A grate achievement
Original fireplaces give real glow to Edwardian home, says
YOU can’t beat a real fire blazing in the hearth to make even the dullest room come alive. But there was something of a fireplace pogrom in the 1960s and 70s, when they were ripped out in the name of ‘progress’.
It was left to subsequent generations who appreciated the warming benefits of a real fire to tour reclamation yards and antique fairs in search of replacements, which they then fitted in their homes.
What a delight, therefore, to discover an Edwardian property that retains an original fireplace in almost every room.
Step forward The Birches in the Angus village of Edzell.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think this was a glamorous showroom for retro fireplaces.
There’s one in the dining room, one in the parlour and one in each of the four bedrooms – including in the tiniest, where the scullery maid once slept.
‘I light as many of them as I can at Christmas,’ said Brenda Adamson, who has lived in The Birches with husband Richard for the past 20 years. ‘But I don’t have a maid to help me, so I can’t have them all on all of the time.’
Special mention must go to the grand affair in the dining room, a brass insert flanked by peacock blue tiles and a magnificent surround.
The Victorians and Edwardians scaled back the grandeur of their homes as you retreat further back in the property. So the fireplace in the parlour, or sitting room, has a plainer arrangement of green tiles.
Mrs Adamson believes she knows why The Birches has retained its Edwardian identity. She said: ‘We were the first people to buy the house since it was built in 1906.
‘A wealthy gentleman had done well in business in the Far East and decided to build a house for his mother at the edge of the village. It was later rented out to the US Navy, who had a submarine listening station at the former RAF Edzell base. That meant no one could touch the interior of the house without the owner’s permission.
‘It remained within the family’s ownership until we bought it.’
Offers over £465,000 to Ruaraidh Ogilvie at Savills, Brechin. Tel: 01356 628 628 or email ROgilvie@savills.com