A £167,000 grass-roofed home built from local stone on a remote Scottish island has won Grand Design’s House of the Year award 2025.
Caochan na Creige, located on the island of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, was the passion project of architect Aly and her partner, Jack.
They fell in love with the secluded landscape and scenic rocky views and decided to build a home themselves on the tiny island.
They found rental accommodation nearby while they set to work on building the home – which host Kevin McCloud said was built through ‘sleet and struggle’, as they weathered a whopping nine savage storms along the way.
Aly and Jack built the home for just £167,000, all while living on-site. The house, situated on the water’s edge, is compact and efficient, centred on an open-plan kitchen and living room.
It also has an office, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a utility room, all neatly arranged without the need for corridors.
At first, Kevin tricked them into thinking he was visiting to talk more about being shortlisted, when in fact, he ended up congratulating them on winning the competition. Stunned at the news, Aly said: ‘No way, have we actually? Oh my God, I can’t believe it. Have we actually?’
Judges from the Royal Institute of British Architects remarked on how ‘admirable’ the build was, with one saying: ‘It was really hard but a unanimous decision. This project has been ambitious on so many levels, not only with the detailing, the way it’s actually made and crafted but also the couple and their plan to build the house themselves.’
Caochan na Creige, located on the island of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, was the passion project of architect Aly and her partner, Jack
Aly and Jack built their grassy-roofed dream abode on the remote island for just £167,000, all while living on-site
Kevin McCloud told Aly and Jack he was just visiting their house to congratulate them on being shortlisted, when he surprised them with news that they had won the competition
Another penned: ‘To do a project like this in such a remote location on that budget required a partnership that is really admirable and I don’t think every couple would survive doing that self-build project. What an amazing achievement against lots of odds.’
During the project, Aly and James faced countless setbacks, including nine major storms. During the first, which endured gusts of 100mph, the roof blew off. They also lost several afternoons of work due to mass swarms of midges.
‘We were actually nervous our car was going to blow away. It was quite a welcome to the island,’ Jack said.
They worked with materials from the landscape, using local stone that was ‘incredibly dense and incredibly heavy’. Their friend, Dan, a stone mason, took on the mighty task of constructing the walls.
Working with their surroundings, they used local stone to create an unusual 135-degree angle, a genius design that makes the interior appear more spacious with angled views of the other rooms.
They crafted their home from Lewisian Gneiss rock, from the Isle of Lewis, believed to be one of the most ancient stones on the planet, which meant their stunning property fit in with the natural landscape.
Kevin called it the ‘future,’ and added: ‘It’s this quiet, determined, palpable energy, born of hands that shape stone or mines that listen to the land that makes this building House of the Year 2025.’
The judges admired the compact yet generous home with characterful rooms, all built to withstand severe weather conditions, much to the credit of its resilient builders.
The inside of Caochan na Creige has been called a ‘Tardis’ by Kevin McCloud, as it looks tiny from the outside but is huge on the inside
During the project, Aly and James faced countless setbacks, including nine major storms (inside their home)
Architect Damion Burrows visited Housestead in Suffolk, a project undertaken by Sanei Hopkins Architects
Housestead is comprised of a living space made up of four buildings, all with separate purposes
Housetead is fully open and each building has a different function. Pictured above: The kitchen
London Brut, located in the capital city and designed by Pricegore Architects, also caught the judges’ eye
London Brut, a 1960s terrace house, was modernised, while still keeping some of its original brutalist elements, such as cement beams and ceilings
The ground floor in London Brut has a double-height kitchen, dining room, utility room and toilet, whereas the living room, snug and outside balcony are on the first floor.
‘There was a really intense period where we were working flat out, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week just to get it finished,’ Jack recalled. Living on site meant they didn’t even have basic amenities, and they both had to travel back every couple of days just to shower.
As he took a look around one last time, Kevin called it ‘Tardis in stone’, due to it looking smaller on the outside and being a lot bigger when you step through the wooden front porch.
Aly added: ‘Architecture should be this revealing, this staged act; it makes it quite creative.’
The six other houses that made the competition’s shortlist include: London Brut, Housestead, Hastings House, Triangle House, Amento and Jankes Barn.
Architect Damion Burrows visited Housestead in Suffolk, a project undertaken by Sanei Hopkins Architects.
Amir and Abigail, who are both architects, created a living space made up of four buildings, all with separate purposes.
One solid brick block is made up of the main bedroom and office, while another contains the kitchen, dining room, lounge and bathroom.
The east block is made up of six bedrooms and a winter garden, whereas the utility block, boiler room, garage, and upper level hangout.
London Brut, located in the capital city and designed by Pricegore Architects, also caught the judges’ eye.
The 1960s terrace house was modernised, while still keeping some of its original brutalist elements, such as cement beams and ceilings.
The ground floor has a double-height kitchen, dining room, utility room and toilet, whereas the living room, snug and outside balcony are on the first floor.
Two children’s bedrooms are on the second floor, along with a bathroom, and the third floor is where the main bedroom is with an ensuite.