Lochmill House is one of those homes that hides how big it is.
View it from any one side and it appears to be a modest, if attractive, country cottage with an appealing roundhouse.
Walk around inside – or better still take a look at some aerial photography – and a different picture emerges.
In fact, it’s three large wings plus the roundhouse and various outbuildings.
It sits on a country lane a few hundred yards from Rescobie Loch, near Forfar. A long tree-lined drive comes off the main road and sweeps round to the house itself.
“When we bought the house there was a short drive straight up off a bad bend,” says Peter Jones, who has owned Lochmill for 22 years with his wife Janet. “We bought a piece of land from the farmer and put in a longer driveway on a safer stretch of road.”
When the couple bought the house it was partway though being renovated and still needed a lot of work.
“The previous owner had run out of money so we saw it through to completion,” Peter explains.
Through the entrance the house stretches off in three directions. To the right is the formal lounge, which has a double height ceiling, wood burning stove, and spiral stairs up to a mezzanine level.
Straight ahead is a dining room and living room, while to the left the hallway takes you past four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a utility room before it eventually deposits you in the en suite master bedroom.
Connected to the hallway and a door into the living room is the magnificent roundhouse, now an open plan kitchen/dining/living room.
An upstairs room contains a large office/playroom and there’s a double garage at one end of the house that could easily be turned into further accommodation if needed.
Peter (55) and Janet (52) bought a second parcel of land from the neighbouring farmer, taking the grounds to just over three acres.
Peter’s passion is gardening and a good area is given over to an impressive variety of fruit and vegetables.
With stone walls and flagstones, and an appealing water feature the grounds look like they were created by a wealthy Victorians in the 1890s.
In fact they were put together just a few years ago by Brechin-based landscaper Duncan Mackintosh.
Peter has planted more than 3,000 crocus bulbs and thousands of daffodils, so the garden is a blaze of colour in the spring and summer. Apple, plum and cherry are among dozens of fruit trees.
With Janet now working partly in Glasgow the couple are looking for a more central location.
Peter takes a wistful look around his garden. “I’ll miss all this when we go,” he says.
Lochmill House, Rescobie, by Forfar is on sale with Savills for o/o £500,000.