Retired Philadelphian police captain, Fred Hess and his wife first visited Caithness  back in 1989 and fell in love with the beautiful, picturesque countryside the county has to offer.

After numerous further visits they bought their plot near Dunnet Head in 1993. Their first thoughts were to rehabilitate the derelict cottage on the plot but after speaking to a local architect and then coming to Norscot, they decided self-build was their best option.

Mr Gunn spent his childhood growing up in the town of Lybster. Although he lived away in Aberdeen for some years, Lybster was always his home, and when he acquired a big plot of land he knew right away that he wanted to self-build there. The piece of land was previously owned by his grandparents, who lived in the house next door, which made the location even more nostalgic to him.

Mr Gunn browsed a number of companies before settling on Norscot to supply his timber frame kit. He chose Norscot as they not only offered the best price but also because they manufactured eco-kits which was something he was eager to use for the build.

Mr & Mrs Gunn spent 52 years living in their home at Georgemas before they decided to move back to Mrs Gunn’s hometown of Halkirk. They chose their plot in Halkirk as it is in a quiet area, away from a busy road unlike where they stayed previously. Their new home is also situated within walking distance of their daughter’s house which the couple felt was a requirement now that they were both getting older.

The couple got in touch with Norscot in March 2016 to talk about their self-build requirements. Mr & Mrs Gunn chose the Drumbeg kit which is part of our cottage range. They extended the main bedroom by a metre in order to provide them with additional space so they could add more wardrobes. They also increased the size of the attached garage and adjusted the position of some of the windows.

Mr Oag has lived in the village of Castletown all his life and he and his wife lived in there last home there for over 30 years. When a plot of land came up a 10 minute walk from the village the couple jumped at the chance to buy it. The plot of land was big enough that there was plenty of room for Mr Oag’s classic car collection and was isolated enough that he wouldn’t disturb neighbours as he worked on the cars to the early hours of the morning.

When they initially chose to build, they were looking at more traditional methods of construction but this changed when costs began to mount and their design plans changed. While in our Inverness showroom, looking at windows for their new build, they were made aware of Norscot’s timber frame kits and were won over by the lesser cost of the offering.

Mrs Miller and her husband Mr Bamfield married in 2006 each owning their own separate homes.  Their future plan was to live together in a new home in the countryside.  They looked at many areas around Caithness before finally deciding on the plot at Upper Humster, Wick.  The location appealed to them due to its uninterrupted panoramic views of the nearby town of Wick.  They liked the fact that they were building in a quiet and secluded part of the countryside whilst still being within reasonable distance to the town and its local amenities.

The house was designed by Mrs Miller’s son Jonathan Miller of NorCAD Design.  It was important to Mrs. Miller that Jonathan’s design company was able to work very closely with Norscot when finalising the kit design and moving it through to production.  This allowed the whole process to move smoothly and with little delay.