Arnol Blackhouse
The Arnol Blackhouse is a traditional low-level stone-built rural crofter’s cottage which was at the heart of a historic crofting way of life.
Such houses slowly died out with some like in Gearrannan a few miles away still being used as dwellings well into the 1970s.
Furnishings and implements in the cramped blackhouse reflect a typical set-up. It includes a peat fire minus chimney to heat the communal living space, a thatched roof and an attached byre for livestock.
The 90-year-old cottage at 42 Arnol has been authentically preserved as it was when the family moved out in 1966.
Adjacent at 39 Arnol was the next stage of island housing style driven by stricter legislation - the new, taller, brighter homes with thinner walls and chimneys built out of stone binded by cement.
The nearby visitor centre is run by Historic Scotland. From the 1970s more modern crofter housing has been built around the village and across the island. The timber-frame properties are known as kit-houses because so many islanders have turned their skills to build their own homes.Nowadays, timber-frame and self-build is still very popular though the size of houses has grown larger.