The proprietor

A serendipitous visit to the Outer Hebrides in the late 1960s by Anderson ’Burr’ Bakewell was responsible for what he says “the re-orientation of the centre of my magnetic compass that has led to a lifelong connection to the Isle of Harris”.

His devotion to the island was expressed through the founding of the Isle of Harris Distillery in 2015. He had witnessed the impact of the island’s population decline over five decades, and believed that creating meaningful employment might go some way towards retaining people on the island. The distillery, with its signature gin crafted from hand-gathered sugar kelp, and its acclaimed whisky The Hearach, has become what he envisioned: not solely a business, but a social enterprise bringing the rare spirit of Harris to the world.

With the restoration of Rodel House, Burr has brought that same philosophy of preservation and purpose to the southern tip of the island. He and his wife Francine Stone recognised the allure and historical importance of what had once been the principal settlement on the island; home of famous Gaelic poets, the site of the creation of Harris Tweed, the mediaeval church of St Clement – the spiritual centre of the Macleods of Harris and Dunvegan – and the illustrious 18th century Rodel House.

After four years of sensitive restoration, Rodel House welcomes guests in the same spirit that animates the distillery— a desire to share something precious while protecting what makes it special. Both ventures reflect his understanding that Harris’s greatest value lies not in exploitation but in careful stewardship, in creating places and enterprises that serve the island’s people and landscape for generations to come.