“An elusive and rare harmony between human occupation and the animal kingdom,” is how current owner Roy Tylden Wright Abel describes what Uvie Farm is really all about.
Sitting at the western end of Cairngorms National Park, at Newtonmore, Inverness-shire, it is more than just a conventional farm, owing to its unique accommodation buildings, the history of the place and the opportunities that come with it.
The farm is offered fully stocked and equipped, with 44 acres of land, a pedigree Highland cattle herd and an established letting business.
Included in the sale is the Roundhouse, the main residence; the Crofthouse, which sleeps up to 10 people; and The Hairy Cow Studio, a wee snug for two.
Sustainability is at the heart of the design, with features including good insulation, lime render, southern orientation for passive solar gain, a ground-sourced heat pump, a solar array and green roof.
The Roundhouse is a two or three-bedroom home, depending on how the upper chamber is used, and has an open-plan kitchen, living and dining space.
The primary bedroom has an en suite bath, and access to the sun room and deck. The upper chamber features panoramic windows for 360-degree views.
The Crofthouse is a wood-lined building designed for guests, with a kitchen, a shower room and laundry, plus an activity space or garage.
On the first floor is a living and dining room, a sizeable deck, office, and one bedroom, while the second floor contains two sleeping lofts.
A secret escape
Roy said: “Uvie belonged to my grandad as part of the Cluny Estate so I knew it since I was a babe in arms.
“Over the years the lost farm of Uvie (Ubhaidh) came to represent a kind of secret place, set aside from the main family holding.
“When the rest was sold in 2000, I took my chance. It was open ground, so I had to build the farm infrastructure as well as a place to live.
“For design I borrowed various Scottish features: copper distillery pagodas, raised crannogs, Strathspey barns, but above all, the wonderful whisky vat roundhouses developed at Findhorn by Graham Brown, who put the whole scheme together.”
Asked what he has enjoyed most about Uvie, he said: “The landscape is stunning of course, with long views to the rising sun and the western sunsets, but what I really enjoy is the sense of sharing the ground with other species.
“I have come to understand the ways of Highland cattle, so affectionate despite their forbidding appearance.
“I also receive visitors from the wild; hares, stoats, breeding mallards, house martins and swallows in due season, red-legged partridge preening on the rock outside the kitchen window, a ragged raven bashing at his reflection, roe deer and red deer sneaking out from cover morning and evening.
“Overhead I might enjoy buzzards and peregrines from their roosts on Creag Dhu, swans, marsh-harriers, skeins of geese and smaller migrants.
“Best of all is the roar of rutting stags sending their challenge across the strath. The landscape offers us recreation also; wild hiking leads through mature pinewoods up to the secret plateau of the Monadhliath range.
“The river Spey at the foot of the farm has a sandy base and lazy flow for cooling down on summer days; there are few things better than swimming up a summer sunset shining on the water.”
Time for others to write next chapter
And what about the functional aspects of the property?
Roy said: “I leave the farm and its operations in full swing. The cattle will calve, the accommodation will fill with guests, but the more important function of the place, the way it works, involves a dynamic that is not apparently ‘functional’ at all.
“The whole composition of natural and built elements encourages welfare – physical and psychological.
“Everywhere I look both inside and out, there is visual drama and intrigue, calculated to bring out a creative perspective towards opportunities in all aspects of life and relationships.”
Roy sees himself as simply part of Uvie’s story and said: “It is up to others to write the next chapters and I would love it if some of the themes of my story, such as the creation of the Ubhaidh breeding fold of Highland Cattle, were to continue.
“It is one reason why I am handling the sale myself; in fact, I am already enjoying a rich dialogue with potential purchasers with visions of a future that might find a home here.”
Uvie Farm is for sale at offers over £750,000. Visit countryescape.info or email roy@countryescape.info or call 01528 610004 for more details. Also see www.myhighlandcroft.co.uk for letting information.
