Blaise Smith, Artist

“Bothar Bui is a place like no other, a view that changes relentlessly, and a house that gives a diagram for a new way of living. Some may already have four houses to live in, but probably not all in the one place and this makes it terrific for families. For a small child even the trip from one building to the other is an adventure and then they can take it further by going down through the "magic" forest (one of Ireland's few surviving sessile oak forests) all the way to the sea. And there's a cool swing on the way down. (Not for the fainthearted parent). It was a great place for us to invite friends to join us and they were all suitably enchanted. And there was enough space for them to bring their kids. And they had their own house to retire to, not to be underestimated. There were plenty of great places to drive to, Allihies and the various swimming coves being our favourites. And in case of bad weather, (this is Ireland after all) there was the big studio where kids could spend a whole day in acres of space playing and hanging out. And I could paint the view out the big window that forms one wall and pretend to be minding them....”