{"id":631162,"date":"2025-12-14T03:28:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T03:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/631162\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T03:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T03:28:21","slug":"inside-scotlands-home-of-the-year-nestled-on-hidden-gem-island-with-just-2000-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/631162\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Scotland&#8217;s Home of the Year nestled on hidden gem island with just 2000 residents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" data-no-modal=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Off-platform-pics-2025-12-13T110404.252-1.png\" alt=\"A low-profile stone house with large wooden-framed windows, built into a grassy hill.\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15682061\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>A TINY home built by hand on a remote Scots island has been crowned Grand Designs House of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>Caochan na Creige, on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, was dreamt up by architects Eilidh and Jack Arundell and built with ancient local stone from a nearby quarry for just \u00a3167,000.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Entertainment newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Caochan na Creige was named the Grand Designs House of the Year 2025Credit: Channel 4<\/p>\n<p>The 85-square-meter home packs in a open plan kitchen and living space, a bedroom, bathroom, utility room and officeCredit: Channel 4<\/p>\n<p>Architects Eilidh and Jack ArundellCredit: Channel 4<\/p>\n<p>The pair, who run architectural firm Izat Arundell, ditched pricey contractors and did it themselves, with Eilidh\u2019s brother and furniture maker Alasdair Izat helping with the build. <\/p>\n<p>The modest one-bedroom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/topic\/home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">home<\/a>, perched on a rocky outcrop with views over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/topic\/skye\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Skye<\/a>, beat multi-million-pound rivals thanks to its innovative and budget-conscious design.<\/p>\n<p>At 85 square metres, it packs in an open-plan kitchen-living space, office, bedroom, bathroom and utility room and features a grass roof.<\/p>\n<p>Caochan na Creige, which means \u201clittle quiet one by the rock\u201d in Gaelic, scooped the Royal Institute of British Architects\u2019 House of the Year in the final of Channel 4\u2019s four-part <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/topic\/grand-designs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grand Designs<\/a> series on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD MORE ON THE SCOTTISH SUN\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/fabulous\/15680545\/chart-topping-singer-gatecrashed-wedding-bride-stunned\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2025-12-12T211740.997.png\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">WEDDING SINGER<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">Chart-topping singer gatecrashed my wedding, I nearly passed out in my chair<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/news\/15681007\/fire-scots-bus-depot-emergency-crews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/huge-fire-erupted-bus-depot-1045335683_3af8d8.jpg\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">INFERNO DRAMA<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">Cops launch probe as major blaze tears through Scots bus depot<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Judges hailed its \u201cluxurious connection to the surrounding landscape\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Eilidh, 36, said: \u201cThe reason the house seems so settled in the landscape is because we have built it from the same stone that comes from the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you were to zoom out and look at the rock formations, the angles of the house replicate that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving a small house makes you live consciously. In terms of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/topic\/sustainability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sustainability<\/a> we wanted to build a house that would last at least 100 years and I think that could be a really good lesson to take away from our modest house.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve given it our best shot and we\u2019ve ended up getting House of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jack, 34, added: \u201cIt shows people what is possible. The strength of the design shows people it can be a little rough around the edges but still strong and a great piece of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/topic\/architecture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">architecture<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In awarding the prize the RIBA judges noted: \u201cTo do a project like this in such a remote location on that budget (\u00a3167,000) required a partnership that is really admirable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat an amazing achievement against lots of odds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A TINY home built by hand on a remote Scots island has been crowned Grand Designs House of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,411,4022,77,7185,1934,1268,1269,209,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-631162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-channel-4","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-grand-designs","14":"tag-home-transformations","15":"tag-homes","16":"tag-house-prices","17":"tag-longtail","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115715802836332575","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}