Centre for Human Ecology - Long labour of love to turn island bargain into a home

For at least a year, until their new home is wind and waterproof, home for Bob and Norah will be their 1950s harbour launch Talisman, moored at Eigg’s Clanranald pier.

The couple, who have two sons, Murry, aged two, and ten-month-old Logan, know they have a huge task ahead but with the help of volunteers, friends and family, believe they can turn the former estate house into a centre which can help bring new life to the island.

By using revolutionary environmental ideas about building, they believe they can repair the lodge much more cheaply as well as converting it to solar power and biomass heating.

The couple originally visited Eigg looking for a "wild piece of land" on which to build the Earth connections centre which has been their dream for several years. They were inspired by the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, and the principles of the Edinburgh-based Centre for Human Ecology, of which they are both fellows. "We loved Eigg and felt drawn to the place and it’s a wonderful place for children," said Mr Wallace.

When the offer was accepted, they were - and still are - a little stunned by their new position; custodians of a building with a gun room, huge kitchen and four bathrooms.

Mrs Wallace said: "We are very excited but also overawed. Could it work? Is it too big?"

Built in 1927 by shipping magnate Walter Runciman, the house has an impressive facade but inside is more like a hostel than a grand country house.

Runciman’s son, Steven, was the only person to live there for any length of time. He wrote a history of the crusades there, and guests included Princess Marina and Yehudi Menuhin.

"I don’t think it was lived in all year round; it was built for summer shooting parties," said Mr Wallace. Empty since the departure of Keith Schellenberg, former owner of Eigg, in 1995, a leaking flat roof has left the shooting lodge riddled with dry rot. When the Isle of Eigg Trust inherited the Lodge in 1997 after the community bought the island, residents found a fungus five feet across in one of the back rooms.

An architect commissioned to produce a survey of the building estimated it would cost £2 million to put it right - and a surveyor said the market value of the lodge was less than £30,000, because of the damage created by wind, water and rot.

What to do with the lodge became the most talked-about issue for the island trustees after the community buy-out.

Surveys looking at converting the building into a hotel, hostel or self-catering flats were all rejected because of the prohibitive costs. Selling the property to a wealthy private owner was problematic because of the association of the lodge with former unpopular landlords and because the community wanted to find a solution which would give islanders access to the house and grounds.

Many believed the best option was to tear it down and start all over again.

As the wife of the island’s builder, Karen Helliwell, a director of the Isle of Eigg Trust, knows exactly how much work the couple have taken on. When the trust itself looked into the feasibility of restoring the lodge, the practical problems were too immense - but she hopes the Wallaces’ ambitious plan will come to fruition. "They were most in line with what the community wanted," she said, explaining that the islanders will continue to own the lodge grounds, but that they wanted a project which could potentially create employment and attract new people to the island.

"It’s going to bring more like-minded people on to the island and there’s a chance for people to take part in something. They are just the sort of people that we want and I really hope they will find a way of it working."

Since moving to Eigg in July, the Wallaces have already made huge progress on their new project, removing much of the dry rot and patching up the fibreglass roof. "We are just concentrating on making it wind and watertight for winter," said Mr Wallace, 42. "We could open it as a dry rot theme park!" he added, pointing to the floorboards and scraping up the mould.

Between them, the Wallaces have an impressive range of experience. Mrs Wallace, 35, has studied and worked on the revolutionary eco-friendly houses known as Earth Ships in Arizona, while Mr Wallace is chief engineer for the Greenpeace boat, the Rainbow Warrior.

The couple believe that, by running courses in eco-building and sustainable living, they can attract a steady stream of visitors and volunteers and pep up the economy of Eigg. They plan to lease the estate’s kitchen gardens and grow food.

The couple have been slowly getting to know the 70 or so inhabitants of the island.

"We are just taking it slowly and getting to know people and finding out what’s good for the island," said Mrs Wallace.

As the end-of-summer storms begin to hit, the couple have discovered Mr Wallace will have to leave for four months, travelling with the Rainbow Warrior to Bali where Greenpeace plan to campaign against overfishing by Balinese pirate ships.

Mrs Wallace admitted she is not looking forward to wintering on the boat with her two young sons, but plans to spend the time researching environmentally-friendly building methods and carrying out her own part-time job building a computer website for Scottish Natural Heritage. She will also be setting up an Earth Connections website to begin fundraising for the project ahead.

The couple know they face a lot of cold uncomfortable living in the months and years ahead.

Mrs Wallace said: "I’ve grown up in Shetland so I know what dark cold winters are like. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we are used to the hard life. We have both done a lot of travelling around and we are both adventurous people. Sometimes you have got to take a risk on something."