A privilege to stay at Eastwood House, Dunkeld for a week. It was the shooting lodge for Blair Castle, and is strung out along a river bank looking south over the Tay.
We spent a week playing by the river and enjoying local tourist attractions from Osprey watching (I missed the highlight as I was trying to stop Innes singing in the bird hide: bad form apparently) to the Perth Show.
The house has been superbly, sensitively, renovated by Alex and Cat.
Everything is beautifully chosen, whether it’s colour, art, or the degree of renovation. A small example is the chairs, so I drew a simple one every day.
The house is also where Beatrix Potter wrote an illustrated letter about a little rabbit, and this was the basis of her subsequent books about Peter Rabbit and others. She could draw a bit and had a scientific mind, so a different career may have lain before her had she not been a woman. Science’s loss, illustrated children’s story’s gain.
She said: “It’s all the same, drawing, painting, modelling, the irresistible desire to copy any beautiful object that strikes the eye…”
She wrote the letter in 1893. 120 years later, we occupied the same spaces she had, and passed a very pleasant family holiday.
We went to Port de Soller for a few days.
Palma and the terrace at night The pool at Porto Soller hotel
Notes on the house opposite the terrace.
Down in the port before dinner.
The view across the bay.
Cycling round Edinburgh looking at new office space. The parliament end of the old town is my current favourite location and this is local landmark the Tolbooth. It was apparently built in 1591 but could be much younger. Not much changes through the generations in this architecture lark.
I gave a short presentation about our work for Fizzy and how to design for a business, as opposed to a building.
We’d assembled a good crowd, (there were three other speakers) so a good discussion ensued. It’s written up on HTA’s website:
I had to miss the start of this to go to Manchester on the look out for a brilliant wee project.
Got up to Banchory in plenty time for dinner with the team and lively debate over a few drinks after (they asked us to put the lights out when we were done).
It was mostly constructive, and set us up for the next day’s tour. Any notes are just my thoughts: the jury doesn’t meet until late July to decide who might win what.
For me, every project was worth looking at and I’d have been proud of any of them.
Richard Murphy is building his own house just a long the street from the office. Sketching it is like unravellng a little puzzle so I can’t imagine building it is all that straightforward.
Isla chatting to the ladies whilst the Smith sisters, Michael and Sandy chat down the other end of the table. Fraser and Innes are next to me. They are wearing pizza chef hats too.
Italia Live. Being sold beautiful stuff by (apparently) passionate Italian folk in the pampered surroundings of the Caledonian Hotel, Edinburgh.
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