Yours for £1m, Grand Design Kevin’s dream home in the country
HE has seen countless properties, ranging in style from quirky through innovative to the downright ridiculous.
But of all the homes visited by Grand Designs presenter Kevin mcCloud, it is one in the heart of Scotland that he really wants.
The expert was attracted by the combination of contemporary and traditional architecture when he saw the house in Pathhead, midlothian.
It took richard and Pru Irvine four years to complete their mammoth reconstruction project and now, a decade later, it is on the market for nearly £1million.
The couple’s progress was charted by the Channel 4 programme and mcCloud later described it as his dream home.
Set against 18th century lime kilns, the glass-fronted, five-bedroom property has floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
It also boasts two kitchens, a TV room, a large drawing room, an indoor garden, a cloakroom and a boot room.
The garden consists of a swimming pond, large barn, a patio with pizza oven in the kilns, a wild flower meadow, an orchard and a large fruit and vegetable garden.
After viewing the completed building, mcCloud admitted: ‘It’s a great building and to be honest, this is what I’d want. I don’t say I want many things in life, but this I want.’
The property, known as Hope House, has received awards from the Saltire Society and Edinburgh Architectural Association and is up for sale for offers over £925,000.
mrs Irvine said that she and her husband are selling up as they are planning to move to the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay.
She said: ‘We will be very sad to leave. The house is beautiful, it has an incredibly calm and lovely feel to it, and we have loved living here.
‘The building project was wonderful and it was a fantastic experience to be part of.’
The Irvines bought the site in December 2003. It took 20 months to get planning permission, despite there being no objections and 16 letters of support.
Then building work was delayed by five months to November 2006 as soil tests were carried out to ensure the former industrial site was not contaminated.
‘I don’t want many things... but this I want’