provides breathtaking sea views which look out across the beach. The house was built for Sir Compton in 1935 and while it has been modernised over the years, the building’s structure remains unchanged
The vibrant living room has pictures of birds hung up on the walls and a variety of checkered rugs and cushions draped over the chairs and sofas. The author awrote Monarch of the Glen from the living room of the cottage that looks out on to the sandy beach and the Sea of the Hebrides
Keeping with the nautical theme, shell ornaments and model boats decorate this room which looks out over the fields and beach
The windswept location inspired Sir Compton to pen the hilarious story of a parched island community going to great lengths to recover thousands of bottles of whisky washed up from a shipwreck
‘Barra is a four and a half hour hour ferry trip from Oban or a one hour flight from Glasgow and the plane lands on the beach at low tide.
‘Usually for estate agents any airport net to a property you are trying to sell is not good news but this is wonderful.
‘When the wind sock is up that means planes are about to land. There are two or three planes that land a day right on the beach not far from the cottage.
‘But we are not talking about jets flying in and out, it is a Twin Otter plane that carries just 12 people.
‘It is very remote in the Outer Hebrides and if you miss it the next land mass you hit is Newfoundland.
The smart wood-floor kitchen provides a rustic feel but is equipped with modern appliances fitted by Sir Compton’s late nephew
Birds and checkered patterns appear to be a theme at Sir Compton’s former house where he wrote Monarch Of The Glen and Whisky Galore
The beaches are wonderful and the wildlife is excellent. It is not unusual to see golden eagles. It is a different pace of life.
‘This will be one of three things for the new owner. It will be a complete lifestyle change where some mov in full time, or someone who buys it as a holiday home or someone buying it to rent out.
‘Travelling to the island is not easy so we haven’t got a closing date for the bids yet but it will sell well.’
‘The literary heritage of the house adds to its charm. Compton Mackenzie wrote Whisky Galore from the drawing room.’
A small plane carrying 12 people arrives on Barra from Glasgow three times a day and uses the flat beach close to the cottage as an airstrip to land
In the living room, Sir Compton wrote Monarch Of The Glen, the first in his Highland Novels series about the life in the fictional Scottish castle of Glenbogle. It was later adapted into a hit TV series