Far, far from the madding crowd

If the remote wilds are what you're after, how about a former lighthouse keeper's home on Jura, one of the Western Isles? A good half-day's drive from Glasgow, Cheryl Markosky meets the book-loving owner who thrives in splendid isolation

When Dodie Smith wrote I Capture the Castle in the Forties, the novel's Suffolk setting was sufficiently cut-off to make the travails of the Mortmains almost credible. To find such seclusion in East Anglia now would be difficult. For any authors with writer's block like Mortmain looking for a secluded castle today, the House on Lowlandman's Bay might be the next best alternative.

The house was built in 1861 by the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners and designed by Thomas Stevenson, father of Robert Louis, to house the lighthouse keepers responsible for the nearby Iron Rock lighthouse in the Sound of Jura.

The first thing a prospective purchaser should know is that it is a tad inaccessible. From Glasgow, visitors must drive two hours to Tarbert on the Mull of Kintyre, take a one-hour ferry trip to Islay, a five-minute hop to Jura, then drive 10 miles on the island's only road, finishing with a mile and a quarter on a 4WD-only track. Should the future owner prefer a sea approach, the house has its own slipway. There is also a grass airstrip three miles away used by the flying doctor, so a buyer with a light aircraft could cut travelling time down considerably.

Having finally arrived, the destination is well worth the effort. Over a reviving nip of Jura single malt, there is one of the most spectacular views in the Western Isles across the bay to the aptly named Paps of Jura. Facing south-west, the house is built on a rocky promontory in Lowlandman's Bay on a site known as A'Mhaliart (The Market). The earliest settlers are said to have cultivated the flat land around the bay and traded in fish, eggs, fresh milk and even cloth, possibly from nearby Arran.

Legend has it that St Columba, the Irish monk who brought Christianity to the Scots and Picts in the 6th century and whose monastery on nearby Iona still survives, found the Bay provided good shelter for his boat. Novice sailors will discover the same calm conditions today and are likely to find themselves sharing the water with sea otters and seals.

For the new owner, a good pair of binoculars would be a great housewarming gift. Red and roe deer on the hillside opposite, dolphins, basking sharks and whales in the sea, flocks of wild geese and birds of prey wheeling overhead all provide the naturalist with a full day's twitching. Fishermen can pit their wits against the local salmon, as well as sea and brown trout.

When Simon Munro-Kerr bought the house in 1988, it had lain empty for 40 years. He explains, "It's fair to say I was looking for somewhere off the beaten track." There were no mains services and the roof was in bad shape. A team of nine builders from Troon moved in and spent three months giving the place a thorough makeover. "I loved it," says Munro-Kerr. "Having spent much of my working life in Africa, I enjoy the wide open spaces and taking on a challenge."

The lighthouse went automatic in 1949 and is serviced by ship and helicopter. But for anyone who dreamt of being a lighthouse keeper, the house is a fair substitute. Getting mains electricity connected was something of a coup. In the early Nineties the EU decided to help Scotland connect every home to the national grid. Bringing power from the nearest point more than a mile away cost something in the region of £50,000. "But all I had to pay was 10 per cent. I was very lucky," admits Munro-Kerr.

The water still comes from a spring in the garden as it has for the last 140 years. Today, a series of pumps and tanks take it into the house, where modern oil-fired central heating and plumbing have been installed. There is no gas to the house and the sewage tank is in the garden.

The three-storey house boasts generous-sized rooms. Both the drawing and dining rooms are over 26 feet long. The kitchen has an oil-fired Aga that never sleeps, and the original stone-flagged floor. There are four roomy bedrooms and two bathrooms on the first floor. Possibly the best space in the house is on the second floor, where Munro-Kerr has created a spectacular 24ft by 15ft study, with views through four arched dormer windows of the Jura hills on one side and the Skervuile (Iron Rock) lighthouse on the other. In a house designed by Robert Louis Stevenson's father, it seems fitting that since taking up residence Munro-Kerr has written what he describes as a "ripping yarn". His study is the perfect place to pen a masterpiece. In 1948, George Orwell wrote 1984 on the island, so there is quite a literary tradition here.

The economy of Jura is on a knife-edge. With only 180 people on the island, there is just one primary school with 19 pupils. The nearest secondary school is on nearby Islay, together with seven distilleries. The Jura estates rely on the deer to keep things going. The 5,000 red deer provide excellent stalking, with hunters paying about £300 to shoot a good stag. Salmon are small, in the 10 to 20 pound range, so fishing is considerably cheaper than on the Tay.

There have already been 15 viewings of the property. "It was impossible to price it, because there is absolutely no point of comparison," says Hamish Spencer-Nairn of Strutt & Parker. "Its inaccessibility is both its greatest asset and liability. It takes half a day to get there, even from Glasgow or Edinburgh." The £250,000 price has so far attracted Scots, the English and a Canadian to make the trek. It is easier to leave the car on the mainland and Munro-Kerr is happy to meet visitors off the ferry.

At 63, he says he has one last move left in him. With family in Spain, he will be heading for the sun when the house is sold. Like the Mortmains, maybe one eventually becomes tired of mist and damp, no matter how romantic it might appear. But you would be hard pushed to find somewhere this quiet and secluded and so far removed from Orwell's 1984 automaton society.

The House on Lowlandman's Bay is available through Strutt & Parker (0131 718 4592) for £250,000