Rescuing The Steading and its priceless contents

Aim

Help us treat damp & woodworm in The Steading, which needs major works and to repair damage to Tim's priceless wooden sculpture & furniture.

Help us rescue The Steading - a crucial next phase

Thanks to your crowdfunding generosity, we were able to purchase The Steading in 2021. Since then, we’ve made huge progress, giving tours, holding artistic and community events and recreating an amazing living thyme roof on a building to house Tim Stead’s Archive. There is more about Tim and The Steading - his extraordinary sculptural home - lower down. But ....

… we now have a problem with damp in the main house which encourages woodworm. We are actively pursuing a rescue programme to treat many of the sculptures and small items, but the main building also needs urgent long-term treatment. The beautiful sun room is also becoming increasingly in need of repair, though thanks to a donation we have replaced the sculptural door that had rotted. 

The Sun room in better days before the timbers started rotting at the base.

So we need your help, please!  Any donation, however small or large, will be put to good use. And sometimes we can double your money by using your donation for matched funding when applying for grants – a win, win!  

The Steading’s vibrant future

We are already using the unique asset of The Steading and its Collections as the hub for a centre for wood culture that builds on Tim’s vision. We host tours and events which benefit people from all backgrounds and ages by encouraging them to engage with creativity, wood, and the environment. Our courses range from children’s workshops in the woods and in The Steading, to U3A events, to creative workshops to help people with learning difficulties. But we can’t now do nearly as much of this beneficial work while The Steading needs so much work done on it. 

What’s needed

The long-term project is substantial, but it can be done step-by step, with your help. We need to commission surveys, get quotations for the work, create a professional business plan for our grant applications, and then apply for funding. We want to make all repairs and restorations true to Stead’s vision and his environmental aims, which also means investing in sustainable energy solutions for the future.

What you can do - Help us now, and also spread the word for us!

Please donate now. And - very important - please share this with all your friends! The Tim Stead Trust is a registered charity SC046372 so if you are a UK taxpayer we can claim Gift Aid on your donation, so please tick the Gift Aid box. Or, if you prefer, you can make a pledge of a larger donation. If you wish to discuss this and other ways you can help, please contact Tavienne, our Director on [email protected]  and we will be delighted to engage with you. And if you would like to book a tour of The Steading, you can do this through our Eventbrite page here: 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/tim-stead-trust-34131343595  

If you would like to view Beatrix Wood’s full-length documentary feature film about the work of Tim Stead, you can view it for free on STV Player here ( it’s available until November): 

https://player.stv.tv/summary/trixpixmedia-tim-stead-magician-with-wood 

So who was Tim Stead? Tim Stead was one of the most remarkable men I was privileged to know.

Tim Stead, MBE, was a sculptor, wood artist, furniture designer and maker, photographer, poet, environmentalist, and out-of-the-box thinker. Tragically, he died in 2000 aged only 48. In his all-too-short life, he made furniture for galleries, castles, cathedrals and even for Pope John Paul II for his visit to the UK, yet it was the intuitive, untutored response of ordinary people that most excited Tim. People delighted in his work’s warm honesty and they wanted to live with it. Amongst his most well loved public works are the interior of Café Gandolfi in Glasgow, the Millennium Clock in Edinburgh and the Oil Industry Memorial chapel in Aberdeen.

Tim's extraordinary home

The Steading - located in Blainslie near Lauder in the Scottish Borders – is a truly remarkable house, indeed it is Tim's masterpiece. Not because of its exterior architecture, but because its amazing interior was transformed over a period of many years into Tim's ultimate artwork; an incredible tour de force.  

The interior is completely clad in sculpted wood: floors, walls, ceilings, stairs, cupboards, towering four-poster beds, a massive grandfather clock, sink, conservatory, hanging sculptures, desks and so on – all made by Stead himself. The main house is part of a complex of buildings that comprise his workshop and some substantial outbuildings, all of which Tim adapted to some extent and stamped with his inimitable style.

In granting an A-listed status to The Steading, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) made the salient point that, unlike many listed artists and designers’ homes (e.g. Basil Spence, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and others), Stead not only designed his interior, but made it all with his own hands, making it particularly unique.

'A mighty tree has been felled before its time, but Stead planted seeds for more than trees.'

Tim Stead’s legacy to us all is huge.  He helps us to realise the potential of wood and how this can bring out peoples' creativity, he builds links between generations, organisations, artists and businesses; he fosters our care for the environment, and his tactile work soothes us, bringing a feeling of well-being to all who touch it.

A final word from King Charles, written when he was Duke of Rothesay:

"Tim Stead created a place of extraordinary artistic interest at " The Steading". He was a remarkable woodcraftsman; a true and gifted artist who created wonderful furniture and sculptures. He had a unique understanding of the sustainable management of woodlands and the use of indigenous hardwoods and he did so much to encourage local sourcing and to educate people about wood and woodcraftsmanship.

"I have long admired his beautifully crafted woodwork and I can only commend the Tim Stead Trust for seeking to preserve it for public access. I hope that, once open, "The Steading" acts as a source of great inspiration to those who visit."

HRH King Charles

You can find more information on our website timsteadtrust.org This website will be completely renewed in September 2025, and as from then you can book directly from the website.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made