Rhuroin

It stands on its own wooded point among Scots pine, rowan and birch, with views to the well-known red-roofed house, Inverbain Island and the Torridon mountains. Otters and herons live in the sheltered bay next door, red squirrels live in the woods, sea eagles nest on Shieldaig Island nearby, and at the right time of year pods of dolphins feed in the loch. A rough lawn runs down to the sea, so wild swimmers and kayakers can go straight in, and there’s space to keep a kayak by the shore.

The point’s name means seal point in Gaelic. When the Lochcarron Estate sold it in the late 1960s it was rough open ground: trees were planted, a road was built in the early 1970s, and a ruined house was rebuilt, lit at first by gas, as electricity hadn’t yet reached this part of the peninsula. Iona and Gordon Drysdale lived in the house for eight years and raised their two children here, and they still live on the point, on hand during your stay.

Downstairs is open-plan, with maple floors and a wood-burning stove set into a wall of bare stone, and the sitting room closes off with bi-fold doors. Upstairs there’s a double bedroom with big views to the north-west and east, a single bedroom, the bathroom, and a landing window that runs from floor to ceiling.

Good to know: Rhuroin is let for up to three guests, by the week, Monday to Monday, with short breaks from November to February outside Christmas and New Year. Check-in is from 4pm and check-out by 10am. Children of six and over are welcome, and there are no pets and no smoking.