When Sandy and I first decided to move to The Western Isles it was very much Location Location Location and the house could have been almost any tumble down place as long as it was in the right place. Last Tuesday I spent a very pleasant afternoon with The Soaplady and hers is very definitely the right place, no wonder she fell in love with it ten years ago - but I digress. After Sandy’s brother died last year and her mum came to live with us Location Location Location has become much less of a consideration and the most important criteria became Separation Separation Separation! She is such a nightmare to be around that we had to find a house which could be physically separated so that we could live in one half and she could live in the other and we could get our lives back - and we had to find it as quickly as possible. That was part of the plan when I went up to Stornoway last week and - what do you know - I found a house that will work perfectly on the very first day (same day as I found the rented place).
I’d seen this particular house on the internet a while back and it looked as if it might work but there was no floor plan so I needed to see it. It’s not the house we would have chosen for ourselves and it’s not in the area we would have chosen but getting our lives back has become the most overriding consideration and we have to compromise. What the house does have is two huge bedrooms downstairs, one of which becomes a sitting room, plus two other rooms that I can turn into a bathroom and kitchen. One simple door installed at the back of the stairs shuts off the whole of this part of the house and we can then begin to live our lives again without the constant misery that greets us everyday. I can even put in a separate external entrance door round the side and patio doors and a sun deck at the rear. She then gets a completely self contained home that is better than the one she left with the comfort of knowing that help, if required, is just beyond a door. Sounds a bit unkind but only those who have had the experience can truly judge.
The rest of the house, though not ideal, is fine for us for the next few years and we can add value to it by modernising it throughout. When the time comes we will sell it for more than we are paying and then move to Uig or Westside and buy the house we really want.
For most people it would be a pretty decent house and it has some reasonable views from some windows
The view from the kitchen with a perfect spot to park the camper
From what would be the guest bedroom
Surely room for few chickens there?
There you go, the compromise house. We have put an offer in which we are told is acceptable so now just have to wait to see if all the finances tie up and it goes ahead. Early days yet but I might just have killed two birds with one stone on that brief visit to Stornoway.
If it does go ahead I know that I can turn a rather dated house into something much more modern and desirable and it should hold us in good stead while we wait to see if The Soaplady’s house comes up for sale!
