A squirrel feeder sits on the stone terrace outside the sunroom at Highfield House.
As I watch, a red squirrel scampers up, lifts the lid off the nut box with his little paws, burrows in and races off with his prize. A minute later, having carefully hidden the first nut, he’s back for another.
“Sometimes we sit here all morning not doing much more than watching the squirrels and the other wildlife in the garden,” Toni Rowe smiles.
Toni and her husband Chris bought Highfield House 17 years ago. The huge country home sits in nearly six acres of land in the hamlet of Newfargie.
Newfargie is a small community of unique and individual homes on a hillside above the village of Glenfarg.
The houses are well spaced apart, giving plenty of privacy, and surrounded by countryside. Yet the M90 is just a five-minute drive away and Perth is only 10 minutes by car.
Highfield House was built in 1993 in a walled garden that once formed part of a local estate. Chris and Toni became its third owners when they bought the house in 2007.
Transforming Highfield House
Since then they have transformed it, revamping the interior and adding a fabulous new extension.
Toni still has the sales brochure from when they bought Highfield House. The pictures show a tired house with a drab exterior, a dated interior, and a barren garden with just one stunted tree.
Today the house is freshly painted and gleaming. Every room has been revamped, with modern fixtures and the latest technology.
The garden is filled with trees, borders and flowerbeds, most of which have already burst into colour.
In 2010 the couple added a two-storey extension, creating a new wing containing a sitting room, garden room, home office, and a principal bedroom with en suite.
The front door at Highfield House leads into a spacious entrance hallway with a spiral staircase to the upper level.
Exploring inside Perthshire property
The ground-floor bedroom was originally the master bedroom. It has a bay window, dressing room, and en suite with shower and bath.
The spiral stairs lead up to a landing which is set up as a study, with a desk and a comfortable Chesterfield sofa. Before the extension was built the upper living room was the house’s main living space.
It has windows on three sides and terrific countryside views. These days it’s used as a playroom for Chris and Toni’s grandchildren.
There were originally three bedrooms and a bathroom on this level, but Toni and Chris were unhappy with the small sizes of the rooms. They remodelled them to create two bigger bedrooms, both with en suite shower rooms.
The couple carried out further alterations downstairs, taking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room to create one huge and striking space.
No expense was spared to create a bespoke kitchen, which has a long island, inbuilt appliances, and units designed to maximise storage – Toni hates clutter.
A dining table sits next to a healthily stocked drinks bar. A utility room has a sink, a washer and a dryer.
Beyond the kitchen is the extension that was added around 14 years ago and created a new wing.
Inside the extension
A spacious, well-appointed study is ideal for working from home. The living room has a high ceiling and a wood-burning stove inset into one wall.
Beyond this is the wonderful garden room. Bi-folding doors open the room up to a patio, while a wall of windows lets in extra light and gives views over a nearby hillside.
The upper level of the extension contains the wonderful master bedroom suite. The huge main bedroom has a vaulted ceiling and air conditioning.
“People thought we were crazy putting air conditioning into a house in Scotland but we get hotter summers these days and I don’t like being too warm,” Toni explains.
The en suite bathroom is of the standard you might see in a high-end spa hotel. The shower enclosure has built-in tiled seating and doubles up as a steam room.
A free-standing bath has views from a large window and faces towards a wall-mounted television so you can watch your favourite shows while soaking.
Garden, woodland and paddock
Highfield House sits in nearly six acres of grounds. A driveway runs through 1.2 acres of woodland belonging to the property. A stream burbles through the woods and hand-carved animals provide a focal point that is lit up after dark.
Toni, in particular, has worked hard on the garden. She dug out the paths that now criss-cross the lawn and lead to decking and a summerhouse.
They planted trees which have grown from saplings to maturity in the time the couple have lived there. Flowers and shrubs have been carefully chosen to provide colour almost all year round.
Behind the house is a 2.7-acre paddock that has stabling for two horses, making Highfield House an ideal equestrian property.
There is also a double garage that is kitted out as Chris’s workshop, along with a shed and store.
Chris was originally an electrical engineer before running a company in the defence industry. His job saw him commute to Cardiff each week, returning to Highfield House for the weekend.
“I’ve always been into technology and with being away all the time, I was worried about Toni being in the house by herself so I had a CCTV system installed,” he explains.
“These days we mostly use it to watch red squirrel in the garden and deer in the woodland.”
Owners are moving on…
Chris and Toni, both 70, moved to Scotland to be closer to their daughter and her two grandchildren, who live in Perth.
“We bought Highfield House because it was big enough for the family to stay over and the children had this huge garden and all the woodland to play in,” Chris says.
“We’re both getting a little older now and we recognise that we won’t be able to manage such a big house and all this land forever.
“We want to stay within a half hour radius of Perth to be close to our daughter and grandchildren.
“This has been a great house for us but now feels like the right time to be moving on.”
- Highfield House, Newfargie, Glenfarg, is on sale with Galbraith for offers over £950,000.
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