From the roadside, Roseking Hall looks like a fairly small traditional farm cottage of the type dotted all over the Scottish countryside.
Head up the drive, however, and what appears in view is a very substantial U-shaped home with three wings.
“What we like about it is that you can’t tell what’s here from driving past,” says Tracey Elder. “It’s very Tardis-like.”
Tracey and her husband Ian Walker have lived at Roseking Hall, which sits near the hamlet of Kirkbuddo near from Forfar, around a decade ago.
They set about renovating and expanding the house, in particular adding a large extension that contains a huge living room with vaulted ceiling.
“It took quite a bit of time to get it through planning,” Tracey explains. “We wanted to do an extension that was very in-keeping with the house’s traditional character but the planning officer wanted us to build a very contemporary connecting hall out of glass. We were in the unusual situation of arguing to be allowed to do something more restrained than planning wanted.”
One of the first things they did was strip the house right back and insulate it, making an old home as efficient and easy to heat as a new-build house.
A conservatory was put on when they moved in and added the extension around five years ago.
The ground floor has a sitting room, family room, dining hall and conservatory. The living room has bi-folding doors, underfloor heating and a wood burning stove in one corner.
A large garage houses the washing machine and other utilities. “If we were staying here we would convert this into the kitchen,” Ian explains.
Above the extension are two bedrooms and a shower room. There are two bedrooms on the ground floor, one with en suite bathroom, and an attic bedroom above the original section of the house.
In a courtyard to the rear of the house is a stunning covered decked entertaining area with a hydrotherapy pool and hot tub (available by negotiation) and a seating area.
“It’s a great place to entertain friends or just to sit and have a glass of wine in the evening,” Ian says.
The house sits in 2.75 acres of land, making it suitable for horse owners, and gazes across rolling Angus countryside.
Next to the house is a ruined steading building that was given permission for conversion into a three-bedroom home.
Ian (50) and Tracey (44) share the home with their two children Gracie (9) and William (5), along with a pair of enormous Newfoundlands, Hamish and Clyde, and three cats.
The couple are sad to be leaving a home they’ve spent 10 years making perfect for themselves and raising their family in. “The problem is the kids go to school in Glamis so we’re forever ferrying them to and fro,” explains Tracey. “We want to get a plot of land somewhere between Glamis and Kirriemuir where we can use what we’ve learned on this place to build our next house.”
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk
Roseking Hall, Kirkbuddo, by Forfar, is on sale with Galbraith for offers over £495,000.