Coming Home

With Its Wow Factor Setting and Special Memories, Jeanetta Rowan Hamilton’s Childhood Holiday Home Holds an Important Place in Her Heart
 

The picturesque tin house in the Highlands of Scotland has been in Jeanetta Rowan Hamilton’s family for a couple of generations and was her childhood holiday home. Once there were many such houses in the area – Jeanetta’s house was bought by her grandfather as somewhere to stay when he fished in the nearby Helmsdale River with its reputation for migrating Atlantic salmon. However, by the time it passed to Jeanetta, the house was starting to – quite literally – fall apart. There were many holes in the floor and frequent animal visitors.

‘I had grown up knowing the house and this part of Scotland, but I wondered if I should sell it and buy something closer to London, where I spend most of my time,’ says Jeanetta. ‘It was my daughter Caroline who said no, we need to bring it back to life and start using it again.’ The family – Jeanetta and her now grown-up children, Caroline and Jamie, all had happy memories of time spent at the house when the only things to do were play board games or explore the natural playground on the doorstep. So in 2002, Jeanetta made the decision to keep the house.