Stella McCartney Set To Build Modernist Mansion In The Scottish Highlands

Following a three year planning dispute, fashion designer Stella McCartney has been granted permission to build a £5m modernist home in the Scottish Highlands. 

The Dispute Over Stella McCartney’s Highland Home

Illustration: Brown & Brown Architects

Stella McCartney and her husband, the Adidas creative director Alasdhair Willis, first drew up plans for their Highland home three years ago but were quick to face backlash from local opponents. With over 65 objections to date, criticism was targeted at everything from its design and size, to its potential impacts on the local landscape and wildlife.

One local councillor by the name of Bill Lobban joked that it was appropriate for the property to be constructed on Commando Rock (a spot used to train soldiers during WWII) due to the design’s similarities to a ‘second world war concrete bunker’. Other objections noted the presence of otter holts around the site, with experts suggesting that an exclusion zone would be necessary to prevent any harm or disruption to the protected species. 

Illustration: Brown & Brown Architects

Daughter of Beatles star Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney (of veggie sausage fame), Stella McCartney has historically campaigned for sustainable, cruelty-free fashion, often using animal-free alternatives to traditional materials in her own designs. 

Since the original backlash, McCartney and her husband have resubmitted altered plans to the Highland council which they say are more environmentally sensitive and less visually intrusive. Based on the updates, the council granted planning permission for the structure subject to a series of conditions: including the protection of wildlife, public access to the beach below, and measures to mitigate the effect of external lighting on the surroundings. 

Councillor Lobban noted that the redesign of the ‘hideous’ structure was ‘less hideous’ than the original proposal. Meanwhile, Highland Independent councillor Thomas MacLennan said that this version of the property would sit ‘more comfortably’ in the landscape.

Illustration: Brown & Brown Architects

The wildlife survey of the site commissioned by McCartney’s husband also helped to quell fears. Following the evaluation, NatureScot indicated that it would licence the plans for a nature exclusion zone and said cameras should be put up during the building work to ensure there was no threat to otters and their cubs. The development has also been planned to avoid damage to local pine trees. 

Alongside concerns for wildlife, many locals also had concerns about the property’s impact on the Highland community – worried that the new development would be used as nothing more than a holiday home. However, the couple – who married on the Isle of Bute in 2003 – said that they are planning to use it as a permanent residence. As a spokesperson said on behalf of the couple: ‘Unlike many of the homes in the area, this is not a holiday home; it is a house that the family will live in, our forever home. We look forward to continuing to engage with the local community as we progress our development and when we move into our new home.’

Illustration: Brown & Brown Architects

Sympathetically redesigned to reflect the local landscape, the property will be constructed using natural Scottish stone with a turfed roof, and will be naturally secluded by the site’s contours. A previous owner of the land started work on a house in the early 2000s but later abandoned the project, leaving some low walls which have been integrated into the design as well.

Located on a Highland peninsula, the split-level, energy efficient property will sit on a rocky outcrop overlooking Loch Ailort, west of Fort William at around 30m above sea level, and will be powered by renewable energy. The Gaelic name of the site is Creag na Speireig – crag of the sparrowhawk – and it is where the Victorian artist Jemima Blackburn found inspiration for her bird paintings.