Towards the End of November

Another month has come and gone and work at Raasay House is progressing well now with paint and lightfittings now getting put up. No walls though!




The contractors reckon that they are 85% of the way through the project so all being well they should have everything apart from the outside grounds done for February which is just a little behind schedule.

We are trying to source beds and kitchens and kayaks and string from all over the place so if anybody has a spare 7 tonne truck let us know!

The New build is getting on and should be finished next week.




















All the windows and doors in the house have been taken off and refurbished. The West Wing has been used as the carpenters workshop and does have a great smell of wood when you go up the stairs.



Outside the house in the grounds, there is a lot of equipment and scrap lying about. Part of the job I guess. No doubt within a couple of months this will all be sorted and gone. Where is Kev when you need him?!




A new car park has been built at the north east entrance near to the cemetery/ farm. with the main reception now welcoming guests through what was the old scullery at the East end of the house.



The scaffolding is slowly coming down and the great job that has been done to rejuvenate the building is becoming more evident.

Where has the year gone......

Its hard to believe that it is November already, where has the year gone? Winter is fast approaching and we have already had a good sprinkling of snow on the Cullins.

Its been a busy year with most of out clients enjoying their time at Comrie Croft, albeit missing the magic that is Raasay. Thankfully the House is coming along nicely and it won't be too long before we can welcome everyone back to a freshly renovated Raasay House.

Their has been a huge amount of activity at the site over the last couple of weeks, as you can see by the last post the 'new build' arrived on the island and is being put together at a remarkable rate. The roof is finished and they are starting to attach the cladding onto the building.

The new gas tanks for the house have been installed and all of the associated pipe work laid, this will enable ROK to finally install and connect the boilers that will serve the houses heating system. It will be great to be able to step into a warm and cosy building once we take it back in Feburary.

The east wing of the house is nearing completion, radiators have been installed, walls painted, final stage of electrics are being installed and all of the bathroom fittings arrived yesterday.

The builders are now concentrating on finishing off the middle and west wings of the house. The won't take as long to renovate.....hopefully. We are still expecting to take the building back in early February and be open and ready for business at the beginning of April.

Its not just the interior of the house that is having a wee face lift, the grounds of the house will be having a wee bit of work done to them. This will mainly involve the areas immediately surrounding the building. The contractors have started their exterior works and their first job is to reset all of the front curb stones. Not particularly easy when you see the size of each of the curb stones. They have to manually lift every stone into place then reset each one at the right level.

The new ferry terminal is also coming along, not sure if they are on schedule or not but it they are working on it whenever they can. Due to the weather they can't work when the wind picks up...the joys of health and safety regulations.

I hope you enjoy the pictures....


East side of the house.

Bedroom nearing completion.

Cladding ready to be attached to the 'new build'.

Ground floor hallway.

Bay window rebuilt.

Cornicing work now completed in the bar.

Gas and water pipes being laid in the back courtyard.

New calor gas tanks installed.

New build on site and being erected.

One of the workmen cutting new skirtings.

New curb stones being re-set.

New ferry terminal coming along.

New ferry site.

What a spot to work.

The new build has arrived.....

The new build aka 'The Activity Resource Building' has finally arrived on Raasay. 6 Flat bed lorries turned up to the ferry terminal at Sconser on a wet and cold Sunday Morning. Once the ferry crew had finished their regular 10.30am sailing they spent the next 4 hours ferrying over each of the trucks one by one. Not a easy task by any means, considering that one of the modules was 6.8 meters wide, took up almost the entire length of the ferry and had trouble boarding and disembarking the ferry due to the awkward angels of the access ramps.

All of the modules spent Sunday night and Monday sitting at the Raasay Ferry Terminal. Tuesday saw the start of the modules being transferred onto their final resting place within the grounds of Raasay House. Thankfully all of the trucks managed to arrive at the house safe and sound and without any major incidents.

The new modules are now in the process of being craned into place on the pre built foundations. Once the modules are fitted into place the frame of the building will be going up, followed by roof, services etc.

I will keep you all updated as the development continues. Below are a few pictures of the modules arriving at the pier and being craned into position.


Flat beds in queue to board ferry.


Flat bed number 3.....


Crane Lifting modules into place.


More grounds works to new build area.


Positioning modules.

Just a quick update for you all......

As you all can see the house is coming along nicely. With the escalation in works in will be adding more pictures to the blog so you all can keep a track of the progress of the building. Everything is going full steam ahead now, the contractors are still hoping for an Christmas finish, we will have to wait and see if that eventuates.

Here are a few more pictures for you all to enjoy.


New stone work above the main front entrance.


Work station for slating works.


Reinstated gutters and down pipes.


Cornicing work in progress in the front hall.


Current state of back courtyard.


Room 9 - ready for final stage of works.


The new office almost finished.


Back section of the house,scaffolding removed - Harling and drains completed.


Cornicing work in progress in the old Blue Lounge




New water storage tank being constructed.

A few more pics...

Hi all, here are a few more pictures of the redevelopment for you all to enjoy. I will endeavour to upload the blog with fresh pictures as much as possible. The house is really coming along now. The top east wing is nearing completion. The only work that ROK have left to complete in this area of the house is final stage of electrics, install the radiators and redo the floor finishes.

Its a very exciting time for us all here on Raasay. The transformation that the house has undergone in the past few months is amazing. When I was looking over the nearly completed east wing I was amazed at the difference. (I will post a picture of the east wing asap). No longer does it feel like the walls are closing in on top of you, or that you might fall through a wall if you lean on it too hard.

All of the Raasay House team are looking forward to having you all come and visit and be amazed at the refurbished Raasay House.

Kirstin and Amelia Grace are all doing well, I have added a better picture of Amelia for everyone to check out....




Windows from the library refurbished and ready to be re-installed.


New stone in place to the exterior of the building.


East wing exterior re-harled and painted.


Re-conditioned gutters ready to be installed.