David did oil paintings and Marion watercolours, and soon other local artists wanted to show their paintings and prints in the gallery.
The couple, both teachers, moved to the island from Newark, Nottinghamshire, in order to raise their young daughters and have the time and freedom to paint.
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Orbost House was originally built in 1760 as a tack house for Dr Samuel Campbell and belonged to Clan Macleod until 1799.
It is referred to often in the works of Kilmarnock-born poet Alexander Smith as “the house under the hill”.
By the 1930s it had become a hotel, but the advent of the Second World War forced its closure.
The Highlands and Islands were seen as ideal landing spots for German spies so practically all movement on and off Skye was prohibited.
After the war it was taken over by Otta Swire and her husband, Col. Roger Swire, who had just retired from the army and used as a family home.
The Roberts’ purchased the house following the death of Roger in 1975 – Otta had died two years earlier – and returned it to something more like its original state.
They removed some of the later additions, repaired the plasterwork and redecorated, turning the kitchen and servants’ quarters into holiday apartments.
Mr Roberts took Georgina, 9, and Catherine 11, along with family friend Anne Blackwell out on a dinghy but it overturned close to Harlosh Island.
He and his elder daughter were rescued by boat but Georgina was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital.
In 1990 the Roberts’ moved the gallery to another location, Half Bolvean, which was transformed from a simple croft house.
Dr David Roberts, an architectural historian, died of a heart attack in 1997. He was overseeing the renovation of Monkstadt House at the time, which is now a luxury lodge.
His friend Roger Miket, manager of cultural and leisure services for the Highland Council in Skye and Lochalsh, said: “‘His architectural eye was astonishing. He was incredible. He could look at just a fragment of a ruined structure and re-create a whole facade.
”His drawings of castles were remarkable. He saved so many Scottish houses, even the thatched houses on Skye. Owners would come to him but he never charged a penny. David felt he was giving something back – drawing from the well of his own knowledge. But he always made the owner realise why he had made even the slightest detail. He saw houses and the people as a living relationship.”
Marion continued to work and paint, with the gallery providing a framing service for a treasured portrait or cherished memento; skilful restoration of many a family’s time-damaged painting; and a place to buy artists’ materials.
It closed to general viewing in 2014 but remained open by appointment, before its closure was announced on Monday.
The residual works, including landscapes of Skye and the Hebrides, some striking Mediterranean subjects, in both oil and watercolour, some beautiful examples of Marion’s calligraphy, and various prints can be seen on the gallery’s website.
Many of them have been exhibited in galleries in Edinburgh, Lincolnshire and Traquair, but are now available at “substantially reduced prices” in the closing down sale.
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