Highland FLING

Architect Susie Whyte and her husband John Burke turned a derelict prefab bungalow into a beautiful retreat in the Scottish Highlands

- EMMA LEASK

After 15 years spent working in architectural practices in San Francisco and New York, architect and designer Susie Whyte was influenced by American-style decks and porches. When the chance to buy Dun Aluinn estate, a Victorian country manor with a 1950s caretaker's cottage in Highland Perthshire came up, Susie and husband John Burke leapt at the opportunity to create something unique.

Serial renovators John and Susie bought the estate to be close to John's son, Ruairi, who was living nearby and to create a retreat to spend time with extended family. 'The lodge was a post-war prefab bungalow in poor condition,' says John. 'During lockdown it was broken into by local kids who bashed it up a bit so we had to renovate quickly.'