A Modern Highland Life

As the Caledonian forests, Pictish stones and sheilings rightly remind us, there has been life and resilience in Rannoch for longer than any of us can remember. The ancient beauty and rich heritage of the moors, mountains, lochs and glen is mysterious and captivating. It is here that Kate and Andrew Duncan have made their home and are committed to creating a life and lasting legacy for themselves, their young children and the community they are proudly part of. Beyond that, they also work hard to share the joys, traditions and practicalities of rural living in this part of Scotland. Their enterprising creation, A Highland Life is building a positive future for them and those to come. Their vision is as broad and beguiling as the Highland landscape.

Every day is focussed on living a viable, abundant, happy life in a wild glen, regenerating and enhancing precious natural habitats and conserving their local heritage. The variation is vast with the spectacular surroundings providing a constant source of natural energy from calm, cool waters to big skies and one very majestic munro enveloped by all imaginable weather, often all seasons in a day. 

For all its feeling of remoteness, Rannoch enjoys a very central location around two hours from most of Scotland’s major cities and accessible by car or a romantic train journey to Rannoch or Blair Atholl. 

The estate where A Highland Life is based has been in Kate’s family for three generations. Choosing life here comes with a lifelong responsibility to the surroundings and those that have gone before. For Kate the untimely passing of her mother meant shouldering this responsibility at a young age. Today, the estate is the foundation for a wonderfully settled existence with stillness in nature never far away and yet, the couple are rarely still for long. 

A lot has happened in the last decade: starting with a wonderful Highland wedding and the arrival of three children, Archie (9), Flora (7) and Henry (2), the latter bravely born at home. Alongside this, the entrepreneurial couple have created three accommodation venues. The aim is to share and encourage others to experience A Highland Life based on the rich heritage and wild landscape enhanced by the seasons. Adventure, authentic highland comfort and an ongoing commitment to thoughtful progress and projects which create a sustainable legacy and highland memories valued for life. An obvious highlight is the complete renovation of Lassintullich House, a bold project taking a neglected Highland lodge dating back to 1740 and transforming it to a family destination, with views from every window. This was mainly completed through lockdown when many were taking an enforced break from their usual pace, but in typical Duncan fashion, there is always a project to complete. 

A Highland Life offers guests the opportunity to experience and learn about their projects including a conservation herd of native Luing cattle, a small hydro scheme and a variety of habitat restoration projects including peatland restoration, native tree planting and pond creation.

This year will be Kate’s third year as Chieftain of the Rannoch Highland Gathering, she is the first lady to take on this role since the games began in 1881. While she leads the gathering, it is very much a community run event with Andrew also involved in the planning, set up and operation. Kate brings a quiet ambition, organisation, optimism and realism to the role, carefully blended with a respect for traditions, hard work, fun and inclusivity. This role exemplifies the way Kate and Andrew live and what they bring not only to this event but to their business and rural life. 

Surviving and thriving here is nothing new as the ancient monuments around the glen will confirm, but it does require energy, determination and commitment, resourcefulness and skills that are as varied as the surroundings and seasons. It is important for the pair to look back respectfully and forward thoughtfully. Early months filling log sheds, monitoring calving in the Spring, organising and leading the Highland Gathering in Summer, through harvest time and on to guiding and hosting stalking parties in Autumn and making precious time for sledging and snowmen in Winter. No two days are the same and there is a careful, sometimes precarious balance to be found between parenting responsibilities (two school runs and a nursery run as the day begins and ends is just a glimpse) community commitments, building and running a business and estate management alongside Andrew’s full time role as a Director of a land management company.

Thankfully the duo have abundant enthusiasm and ideas, a very genuine love of their home and surroundings and crucially the ability to adapt and make quick decisions. All of this is underpinned by clear values which align with their commitment to each other, the life they desire for themselves and their children and their roles as custodians of this 2,500 acre corner of Scotland. Each change and decision is made with thoughtful progress in mind. Kate and Andrew want to enjoy the beauty and freedom the estate affords them and the countless fun, everyday adventures from picnics and boat trips to skating and wild swimming but they also want to share their knowledge and inspire others to visit and enjoy some of what they are lucky enough to experience every day. They have used what they have to create a business, they have harnessed a formula which allows them to live and work here; whatever can be seen in the business is there because it is part of their lives and it is ever changing. No detail is overlooked or underappreciated and that perhaps is the key to success. Recognition of what an opportunity they have and determination to realise its fullest potential – the epitome of remote entrepreneurship. For those choosing to visit there is an equal focus on simple pleasures of nurture balanced with the thrill of outdoor adventures. Guests and their dogs are encouraged to enjoy the well-appointed, thoughtfully decorated interiors by curling up by the fire, reading and playing games, watching the views from every window, cooking in the well-equipped kitchens, eating and indulging - Lassintullich has a particularly notable Victorian dining room and enviable glass collection whatever your tipple of choice. You can also pre-order their Pasture for Life beef to be prepared as a stew, delivered for the Sunday roast or to enjoy cooked over the bespoke fire pit. 

Active adventurers have one obvious choice – a climb! The surrounding landscape is dominated by Schiehallion (a modest 1083m) often thought to be positioned at the geographical centre of Scotland, one of the country’s most loved and most magical munros. Some might be tempted to join A Highland Life’s “munro before breakfast club” or choose to climb it at any time of day to take in the flora, fauna, wildlife and views. Climb or not, be sure to look closely, observe the mosaics of habitat and species including lichens, mosses, fungi, trees, grasses and wildlife specifically five species of butterfly, over forty species of birds and other highlights from red squirrel and dotterel to mountain hare, black grouse and the unmistakable Scots pine. These are not ordinary places, they are often otherworldly and deserve their official recognition as Sites of Special Scientific Interest; one at 200m and another at over 1000m, alongside value as a National Scenic area prizing views and dark night skies. You have to see it for yourself. Loch Rannoch affords a friendly 25 mile cycle, or paddle on Dunalastair water, where the Duncan’s have provided rowing boats. There’s a hill bothy to explore and opportunities to enjoy shooting, stalking and fishing – the classic country sports, if desired.

Whichever path you choose here, tread lightly and like Kate and Andrew embrace what you find, take time to make memories you will value for life.