Victorian versatility
Historic home has been updated for modern living, says Paul Drury
IN the Victorian era, grand family homes were designed to reflect the way people lived their lives in those days. So there would be the drawing room for entertaining and impressing guests, and the spacious dining room for feeding them in comfort.
But such formal social niceties are not exactly commonplace these days – and do modern families really need five bedrooms?
Luckily, one of the great, if unintended, attributes of properties built during this period is their remarkable ability to move with the times.
This Victorian home, built around 1865 near the Kincardineshire coast, has adapted over the years.
At Alma House, in the seaside village of St Cyrus, a bedroom became a study, then became a playroom as the needs of the household slowly evolved.
Today, the old dining room is a sitting room, but it retains its link to the kitchen via a door to the dining kitchen.
Even in the garden, buildings constructed for one purpose have been skilfully transformed to suit modern tastes. A range of outbuildings which may have been used by a gardener or domestic staff now provides extra storage and a home office.
The story of how this property was initially known as Alma Lodge is rather moving.
It was named after the bloody 1854 Battle of Alma, fought during the Crimean War.
It is believed the house was gifted by a local laird to his daughter for her forthcoming marriage. Tragically, the wedding never took place as her fiancé was killed at Alma, where allied British, French and Ottoman forces clashed with the Russians.
Alma Lodge was later renamed Greywalls – despite being constructed of red sandstone – before changing once more, this time to Alma House.
Many of the original features remain, especially within the imposing drawing room. It has a large bay window, oak flooring, cornicing, picture rails, high-level skirting and a fine open fireplace.
What had been the dining room has slipped effortlessly into the role of a comfortable sitting room, again with open fireplace with a painted mantel.
There’s a Redfyre double-oven cooker in the kitchen, a porcelain sink, plus a central island unit with a Gorenje four-ring induction hob. An elegant staircase with cast-iron bannister and timber handrail leads up to the impressive first floor landing.
The master suite, one of three bedrooms, still has its original cast-iron fireplace with timber mantel and there is a period rolltop bath in the bathroom.
The extensive grounds and gardens offer the chance for Alma House to further demonstrate its impressive flexibility.
Initial talks with planning officials have raised the prospect of three new homes being built in the grounds. The Victorians: V for Versatility.