About Us
We are Michael and Anne-Marie. We moved from our home in the English Lake District, following a long-distance love affair with the landscape of the North West of Scotland, and in particular Assynt. We both love the poetry of Norman MacCaig, a Scottish poet whose words vividly evoke the experience of this landscape and we have always been drawn to this special place. Michael’s passion for fell running has taken him high into this wild and remote region, while Anne-Marie’s love of the landscape inspires her work as an artist.
Whilst in Cumbria, we extensively refurbished our stone and timber clad Lakeland home to accommodate a private studio for Anne-Marie’s mixed media art work, and a home office for Michael’s project management consultancy. We have built an inspiring home and work space, Taigh a Chnuic, (House on the Hill) and created Studio Hoose, a beautiful self-contained holiday accommodation nestled a little further up our croft. We bring the same energy and attention to detail to Tree Hoose - our latest venture! Tree Hoose is now completed and located in woodland on the hillside above and behind Studio Hoose and has been open for business since late April 2021.
The Project
Discovering this former croft with its social history and ecological importance has become an ongoing project to regenerate four acres of mature native woodland in the community of Letters, overlooking Loch Broom. The objective - to create a beautiful and renewed relationship between human habitation and landscape – is in progress. In harmony with the seasons, the planting of silver birch, wild bird cherry, elder, guelder rose, rowan and willow is underway. Over time, we will re-establish a lightly wooded character with grassland and wild flower habitat on the lower, more developed part of the croft while bringing the neglected coppice wood higher up the hill into management. Coppicing in rotation over a longer time period and some re-planting will restore the woodland to its former health.
