In autumn 1716 the Master and boys moved in to their new home at Scalan. They found the turf house sturdy enough, and just about adequate for their needs; and there was the possibility of extending it if necessary, and also of acquiring land close by. This, of course, would depend on whether they were going to stay. It seems likely, in fact, that they may at first have thought of Scalan as merely a pied à terre, a temporary home until the West calmed down. But as it turned out they and their successors were to remain there for eighty-three years, until the very last year of the century.