After a long ride along the private road you won`t see the building, performed in Victorian style and decorated with towers and arcs. Instead you will be surprised with a modern arrangement of granite, glass and steel.
Corrour lodge is the third “hunting lodge”, located close to Ossian lake. The first one appeared in the middle of XIX century, when pedestrian deer hunting gained its popularity.
Victorian residence, build on this parcel of land by Sir John Stirling-Maxwell in 1890, was destroyed by fire in 1942. This land changed its owners after 50 years, and a new house was created.
Its author was a famous architect called Moshe Safdie. He didn`t usually built private houses, however he decided to please the owners, a young couple and his friends at the time. This project is a tribute to the Scotch tradition to build houses in a form of towers. Corrour lodge is represented by two towers, conjoined with a glass panel, hiding the staircase. The towers are separated by contrast geometric measurements, performed of glass as well: the cubic one – by cone, cylindrical – by pyramid.
The hostess has also confided decoration of the interior as well as beautification of park to the friends, namely to Jinny Blom (landscape designer) and Suzy Hoodless (designer). Blom has cleaned the part of forest, which adjoins the house, and has constructed kilometers of wire fence – “otherwise deers would have eaten everything”. She has also restored the pound, ditched here in the Victorian times, and created the grassy clearing, where Scotch herbs are perfectly combined with exotic flowers: blue poppies and tiger lilies.
Suzy Hoodless faced with the most unusual space in her life. The pyramid contains a living room on the first floor and a hosts` bedroom on the second one. The cone consists of two libraries. “How is it possible to decorate a round room with pyramid-typed windows?” – laughs Suzy. The owners wanted to place expensive furniture throughout the house; however they notified that a noisy crew was going to meet here every weekend.
Suzy Hoodless opted for respectable design items of the middle of XX century: Wegner, Ponti, Fornasetti. A desk and a book case were placed in every room. However, you won`t find a TV set here, as the owners prefer to be involved in more interesting activities.
Austerity of the interior was softened with textile and carpets. They were brought from Tibet and shorn according to the form of premises in order not to cover the granite line, going across rooms. This granite represents pieces of Victorian residence, being located here before.
The local traditions are literally inbuilt in walls of the new house. It is modern, yet not cold and warmed from within with bright materials, comfortable furniture and free and easy people.
Photo Gallery: Corrour Lodge in Scotland
