Documentary Photography
West Scotland - Photographs by Jo Hanley for WSJ - Part II
“Homes in Scotland’s western towns are appreciating faster than they are in England. We visit some of these gorgeous locales and see what your money can buy in Loch Lomond, Argyll, Bute and other picturesque villages, and find out who is buying.”
The allure of life in Argyll and Bute inspired David van der Hoeven to spend millions of pounds and some 14 years building a contemporary second home there.
“It feels remote,” he said. “It is a lovely combination of feeling that you are in the middle of nowhere, yet you can still get a supermarket delivery. It is a really, really easy place to live. I prefer the west coast to the east coast, because the east coast of Scotland is too twee and full of lawyers and bankers from Edinburgh.”
Van der Hoeven, 56, is a director of a financial-planning company and his main home is in a village some 20 miles west of central Glasgow. In 2007, he spent about $311,000 on a 104-acre plot of land overlooking Loch Awe, near the village of Dalmally, 67 miles northwest of Glasgow. He went on to spend around $3.25 million building his roughly 7,000-square-foot house, designed by architect Murray Kerr, founder of London-based practice Denizen Works.
The house took two years to build and was completed in 2021. Van der Hoeven, plus his family and friends, now use it during the weekends. The 67-mile journey from the house to Glasgow takes around an hour and 40 minutes.
Given Argyll and Bute’s current popularity with buyers such as van der Hoeven and the Riddells, there is always a risk that this authentic, peaceful getaway could slowly become a victim of its own success. Across the U.K. and Europe, there are countless examples of peaceful beauty spots that have evolved into overpriced, overcrowded tourist hot spots.
“I think it is a long, long way from that happening,” said van der Hoeven. “I can never say never but it is not a fashionable place yet. It is not full of trendy coffee bars and wine bars. It is still pretty rugged.”
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