2-368-140 - Peter Thompson/Heritage Images

Interior of a black house, Arnol, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, 2009. Black houses were traditional houses which used to be common in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, as well as Ireland and areas of Gaelic settlement in Nova Scotia. Most of the examples on Lewis had fallen into ruin by the late 1970s, but several have been restored, some to serve as holiday accommodation. They were traditionally built with thick walls with a core of earth surrounded by stone, and with roofs of thatched cereal straw over turf.