Strathy Point, a rugged headland on one of the most remote and wild coastlines in Britain, right along the northern edge of mainland Scotland, is home to what was the first purpose-built electric lighthouse to be constructed by the Northern Lighthouse Board.

The lighthouse was designed by Peter H. Hyslop; an engineer for the Northern Lighthouse Board from 1955 to 1972, who went on to serve as Engineer-in-Chief from 1972 to 1978. It was one of the last manned lighthouses to be built on the Scottish coast.

Plans to build a lighthouse here were discussed as early as 1900, but were initially rejected. It wasn't until 1953 that a light for Strathy Point was finally given the go-ahead, lighting a dark spot on the coast, between Cape Wrath 35 miles to the West and Dunnet Head 23 miles to the East. The lighthouse was completed and lit in 1958.

Unlike earlier lighthouses in Scotland, Strathy Point deviated from the traditional aesthetic and design styles that had become standardized under the tenure of the Stevenson family. At the top of the tower is a small lantern room that contained a small two-panel frensel lens, lit by electric bulbs mounted in an automatic lamp-changer unit. As the lens rotated, driven by an electric motor, it produced a white flash every 20 seconds.

The buildings that make up the station are arranged in a U shape, with accomodation on either side for a Principal Keeper and two Assistant Keepers and their families. The two accomodation buildings are attached to the engine room and lighthouse tower, located at the northern end of the compound, by corridors, providing shelter from the elements.

The protrusion from the front of the tower housed two diaphone fog horns pointed in opposite directions, amplified by two large rectangular trumpets, quite unique, and very different in appearance from the conical ones that are commonly found all around scotland. The fog signal, which sounded 4 blasts every 90 seconds, was discontinued in 1987.

The courtyard in the middle was originally laid out with a small grass lawn in the middle of flagstoned pathways, however, the grass area was concreted over at some stage, probably when the keepers were withdrawn. Automation came to Strathy Point in 1997, after which the lighthouse was monitored from the NLB headquarters in Edinburgh. In 2010 a review of Aids to Navigation found that Strathy Point lighthouse was no longer neccessary to modern shipping, with larger commerical vessels passing further out to sea, and smaller local craft relying more on GPS and radar - A public consultation with local people largely agreed.

The light was switched off on March 2nd 2012, and in 2013 the Northern Lighthouse Board sold the lighthouse and the keepers houses into private ownership.

The land around the lighthouse is open, and the road down to it can be traversed on foot, however, the public are not allowed to drive down to the lighthouse. There is limited car parking available at Totegan, where the lighthouse road starts.