Description
Reay Cottage has been in the same family ownership for over 35 years; its design is in typical west of Scotland highland style. It is of painted stone exterior finish and under a slated roof of variable pitches. The accommodation is all on a single level and in general terms requires full modernisation and improvement.

Reay Cottage occupies lands extending to about 2.05 acres to include a strip of foreshore to the eastern side of the minor road the B844. The house is set amid mature and well-established country gardens with an undeveloped woodland strip to the north and a further undeveloped woodland coastal strip to the east.

Ground Floor
Outer glazed door to entrance porch, glazed door to reception hallway with general purpose store at rear, access via retractable ladder to floored attic space, bathroom, open plan sitting and dining room with timber fireplace on a raised stone hearth, Edinburgh press. Breakfasting kitchen with oil fired Rayburn range stove, drier pulley. Rear scullery with door to rear gardens, bedroom 1 with double fronted fitted wardrobe and en suite wc, bedroom 2 with double fronted fitted wardrobe, bedroom 3 (single) fitted wardrobes and bookcase.

Outbuildings
Garden shed, general purpose store/outhouse, garage and store.

Gardens
Twin leaf outer gates and a pedestrian gate set in stone wall with hedging to the front. Lawns with laurel and beech hedging, beds and spring bulbs, numerous trees and mature specimen shrubs and mixed bush plants, including colourful azaleas. Steeper woodland gardens at the rear underplanted with rhododendrons.

Native woodland gardens to the northern side of Reay Cottage.

Stands of Sitka spruce trees to the eastern coastal side of the minor road. Slate foreshore, former jetty.

Local Authorities
Argyll & Bute Council
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Services
Private water supply, while not confirmed, drainage is either by private septic tank, or by direct outflow. Electric night storage heaters.

It is understood that mains water and mains drainage connections are in close proximity.

Note: The services have not been checked by the selling agents.

NOTE
The red outlines on the front cover are indicative only.

Council Tax
Reay Cottage is in council tax band E and the amount of council tax payable for 2023/2024 is £1,943.50

EPC Rating
EPC F.

Situation
Reay Cottage is situated in the charming ribbon settlement of Clachan Seil on the west coast of Scotland. The house is situated on the western side of the minor road in front of the house, and it is protected by its own lands to its northern and eastern sides including a good area of foreshore directly in front of the house.

Clachan Seil, on the Isle of Seil, is in a situation of natural scenic beauty. Reay Cottage is at the narrows of the picturesque Seil Sound just to the north of Balvicar Bay and is part of the ribbon settlement of Clachan Seil.

The Isle of Seil is the closest of the Southern Hebridean Islands and is the only one reachable by bridge. Seil retains all the characteristics of the island heritage of the West Highlands. Located 13 miles or so south of Oban, the diamond-shaped island measures an irregular 4.5 miles by 2 and nestles close into the mainland, separated only by a narrow sound, over which the famous “Bridge over the Atlantic” gives access. This bridge, built by General Wade in the late 18th century, opened the Inner Hebrides to the Redcoat garrison still occupying most of Argyll and Appin after the rebellion of 1745. The bridge, covered by fairy foxgloves in spring, remains the island’s link to the outside world.

Close by the west end of the bridge stands Tigh an Truish, the House of the Trousers, now an inn. After the rebellion of 1745, when the wearing of a kilt was banned, islanders would change here into trews (trousers) before wading to the mainland. The pub remains the centre of many island activities and serves excellent locally sourced seafood.

There are three centres of population on the Isle of Seil. The first, to the north, is Clachan Seil (literally the “village of Seil”), which stretches along the foreshore for a mile or so. Balvicar, in the centre of the island, has an excellent local grocery store, post office, professional boatyard and the nine hole golf course. To the south is the village of Ellenabeich, gateway to another small island, Easdale, reached by a passenger ferry. Both have pubs (The Oyster Bar and the Puffer respectively). North Cuan, a couple of miles to the south-east, is the terminal for the car ferry to Luing.

Seil once had seven churches; most are now gone but an active congregation remains. There is an active Community Council and community newsletters are published regularly. The halls at Ellenabeich and on Easdale are venues for social events, clubs and sports. There is a primary school at Ellenabeich, while secondary schooling is at Oban High School. A school bus service operates.

The local wildlife includes seals, otters, roe deer, badgers, herons, buzzards, swans, seabirds, occasional sea eagles, and many colourful smaller bird species as well as a naturalised pheasant population. Porpoises, dolphins, basking sharks and minke whales are all seen regularly in the surrounding waters. Divers find some of the clearest waters in the UK off the shores of Seil and the Garvellachs.

Seil has excellent facilities for yachtsmen, both local and visiting, with anchorages providing shelter on passage from Crinan to the Sound of Mull. Inshore pleasure fishing is complemented by a variety of boat excursions, based at Seil Sound and Ellenabeich.

The local area is riven with slate beds and abounds with the resultant quarries, now disused. At one time Easdale slate was renowned far and wide. Museums to the slate industry are located in Ellenabeich and on Easdale. A former quarry on Easdale hosts the Annual World Stone Skimming Championships each September.

Warmed by the Gulf Stream, the Inner Hebridean climate can often be several degrees warmer than the mainland and it seldom freezes or snows in winter.

Travel Directions
From Oban proceed in a southerly direction on the A816 towards Lochgilphead for approximately 7.5 miles. Take the right signposted Easdale and Isle of Seil onto the B844 and continue for 6 miles, crossing the 'Bridge over the Atlantic'. Once across the bridge continue on the B844 for 0.9 miles to find Reay Cottage on the right hand side."
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