Brown & Brown-designed home for Stella McCartney prompts outrage

More than 50 objections have been submitted to Highland Council, the local planning authority, against the proposals for McCartney, the celebrity fashion designer and daughter of Paul McCartney.

If built, the proposals would see a single-storey main building with a lower ground floor and a connected side building erected on top of Commando Rock, a viewpoint about 34 miles west of Fort William.

The home would have one en-suite master bedroom with four other bedrooms, plus a covered terrace, living area, snug and pantry, plans submitted by Brown & Brown show.

Brown & Brown’s design statement says the glass-fronted house is ‘simple’ and ‘contemporary’ with Scottish granite and weathering steel among the proposed materials.

But residents and others expressed concerns over the design, which one objector called a ‘carbuncle on the bluff’ that would ‘spoil’ the landscape.

Others said the home would disrupt the view from a beach below the site, which McCartney and her husband Alasdhair Willis, whose name is on the planning application, reportedly purchased for £450,000. A possible loss of mature Scots pines and a natural otter habitat on the site also featured in the complaints.

One objector, Ranald Macpherson, wrote: ‘The proposed development is clearly a striking modern building, designed to take full advantage of the unparalleled views and location. However, it is wholly out of keeping, in style and in scale, with the other buildings nearby.

‘Other recent residential buildings in or near Roshven have been designed to be sympathetic to the environment and to be as unobtrusive as they can be. This proposal is quite the opposite. It will dominate the views on the loch and around.’

Another objector, Susan McCartney (no relation) argued that the loss of pines and use of concrete in the structure would be damaging to the environment. She wrote: ‘These indigenous pines are already being squeezed out of the environment and, as these trees take a long time to grow, cutting any down should be avoided at all costs.

‘There must be a better house design that can be envisaged to avoid felling any trees [… and] If I understand the build proposal, the main material to be used for the ancillary build is concrete? This is not environmental and out of keeping with the house.’

Brown & Brown said in a submitted design statement: ‘The secluded nature of the site would be retained, with the house being largely unseen out with the site, and primarily only visible from the water.’ A green roof is also proposed, the practice added.

Alan Dunlop, of Alan Dunlop Architects, meanwhile argued in favour of the scheme and said: ‘This is an exceptional project from an equally exceptional firm of young architects, which needs support.’

He continued: ‘I've been to Brown & Brown’s studio and had the opportunity to view the project and talk to the architects. Consequently, I consider that this house is very well considered, imaginative and thoughtful proposal that enhances the site at Commando Rock, which I've been to, and does not detract from it.’

The plans, which were submitted in February, are still to be put before the planning committee.

Highland Council said: ‘As the planning authority, it is not appropriate for the council to comment on any application which is still going through the planning process.’

Brown & Brown, which in August won planning permission for a new hillside home at Grasmere in the heart of the Lake District, declined to comment.