Behind the house are private woodland and ponds — the owners planted every tree and shaped the whole habitat themselves over decades. The Islay Natural History Trust now looks after the ponds for the owners, and recently cleared an invasive Floating Pennywort weed from the water (see the INHT pond-clearing video). Borrow the binoculars from the study and head out into the woodland. Or let your children roam free, make dens and play hide and seek, get muddy and messy and come home with big grins.
You can watch waterfowl, woodland birds, or just sit quietly looking across to Loch Indaal. Birders and nature lovers specifically book Shorefield for this, but we've had plenty of non-twitcher guests find themselves out there for hours, just seeing what they can spot, or soaking up the island air.
There's a picnic table in the garden for morning coffee, which is a real sun trap when the weather plays along, and the shoreline is just across the coastal road - rocks, seaweed, waders, the Paps of Jura in the distance and the coastal path to Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte.
The solar panels and wind turbine supply most of the house's power. You don't really notice them unless you look out for them — Shorefield was built as a genuine eco-house because the owners cared.
