Da Haa
We have tried to research the history of the house and are learning all the time by talking to local families and visiting the archives. The Scottish Church Commisioned the house in 1779. The Shetland Archives holds a copy of the original estimates from local builders and stonemasons. The first occupant was the clergy for the two churches at Sandness and Walls. Apparently there is a book written about his time here but we haven't managed to source a copy. The archives state the house was empty by early 1800 and became almost derelict.
The next part of the houses history is a bit sketchy, but it then appears it was sort of basically repaired and became a house of multiple occupancy and was later purchased by the Laird, who lived on Vaila, and owned most of the land around Watsness.. The Laird gave the house to his Vaila employees so the children could go to school at Walls as there was no school on Vaila. Da Haa then became the home of the Fraser family in around 1900. The house was stripped out and made a home in around 1902. We know this as we found newspapers tied behind the wall dated 1902. One wall also has August 1902 written behind it.
The Fraser family lived at Da Haa, crofting the land, until Sonny passed away. He is famous for his redpoll cattle across the islands and they lived very well kept, but the house was not in great shape. It stayed empty for 10 years until we bought it in 2022 and the renovations started roof first!
