Interiors: A traditional Highland home has been rescued from dilapidation

Jamie MacQueen was well placed to tackle the renovation of a rundown blackhouse on his Skye croft, since his family has run a building business for 75 years. Despite its location, the property wasn't built for crofting purposes, but as a room in which local people received reading lessons from the church. Later it served an altruistic role as a shelter for islanders without a permanent home.

When Jamie began work on it, the building had served no purpose for 60 years and lacked water and electricity. Give or take two feet of stonework, the blackhouse had to be largely rebuilt.

Today Tigh nighean Bhan ("house of the fair lady") is a decadent little holiday abode absorbing magnificent coastal views and memorable sunsets, with superb walks departing from the doorstep.

Jamie's approach to this transformation has been sensitive, his respect for the past melding with recognition of the building's 21st-century needs.

Externally the blackhouse, with its whitewashed finish and thatched roof, couldn't be closer to the perfect example of a Highlander's cottage. A preceding year of bad weather made sourcing reeds for the roof difficult, but Jamie tracked down what he needed from a Tayside reserve, and asked thatcher Neil Nicholson from North Uist to complete the skilled job.

Jamie always wanted his blackhouse to combine historical integrity with modern luxury. So while the thatching and its timber framework were executed in a traditional manner, the roof is packed with insulation and features a membrane that protects against inclement weather on this exposed site, the nature of which called for landscaping with eight-year-old trees (birch and alder) rather than fragile saplings.

The characteristically thick walls of the blackhouse were built up using stone salvaged from the original structure, while sash and case windows complement the traditional facade. But the chimneys won't be emitting smoke as real fuel is prohibited, given the possibility of a holidaymaker setting fire to the thatch. A living flame gas fire in a cast iron stove is an attractive, and less labour-intensive, alternative.

Given that the entire cottage has been fitted with underfloor heating, there's no issue with warmth. This exemplifies Jamie's balance of contemporary comfort and tradition; the heating pipes are fitted beneath stone slabs that look as though they have always been there. Some stone is original, while supplementary slabs were brought from Inverness. In combination with white walls, the dark stone floor lends the interior a natural, unsullied style.

"Modern building methods also granted the cottage a greater internal floor area within the original footprint," says Jamie.

He invited Blair Hunter, of Rural Design, based at Dunvegan, Skye, to come up with an interior style that was sympathetic to the building yet which would avoid a cold, inhospitable feel in favour of something more comfortable.

Blair responded with a palette of natural materials, from solid timber furniture to a linen-covered sofa and pure cotton bedsheets. Even the ironing board (from Garden Trading) is wooden, while the dustpan (from Labour & Wait) is stainless steel, accompanied by a natural fibre brush.

"There's no plastic in sight," laughs Blair.