Remote houses that call out to your soul - If you're over the 'Daily Grind', swap it for the ever-changing life of a traditional farmer in a remote house on the magical isle of Mull.
Aeneas and Minty McKay live by the seasons. In June they shear the youngest sheep, the year-old hoggets. In July they move on to the main flock and, if the grass has come on well, they make hay.
They eat off the land and from the sea – venison, organic beef, line-caught fish, and vegetables they have grown themselves.
Their home is a magical peninsula on the south-western corner of Mull. Here they have 1,500 acres of rough grazing and pasture, two hill lochs running with brown trout, the ruins of two deserted ancient villages and deer roaming the hills.
There is more than four miles of coastline, where they can spot minke whales, porpoises and dolphins, and where white tailed eagles hang on the wind.
They have lived here since 1994, converting the farm to organic, setting up a weaving mill to use the wool from the land, and winning awards and national attention for their dedication. They had both worked with animals before.
Minty and Aeneas McKay: 'The key is to let the land tell you what to do'
Ardalanish, their 1,500-acre farm, which has four miles of coastline
Minty grew up on Mull, and Aeneas on Loch Lomond, so they have Scotland in their blood. "Sometimes we can work at the hay until after midnight, and then we collapse with a good whisky," says Aeneas.
They turned away from commercial farming to old-fashioned traditional methods, reintroducing hardy native Highland Cattle and Hebridean Sheep, well adapted to the weather and the landscape.
The animals were allowed to graze and forage freely, as wild herbivores would once have done. Long-haired and double-coated, the cattle can stay outside all year long. In the summer they run with their calves on the hill, and in winter they are brought closer to the house.
"The challenge is that it has to work economically," says Aeneas. "This is not a time-warp, or a yearning for the old days, but a forward method of sustainable organic farming on a small scale."
In winter he is out feeding the cattle with hay, whole sheaves of oats and swedes, all grown organically on the farm. Another winter job is to lift the swedes by hand.
"One of the wonderful sights that visitors in the summer always comment on is the number of birds, large and small, and the huge variety of wild flowers tumbling in the ditches and hillocks between the fields, and the cascade of butterflies," he says.
The farm looks over Ardalanish Bay. On clear days the islands of Oronsay, Colonsay, Jura and Islay can be seen. A mountainous spine through the middle rises to Ben More, over 3,000-feet high. They are far from anywhere. The ferry is an hour's drive away, and then 45 minutes to Oban.
"The key is to look at the land and let it tell you what to do," says Minty. "In the summer it is wonderful because it is light early. We get up at four or five to gather in the sheep.
"Because of the way we farm, there are incredible numbers of little birds because we have all the insects to support them."
The weaving mill happened by accident. "We used to send the wool to Wales to be made into blankets and scarves," she says.
"It seemed very exciting and we had no trouble selling them on the farm. But then the weaving mill nearby was closing and we offered to store the equipment rather than see it thrown out. We all realised the owner needed to rebuild it here."
But its success took them by surprise. The tweed is loved by Savile Row tailors and fashion houses. Every year they take an apprentice and train a new weaver.
World wool prices have doubled in the past year and there is demand from affluent China. The future looks promising.
"People think we live in the middle of nowhere and that they will find an old woman with a pipe sitting in the corner weaving, but actually we produce high-end fashions in a farmyard," says Aeneas.
"It knocks people back." Minty and Aeneas also supply organic meat to local residents and take it to farmers' markets.
Why are they selling? The land, three-bedroom farmhouse and three-bedroom cottage is on at £950,000 through Savills (0131 247 3720). They are both in their sixties and feel Ardalanish needs "new energy".
Aeneas fancies getting into second-hand books. Isn't that all done on the internet these days? "People said farming had gone downhill, there was no one interested in good organic meat, the wool industry had collapsed, and look what we have done."
That is his answer. Follow your heart and do what you believe in. It is a message which all visitors to Ardalanish take away with them. ( telegraph.co.uk )
Aeneas and Minty McKay live by the seasons. In June they shear the youngest sheep, the year-old hoggets. In July they move on to the main flock and, if the grass has come on well, they make hay.
They eat off the land and from the sea – venison, organic beef, line-caught fish, and vegetables they have grown themselves.
Their home is a magical peninsula on the south-western corner of Mull. Here they have 1,500 acres of rough grazing and pasture, two hill lochs running with brown trout, the ruins of two deserted ancient villages and deer roaming the hills.
There is more than four miles of coastline, where they can spot minke whales, porpoises and dolphins, and where white tailed eagles hang on the wind.
They have lived here since 1994, converting the farm to organic, setting up a weaving mill to use the wool from the land, and winning awards and national attention for their dedication. They had both worked with animals before.
Minty and Aeneas McKay: 'The key is to let the land tell you what to do'
Ardalanish, their 1,500-acre farm, which has four miles of coastline
Minty grew up on Mull, and Aeneas on Loch Lomond, so they have Scotland in their blood. "Sometimes we can work at the hay until after midnight, and then we collapse with a good whisky," says Aeneas.
They turned away from commercial farming to old-fashioned traditional methods, reintroducing hardy native Highland Cattle and Hebridean Sheep, well adapted to the weather and the landscape.
The animals were allowed to graze and forage freely, as wild herbivores would once have done. Long-haired and double-coated, the cattle can stay outside all year long. In the summer they run with their calves on the hill, and in winter they are brought closer to the house.
"The challenge is that it has to work economically," says Aeneas. "This is not a time-warp, or a yearning for the old days, but a forward method of sustainable organic farming on a small scale."
In winter he is out feeding the cattle with hay, whole sheaves of oats and swedes, all grown organically on the farm. Another winter job is to lift the swedes by hand.
"One of the wonderful sights that visitors in the summer always comment on is the number of birds, large and small, and the huge variety of wild flowers tumbling in the ditches and hillocks between the fields, and the cascade of butterflies," he says.
The farm looks over Ardalanish Bay. On clear days the islands of Oronsay, Colonsay, Jura and Islay can be seen. A mountainous spine through the middle rises to Ben More, over 3,000-feet high. They are far from anywhere. The ferry is an hour's drive away, and then 45 minutes to Oban.
"The key is to look at the land and let it tell you what to do," says Minty. "In the summer it is wonderful because it is light early. We get up at four or five to gather in the sheep.
"Because of the way we farm, there are incredible numbers of little birds because we have all the insects to support them."
The weaving mill happened by accident. "We used to send the wool to Wales to be made into blankets and scarves," she says.
"It seemed very exciting and we had no trouble selling them on the farm. But then the weaving mill nearby was closing and we offered to store the equipment rather than see it thrown out. We all realised the owner needed to rebuild it here."
But its success took them by surprise. The tweed is loved by Savile Row tailors and fashion houses. Every year they take an apprentice and train a new weaver.
World wool prices have doubled in the past year and there is demand from affluent China. The future looks promising.
"People think we live in the middle of nowhere and that they will find an old woman with a pipe sitting in the corner weaving, but actually we produce high-end fashions in a farmyard," says Aeneas.
"It knocks people back." Minty and Aeneas also supply organic meat to local residents and take it to farmers' markets.
Why are they selling? The land, three-bedroom farmhouse and three-bedroom cottage is on at £950,000 through Savills (0131 247 3720). They are both in their sixties and feel Ardalanish needs "new energy".
Aeneas fancies getting into second-hand books. Isn't that all done on the internet these days? "People said farming had gone downhill, there was no one interested in good organic meat, the wool industry had collapsed, and look what we have done."
That is his answer. Follow your heart and do what you believe in. It is a message which all visitors to Ardalanish take away with them. ( telegraph.co.uk )
