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A move to a view

A move to a view
Annette Christian and Moris MacKenzie recently moved to Argyll?s Secret Coast. They bought Kilbride Farm, Ardlamont, where they provide self-catering accommodation in and run a pop-up café in the grounds serving up drinks, home- baking, hot and other snacks. They visited the area for the first time last year and fell in love with it. Annette tells us how they moved to a view.

Argyll?s Secret Coast is such a well-kept secret that we never even knew of its existence until we landed here by accident. We were looking to move from Sussex to Perthshire. I have never lived outside of Sussex for more than a few months in my life, but Moris is from Stornoway and felt it was time to go back to Scotland.

We couldn?t find a house that suited our needs in Perthshire, so extended the search westwards. On the way back from a visit to Stornoway we stopped to look at a house on the Isle of Luing and were excited by the changing landscape. Extending the search by a few miles brought up properties in and around the Cowal Peninsula. We came back up with a list of houses to view in an area that we?d never been to but were very excited about.

The houses we were looking at were dotted around a big area and we felt like intrepid explorers as we ferry-hopped around the area and had our breath taken away by the stunning scenery. The lochs drew us, as did the rising mountains and the close proximity to the sea. We hadn?t realised how important it was to us to be near water until we were surrounded by it. A sense of peace descended on us and we knew that this was the area we wanted to make home.

The house that excited us the most was just outside Tighnabruaich. The previous house we viewed was near Tarbert, so we hopped on the ferry over to Portavadie and then headed along the single-track road towards Millhouse. I say we headed, but it was more of a crawl as I tried to drive and take in the stunning landscape that was unfolding in front us without driving off the road! It took only the hour or so we there for us both to fall completely in love with the house. It wasn?t just the house, although the house was more than we had ever hoped for, it was the whole area. Our eyes really couldn?t take it all in: Arran rising out of the water in one direction and Bute in the other, water glistening everywhere and yellow gorse on the hills.

After viewing the house we walked along the track to Ostel Bay. As we walked we saw a red deer fawn tucked away in the gorse bushes on the side of the track and we watched birds of prey circling above us. But what drew us the most was the view directly ahead ? the sparkling bay and Arran looking magnificent on the horizon.

After walking across the machair, the almost-white sand of the bay opened up in front of us and the crystal clear water called to me. Throwing my sandals off, I just had to go and dip my feet in for a paddle. We had the bay entirely to ourselves. In in my head I was already heading down there for an evening stroll with our dogs. I also thought this must be one of the safest beaches ever to bring children.

We headed back to the car. As we drove back through Millhouse and then headed over the brow of the hill my breath was once again taken away as the Kyles of Bute appeared in front of us. Even now, after living here for a few months, I still marvel at the view where one minute you think you are about to drive into the mountains and then suddenly a stretch of water appears before the mountains and you realise that what you are actually looking at is the Isle of Bute. The best thing is that the same brow when you are travelling back towards Ostel Bay offers the opposite view of Arran.

We stayed the night at The Kames Hotel where the welcome was friendly and the food good. After our evening meal I stood outside and looked across the water, it was such a scene of peace and tranquillity as the sun started to go down and the sky turned amber and tinged the mountains with a restful light that I felt a real sense of sadness that the next day we would be heading away again and I made my decision there and then that I would do everything in my power to buy the house we had just looked at.

The next morning we headed away from Tighnabruaich towards Dunoon. As we had come via Portavadie, we had not explored in this direction and oh my word what a beautiful drive that was! The road out of the village rises steeply and along the way there are various stunning viewpoints.

It took five months for us to realise the dreams, but realise them we did and now we have been living here for a few months we have realised that this is just the beginning of our adventure. Every day brings new experiences, new people and a totally different and new way of life. I could ramble on forever about all the things that have happened since moving to this beautiful place, but that?s for another time. All I?ll say now is that our view to a move has resulted in a wonderful move to a view!

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