Muckle House Crofthouse, Rackwick, Hoy

Muckle House is a mid-19th century crofthouse, designed as a single-storey building with a roughly rectangular plan, which has undergone late-20th century alterations. Attached to the east gable is a lower former byre. The walls are constructed of flagstone rubble, featuring gable end walls, and the roof is covered with turf and flagstone. To the north, at a right angle, there is a detached, single-storey, three-bay cottage built between 1880 and 1900. These buildings are situated on sloping ground near the shore at Rackwick Bay on the island of Hoy. The site has a significant historical connection to composer Peter Maxwell Davies and author George Mackay Brown.

The crofthouse features a projecting rubble porch on the south elevation. The window openings have been enlarged and fitted with replacement single-pane timber frames, while a very small window is located in the west gable. The adjoining byre section has a timber door and one window, with no openings on the rear (north) elevation.

The crofthouse includes a ridge chimneystack and a smaller chimneystack on the west gable. The south and west elevations are whitewashed, and there is a small later 20th century timber frame addition with a corrugated tin roof on the east gable.

Inside the crofthouse and former byre, as observed in 2017, there are four rooms arranged linearly. The two 'but and ben' rooms consist of a living room at the west end and a kitchen. The living room features wall recesses and a box bed, which has carved scroll timber panels and is fitted to the slope of the roof. The two rooms in the former byre serve as bedrooms.

The east elevation of the detached cottage includes a timber door flanked by 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Both gables have coped rubble chimneystacks, and the roof is covered with corrugated cement. The interior of the cottage has not been inspected.