About Us — Pi, Lynton & Amba

Portbahn House was our own home when we first moved to Islay, Lynton was working with Bruichladdich Distillery and our two children were tiny! Our son, Dax, was two and our daughter, Alba, was only a few weeks old when we moved over. The house still has lots of our own belongings in — our books, games, pictures... the swings and trampoline, the polytunnel and trees. We love coming back to check in on it and it has wonderful memories for us. We really hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

Shorefield is our friends the Jacksons' house, which we took on a couple of years after renting out our own house. They built it themselves with huge amounts of passion and care — they were farmers here who owned all the farmland surrounding the house and the shore in front — the shore field that runs along to the light house in Port Charlotte. Huge bird and nature lovers, they planted the trees and created the wetlands and bird hides and installed the solar panels and wind turbine. It's full of sketches and paintings and curios from their travels.

And just this year, in 2026, we are lucky to be managing Curlew Cottage on behalf of Alan, another of our neighbours and friends. It has been his own family's holiday home for years and now he's decided to let others share it. It's an old converted stone steading, a beautiful sheltered haven, set back from the road in quiet trees looking down over Loch Indaal.

All the houses are personal homes, not holiday rentals. They have warmth and personality and their own individual quirks.

We now live on Jura where we have spent the last 7 years turning an acre of bog into Bothan Jura Retreat, an absolute labour of love and determination! Jura is grand and magnificent, completely different to Islay, and we can't recommend a trip over enough, whether just for the day or for a few days break — easy to combine with a trip to Islay and really, really worth it. We love sharing the island with people and are happy to help you plan.

And Amba is our control centre and the most likely person you will be hearing from with anything related to bookings! She was a guest of ours at Shorefield and helped us with a few teething problems from her experience in the hospitality industry. We became friends, she started working with us, and is now very much part of the team.

We really do want you to enjoy your time on the islands as much as we enjoy being here. There is so much to do here whether you are young, old, a whisky lover, a twitcher, a group of friends, a lone romantic adventurer or a family with children. If you have any questions about planning a trip, how to get here (and back again), or what to do if the weather looks dreich and a storm is coming in and you're having second thoughts, just get in touch and we'll do what we can to allay your fears and point you in the right direction.

Pi, Lynton & Amba