When a stranger turned up on Chris Joice’s doorstep one day he didn’t expect the visitor to hand him the history of his house.
“It turned out the guy had owned Little Deuchar in the 1980s and renovated it from a ruin,” Chris says. “He gave me a pile of pictures of the renovation which are fascinating.”
Little Deuchar occupies a quiet little slice of the Angus countryside around 12 miles from Forfar and close to the hamlet of Noranside. Located in a shallow dip in the land it’s virtually invisible from the country lane its access track runs from.
A wisp of smoke drifting up from the chimney is all that indicates a dwelling is ahead.
The three bedroom house sits in a seven acre plot that runs alongside the Noran Water – its babbling rush provides a soothing soundtrack to my tour of the grounds.
Little Deuchar began life around 1850 and was initially a pair of farm cottages that were later joined into a single property. It lay empty for around 30 years before being renovated in the early 1980s.
Chris ( 68) and his wife Sally (66) bought the house six years ago and live there with their rescue dog Molly and cats Jacob and Jinx.
The seclusion is part of what drew them to the house. It’s surrounded by Redwings Horse Sanctuary, which provides a comfortable retirement for 90 horses, ponies and donkeys. Sally worked at the sanctuary until a few weeks ago, when she decided it was becoming too much for her.
“The sanctuary is 220 acres, so we’re never going to have houses built within sight of us,” Sally explains. “I find it tremendously soothing watching the horses run around in their fields.”
The harled stone exterior of the house sits under a slated roof and the south face has charming gothic style windows.
A wood burning stove glows merrily in the living room, which is the cosy heart of the home and opens onto the adjoining sunroom and dining room.
The sunroom soaks up the afternoon rays and is a peaceful place to watch the horses range along the fields that stretch up the hillside towards woodland in the distance.
There’s a formal dining room and kitchen with table and chairs. The master bedroom has a large en suite and there are two further bedrooms. An attached garage is accessed from the utility room.
With 7.2 acres of ground, including a three acre paddock, Little Deuchar is not short on external space.
Chris has worked hard on the garden. “I cut down 140 conifers at the edge of our land,” he says. “The neighbours in the nearby cottages were delighted – it’s the first time in years they’ve had a view from their windows. They don’t overlook us so it didn’t cost us anything in the way of privacy.
A stream runs through the garden to a pond then out into the Noran Water. There’s also a charming thatched gazebo and a track leads from the house up to a minor country road near the hamlet of Noranside, from which it’s a short drive to the A90.
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk
Little Deuchar is on sale through CKD Galbraith for offers over £399,000
www.ckdgalbraith.co.uk