About An Acarsaid

An Acarsaid is set in 4 acres of woodland garden, which until 2009 was open to the public under Scotland's Garden's Scheme.

An Acarsaid overlooks the safe, sandy bay of Ord with stunning views west to the Cuillin mountains. Swimming is safe and there is easy access to the water for kayaks and small boats.

History

From around 1950 our father, Raonull MacInnes, who had been born on Skye but lived in London, started bringing his wife Eileen and 3 young children to Skye for caravan holidays. By chance they landed up on Ord beach and this became the centre of holidays for many years.

In 1960 the first, two storey, part of An Acarsaid was built on a rocky hillside overlooking Ord Bay. By the late 1960s this had become the family home and the various single-storey extensions were completed by the mid 1970s. Raonull always included an end window, from which the next room could be added!

During this period the garden was built from scratch, extended and eventually opened to the public under the Scottish Gardens Scheme, raising funds for Crossroads Care and the RNLI.

Eileen was still living here when she died in January 2010 just a few weeks before her 98th birthday. Since then her sons, Neil and Duncan, have retained the house for holiday use.

Ord

Ord is a hamlet of over 20 houses. It was never a crofting community, but was based on the old Ord Farm, leased from the Macdonald estates by the Nicolson family. Ord House was renowned as a Hotel into the 1970s, run by the two Nicolson sisters. The House is now privately owned and many new houses and chalets have gradually sprung up. Many are lived in full time and some are holiday houses.

Ord is a lively community, so make yourself known to others living here.