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Eilean Ban, Kyleakin Lighthouse, Keepers' Houses
House(S) (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Eilean Ban, Kyleakin Lighthouse, Keepers' Houses
Classification House(S) (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 89194
Site Number NG72NW 6.01
NGR NG 74632 27040
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/89194
- Council Highland
- Parish Lochalsh
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Skye And Lochalsh
- Former County Ross And Cromarty
EILEAN BAN
Small island, now overshadowed by the concrete stanchions that use it as a launching pad for the Skye Bridge.
Lighthouse, D. & T. Stevenson, in operation 1857-1960, linked by causeway to keepers' houses, a pair of single-storey, back-to-back ranges, stylishly converted in 1968 by Gavin Maxwell as his last home. Recently restored from dereliction by Eilean Ban Wildlife Trust as a warden's residence and small museum.
[Gavin Maxwell died before his plans to turn Eilean Ban into a commercial eider-breeding colony were fulfilled, but not before he had transformed the 'dark, dank' cottages into a comfortable house'. With its silk brocade sofas, Indian weave carpet, skin rugs, animal hides and furs, Thorburn prints and steel weapons, the 40 ft long sitting room in the south-facing cottage was a shrine to Maxwell's idiosyncracies and adventures.
Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2007. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NG72NW 6.01 74632 27040
