White House Lodge wins Daily Telegraph Award - Best Conversion

We are delighted that White House Lodge has won the Best Conversion award in the Daily Telegraph Home Building and Renovation Awards 2013.

This prestigious award is chosen by a panel of experts at both the Daily Telegraph and the Home Building and Renovation monthly magazine. There was stiff competition in this category as can be seen by looking at the runners up on the official website. 

We have been shortlisted for The Daily Telegraph Home Building Award!

There is a massive buzz of excitement at White House Lodge HQ after we found out that we had been shortlisted for the Daily Telegraph Home Building and Renovation Awards 2013.

Add caption

The Daily Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovating Awards is the UK’s most prestigious awards scheme for self-builders and renovators.
We are gunning for the Reader's Choice Award, so are keen to have our guests, and potential guests, assist us by voting for us.

It is still possible for you to vote here :
http://www.homebuildingawards.co.uk/vote

Summer Update

What has been happening at White House Lodge, Isle of Coll?

We're half way through a busy season here on the island. We've received some excellent feedback, fantastic photos and great memories. With some of the best weather in years, our guests have had amazing holidays. Charlotte and I even managed to get a weeks holiday at White House Lodge in June, with the kids.We swam in the sea, flew kites on the beach and canoed with basking sharks - fabulous.

If you are looking for a good excuse to visit the Isle of Coll, the following activities may provide some inspiration  :

The Ultimate LoColl Cookery Course: Foraging and Feasting

Friday 6th, Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September - Isle of Coll A three-day residential foraging and local cookery course. With round-the-clock tuition from Christopher Trotter, chef and food writer, culminating in a final feast of foraged and local produce. Participants will source and cook everything – oh… and eat it, too! More details can be found here >>>

Snorkel and swim with basking sharks - Isle of Coll

There is a great new company out there called Basking Shark Scotland that run residential courses all about basking sharks. The waters around the Isle of Coll are one of the best places in the world to view these amazing creatures. Now you can learn all about them, and swim with them! Basking Shark Scotland have a group that wish to stay at White House Lodge in Summer 1014. More details can be found here >>>

Enjoy an afternoon tea at Tigh Na Mara - Isle of Coll Guest House

This is a great idea when you are staying at White House Lodge and you are tired of feasting on fresh langoustines and  Grishipol Home Foods. Have a pot of tea or coffee, and something sweet, whilst sitting in the comfort of the Lounge or outside in the garden at Tigh Na Mara. This guest house is the first building you see when leaving the ferry terminal on Coll and has spectacular views towards Mull and the Treshnish Isles.  Every Thursday afternoon between 2pm and 5pm from May until the end of September. You don't need to be a resident. More details can be found here >>>

The Ultimate LoColl Cookery Course: Foraging and Feasting

My sister in law, Seonaid, who lives on the Isle of Coll, just down the road from White House Lodge, has asked me to publicise this fab cookery course being held on Coll in September.

Full details can be found here

Delicious home cooked meals - delivered straight into the White House Lodge freezer

We are very lucky with our neighbours at White House Lodge. My brother Alex, his wife Seonaid and their three kids live just down the road. They refurbished the White House at Grishipol at a similar time to us at White House Lodge.

Over the past couple of seasons Seonaid has mastered the home cooked ready meal, made from meat reared on their farm.
This is a brilliant idea for so many reasons - White House Lodge is surrounded by farmland, so you can see the quality of the raw ingredients. You don't have to cook every night when you are on holiday. And the best part - order in advance, and your meals with be delivered straight into The White House Lodge freezer - ready for your arrival!

There is an extensive range of dishes available. We loved the Moroccan Style Lamb Tagine and the Beef in Ale with Onions.

A full menu can be found here >>>  Just email or phone your order. 

Just remember, only those staying at White House Lodge can have meals delivered directly to their freezer!

An Cridhe - Yet another amazing attraction on the Isle of Coll

On our most recent trip to White House Lodge we were lucky enough to attend a ceilidh at An Cridhe - Coll's brilliant new community centre in Arinagour, Coll's only village. One of the the local teenager's was fundraising to go on her gap year with Project Trust, the volunteering educational charity based on the island.

What a beautiful building, with great facilities. We spent most of the time chatting to some of the locals at the bar but there was a great atmosphere in the main hall where much dancing was taking place!

An Cridhe is definitely a great asset for all- particularly for those staying at White House Lodge. There are a wide list of activities taking place throughout the day, evening and weekends. A diary is available here. We love the fact that there is plenty of wet weather activities (it does rain now and again) but also good opportunities to mix and mingle with the very welcoming locals. 

Table tennis, indoor hockey, kids football coaching, coffee mornings, parent and toddler groups, badminton. All activities that you are welcome to join. You can also hire the main hall to run your own activity.

What's the catch? Oh yes, you need to be on Coll to enjoy An Cridhe. Come to White House Lodge and the Isle of Coll. You'll LOVE it!

Beautiful new exterior photos completed

Spring has finally come to the Isle of Coll so we thought we would celebrate by having some new photos taken for the website gallery. The photographer Chris has done a great job of

showcasing some of the fab features at White House Lodge. 

It is interesting that the best photos appear to be the ones taken at sunset. If you combine this with the fact that they were taken in March, you may feel a bit chilly! Maybe we will have to take some more in height of summer. Don't worry, the internal ones are much warmer. Click here to see the exterior photos in their full splendour!

We have tried really hard to get the exterior as similar as possible to how it was originally. Apart from the curved roof, we seem to have cracked it. What do you think?

Lovely internal shots now released - we LOVE them

Our man Chris came all the way over from Edinburgh, on his push bike, to photograph White House Lodge. There appeared to be two photographers in Scotland that specialise in architectural photography.

The first, Adrian Lee, has taken publicity shots for my brother's house (The White House), An Cridhe (The new community centre) and the doctors new house - all on Coll. The second, Chris Humphreys, has never been to Coll, so we thought his photos would not look the same as all the other professional photos out there. 
Internally we have been trying to achieve a crisp, white and bright look, with a few splashes of colour. Let us know what you think. The full selection of images is available here.

WOW - what beautiful beaches!

One of the big attractions to White House Lodge are the amazing beaches.

There are 21 white sandy beaches on the Isle of Coll - all easily accessible from White House Lodge, allowing you to choose a new one each day of your holiday. 
We have different favourites for different activities - Cliad Beach for running along since it is very close to White House Lodge, Ballyhough Beach for massive rolling breakers, Feall Beach for safe surfing and Breacachadh Beach for windsurfing (or even wake boarding).

In the literature supplied to visitors to White House Lodge there is a guide to the beaches on Coll, and what activities can be enjoyed on them.

Stay at White House Lodge this season and you too can have the opportunity to find a favourite! We still have availability during April, May and June 2013,so why not choose your date and book today?