A stunning new build in St Andrews features on Scotland’s Home of the Year.
The Garden House is a beautiful modernist home with a feature pond and decking.
It will feature on the popular BBC Scotland television show on Wednesday.
The house is owned by Helen and Ben Gray, who live there with their 15-year old son Zach and three-year old spaniel Soda.
The site originally belonged to a large neighbouring house on the other side of the street. “It had been in that family for years,” Helen explains. “Numerous developers had approached them wanting to put lots of houses on the site but they turned them down. We were lucky that they liked our idea of building a single family home for us to live in.”
Helen and Ben had never built a house before and employed Glasgow architect Gareth Hoskins to help design their dream. Hoskins, who sadly passed away in 2016 aged just 48, was UK Young Architect of the Year in 2000, UK Architect of the Year in 2006, and his projects included the redesign of the National Museum of Scotland.
“We couldn’t have done it without Gareth and his team,” Helen continues. “We had never built a house before and it was quite a challenging site. We wanted to build a house that would please us but be respectful of the location and of the neighbours.”
Building a house that wouldn’t impinge on the privacy of the homes around it was one of the major challenges.
Helen continues: “If I was a neighbour I wouldn’t want a new house next door to overlook us so we made sure all our windows faced inwards into our garden rather than looking outwards at the neighbours. We kept it mostly one storey and we made use of skylights to bring light into key areas of the house without intruding on our neighbours’ privacy.”
The Garden House is unashamedly modernist, with clean straight lines and pristine white walls that are broken up by a timber-clad upper level at the front that faces towards the road.
Cleverly, the herringbone pattern external timber cladding on the upper level is echoed by the same pattern in the wood flooring inside the house.
“That’s just one of so many features and details Gareth and his team came up with that we could never have thought of on our own,” Helen says. “Architects study for seven years and bring so much expertise to a project.
“Ours was one of the last residential projects Gareth was involved in before his death at a very young age.”
Work began on the site in 2012 and the house was completed in 2013. Montrose builders Pert Bruce carried out the construction. “They were wonderful and I could not recommend them more,” Helen says. “In particular their in-house joinery division is superb. The talent they have there is incredible.”
The house occupies a long, slender site on Hepburn Gardens. Huge full-height windows look over the garden and its feature pond and decking.
The living room ceiling is pulled back at one end, with a bank of roof windows dropping additional light down into the room.
The garden is a stunning affair, with decking wrapping around a pond and a carefully chosen variety of plants.
“In my late 20s I went back and retrained as a gardener,” Helen says. “It’s always been my passion. Our last home was an old Victorian house and this one required a new approach. The flat planes and white walls benefit from grasses, birch trees and other plants that sway and dance with the wind.
“The formal pond is a fantastic feature. We designed it so you can see it from all the main rooms of the house. In a rainstorm it’s mesmerising watching the droplets patter the surface. And in sunny weather the reflection ripples and bounces onto the ceiling in the house.
“It’s become a home for frogs and sticklebacks, and this year a pair of wild ducks decided to nest in it. There’s now a clutch of a dozen eggs there, so in a few weeks’ time we should have a parade of little ducklings waddling around the place.”
The Garden House will feature in the third episode of Scotland’s Home of the Year. Now in its third season, each episode of the popular show sees three judges – architect Michael Angus, interior designer Anna Campbell-Jones and lifestyle blogger Kate Spiers – tour three houses in a different area of Scotland, picking a winner to go through to the final and be crowned Scotland’s Home of the Year.
It’s clear the house is much more than just an architecture project for the couple. “We absolutely love living here,” Helen says. “It’s our dream home. Almost all of the art on the walls comes from Fraser Gallery in St Andrews or Duncan of Jordanstone’s Degree Show. Even after all the time we’ve lived here I still discover something new every day that delights me.”
A journalist friend suggested Helen, 55, and Ben, 54 put their house forward for Scotland’s Home of the Year. “We absolutely love watching the show, Helens says. “You see some amazing homes in fantastic locations and the judges aren’t negative or hyper-critical. It’s such a lovely programme so we decided to go for it.
“I haven’t seen it yet so I have to say I’m quite nervous.”
Episode three of Scotland’s Home of the Year is on BBC Scotland on Wednesday April 21 at 8pm. Previous episodes are available on BBC iPlayer.
Scotland’s Home of the Year is looking for outstanding homes to feature in the fourth series of the hit show. To put your home forward email filmmakers IWC at scotlandshomes@iwcmedia.co.uk and include a brief description of your home along with some pictures and contact details.
