Timber cladding in Scotland

Most of the recently designed timber-clad buildings in rural Scotland are inspired by ideas and fashions from outwith their local area. German, Scandinavian or north American practice tends to predominate in 'ecological' housing while the timber cladding design seen in the mainstream kit house market emanates from purely suburban examples. To date, there has been relatively little attempt to utilise the indigenous timber building traditions of Scotland.

The house at Mauld near the village of Struy, south west of Beauly, is significant because its simple design draws upon the Scottish timber-clad house-building traditions that existed in rural Scotland prior to World War One. These redwood or whitewood-clad servant's houses and railway stations are still surprisingly common throughout the Highlands, and although some of the temporary buildings are coated with creosote, virtually all of the permanent houses or other buildings have a light-coloured lead paint coating and simple conventional detailing well-suited to a maritime climate. Yet, despite this demonstrable inheritance, the owners and the designer of the house at Mauld still encountered resistance to this 'unconventional' approach.