OUR HOUSES: THEIR STORIES is a biography of the 107 houses and of those who lived - and live - in them, their livelihoods and their occupations.

Home is more than bricks and mortar but the building materials, the interior space and the outlook of your house affect how you use it. The sandstone threshold worn to a curve by generations of boots, the creak of the parana pine staircase, the feel of the light switch, the welcoming hearth, are all intrinsic to a sense of "home".

• The first thing we did was photograph the houses. Then people began to give us and to send photos. The collection grew and we realised we have a gallery of people who had lived in the houses. From this the idea of "Our Houses: Their Stories" emerged.


• Alice Beattie, Cairndow born and bred, listed who lived in which house from the 1841 census onwards. Every house and everybody who lived here was given a unique number.


• With advice from Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University we recorded Nigel Callander and John MacDonald. Together, the two have rebuilt and renovated our buildings for over half a century.


• Architects and Archaeologists from Simpson & Brown of Edinburgh have assessed building phases and architectural detailing of 60 of our houses.