Belmont House, Island of Unst, Shetland

March 2008

2004
2005

2006

February 2007

Belmont is a small but perfect Georgian house built in 1775 and set in a designed landscape overlooking a vista on three sides - sea, sky and islands.
It is classically symmetric with quadrant walls, twin pavilions and formal gardens, and it retains the original interior mouldings and paint colours.
A house of this sophistication, set in an incomparably beautiful natural setting, would be memorable anywhere; it is now being reinstated by the Belmont Trust as one of Shetland's most important buildings. Phase 1 of the restoration was completed in May 2006 and the first part of phase 2 in September 2007.
Works to the gardens and designed landscape will also start soon and we are currently fundraising to enable us to start on the last phase - the full interior restoration.
At last Belmont can be seen as it should be—a beautiful classical house, modest but confident, rising above the dark waters of Bluemull sound. Its limewashed walls, a glowing apricot colour, can be seen across the sound from Yell and it positively sparkles in the summer sunlight. Even more splendid is the interior seen for the first time for many years in full daylight with all the windows glazed using handblown glass. We are now planning the interiors—and what a challenge that is! Warm white timber panelling and Chinese blue walls in the drawing room, a rich ochre in the dining room and sunny yellow and Venetian red for the small writing room lit by the immense Venetian window. The two pavilions are fully fitted out with timber lining to the attics and pitch pine beams and flooring. These give much better spaces than we had imagined possible and the west pavilion will be a hideaway for a writer or an adventure for children sleeping under the eaves.
Looking forward we hope to start the final stage of the interior restoration in the next few months and to restore garden walls, paths and features this year. Fundraising has gone well but we await important grant aid decisions before we can start the interior. The Belmont Trust has been in existence for over 10 years and our hard work and the staunch support of our friends, supporters and funding partners is paying off. Each stage brings Belmont to life even more.
On a more practical level the septic tank went in in June. To keep the house warm and sustainable the interior will be heated by a ground source heat pump—taking warmth from the subsoil of Unst and keeping our oil use and costs down as well as visitors warm. Up to nine Unst men and local students, employed by Shetland Amenity Trust, have worked throughout the summer painting the harl and completing the outside works. The front gate pillars have been carefully taken down and rebuilt, they are no longer leaning. The basement has been floored in stone flags and will be the best wine cellar in Shetland! As works have gone so well we are now starting to plan for the first visitors staying in Belmont in 2010. Our list of the contents includes comfortable beds, a big dining table, crisp white bedlinen, crockery in blue and white, heated towel rails, paintings for the walls, and a mattress for the attic box bed, wool blankets and towels for 6 bedrooms. Keep in touch and plan your visit!