“12 offers came in for the house, and we won by £50,” Calum Melhuish tells me.
“So I think it was destined for us, if you like.”
He and his wife Carol, both 52, got the keys to their “forever home” on Dougall Street in Tayport on June 18 2021.
‘It was in a really terrible state’
But there was work to be done before they could move in with their then-teenage daughters, Eloise and Erin, and dog Benji.
“It was in a really terrible state,” Calum says. “There was this leak – every room was very badly damp.
“It needed to be fully renovated. I told the estate agent: ‘I don’t think it’s liveable.'”
But having lived in Tayport for many years, the family were familiar with the 1800s house, and could see its potential.
They rented nearby for 10 months while a team of construction workers and decorators transformed the three-bedroom property.
Calum, who is a market development manager in the oil and gas industry, estimates the project cost £250,000 – the same price they bought the two-storey house for.
It is safe to say they didn’t cut any corners.
Calum and Carol reconfigured much of the ground floor, knocking down a wall to turn the small kitchen into a large open-plan space with a dining room.
They then knocked through the exterior wall of the house to put bifold doors in and connect the kitchen dining room to a covered outdoor garden room, fondly named the “snug”.
The couple also converted the former dining room into a master bedroom, the downstairs bathroom into an en suite, and part of the hall area into a walk-in wardrobe.
There is also a downstairs living room, a utility room and a cloakroom.
Upstairs, there are two double bedrooms with stunning views over Tentsmuir Forest and the River Tay, as well as a bathroom and a study.
They opened up bedroom windows that had been blocked during the window tax. The work gave the couple “even better views out of the house”.
Then they cleaned out the fireplaces and repaired the crumbling walls.
What was hidden beneath mouldy old carpets?
They also knocked the walls down between the small toilet and large study to create a large bathroom and an “ample size” office.
The couple did all the practical stuff, too – they removed asbestos, reinsulated and rewired the house, replaced doors and windows, and installed a new heating system.
The flooring was also replaced throughout. Downstairs, they found a nice surprise underneath the old carpet.
Calum explains: “I was lifting all the carpets to get rid of all the carpets and flooring that was in the place.
“And as I lifted the floor in the hall, underneath the carpet, which was really damp and mouldy.
“There was a cork bed throughout.
“But then I removed the cork layer, and underneath the cork layer, I found an absolutely beautiful original stone floor.
“I decided, instead of covering that up, just to leave that as a feature in the house, so we got a company in to clean it up and seal it.
“Now we’ve got a large, long hallway with these beautiful original flagstones throughout.”
Quality was important to the family.
“Everything we’ve done has tried to be a really high standard, because I didn’t want to keep replacing it every few years.
“We tried to do it right and do it once.”
They were also keen to retain the building’s character, which meant refreshing the cornicing and installing new ceiling roses in the front rooms.
The family left no stone unturned during the renovation – literally.
Local suppliers used for bathrooms and windows
“It’s got a really nice courtyard,” Calum says. “So we’ve refurbished all the courtyard area with new wood and stones.
“And the garage that came off that courtyard was dilapidated, so a friend and I ripped it all down, skipped it, and then he and I built a new garage with a new roof and insulation and boarding.
“We’ve got a small gym in there now, but it’s more used for storage.”
The new kitchen, featuring a beautiful natural stone quartz worktop which contrasts with dark blue units, came from Wickes.
Meanwhile, the bathrooms came from Victor Paris in Dundee while SRG Windows in Dunfermline supplied the windows.
When it came to wall colours, the couple opted for neutrals with pops of colour throughout.
The dark green hallway complements the grey flagstone flooring, while a lighter shade of green in the kitchen creates a calming atmosphere.
Their master bedroom is light grey with a feature wall, decorated with embossed wallpaper.
Elsewhere, the living room features a deep blue, the utility room is white “just because it is practical” and the cloakroom has “sunburst” yellow on the walls.
In the garden room, they chose a botanical-themed wallpaper for the accent wall. “We’re trying to bring the outdoors indoors, without sounding cliched,” Calum says.
When it comes to furniture, the family brought bits and pieces along with them. That quickly made the property feel like home.
Family have the house ‘a lot of love’
“My mum passed away about eight years ago. She gave my wife and I a coffee table when we got married, and it’s just as part of the furniture. It’s just part of us.”
New items came from the likes of John Lewis and Sofology.
Speaking about the transformation, Calum said: “We have now got a really usable house that’s warm, dry and built to proper modern standards.
“I think the house has been given a lot of love.”
- Have you renovated your home? Get in touch poppy.watson@dcthomson.co.uk
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