The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Eden-side history and luxury
Built by the Haig whisky family, Eden Mansion is an extraordinary country house on the outskirts of Guardbridge. It has eight bedrooms, a lodge and more than five acres of beautiful grounds, all within a few minutes of the home of golf
The tower room has stairs leading on to the roof itself
With its tree and rhododendron-lined driveway sweeping round to reveal the house itself, few homes have as dramatic an entrance as Eden Mansion.
The country house dates back to 1860 when it was built by the Haig family, who owned nearby Seggie Distillery – later turned into Guardbridge Paper Mill.
It was bought four years ago by Chris Wood and his wife Elaine. A team of tradesmen spent the next 18 months renovating the house inside and out.
“The previous owners were American and only used the house a few weeks a year,” Chris explains.
“Latterly they were older and visited more infrequently, so the house was getting quite neglected. Another year or two and it would have been difficult to restore.”
Windows, walls and ceiling were all overhauled, and the interior was given a thorough redesign, with all the bedrooms being made en suite.
Every bedroom and bathroom has subtly different decor and style.
“We didn’t want the house to look like a boutique hotel, where every room is the same,” Chris explains. “We wanted each room to feel unique.”
The enormous dining room is regularly turned into a ceilidh dance floor. There’s a cinema room with seating rescued from an old theatre in Liverpool. The wonderful tower room has spiral stairs leading on to the roof itself – both fantastic places to enjoy views across the Eden estuary and all the way to St Andrews .
Chris, 51, grew up in Aberdeen where he worked in the oil industry before getting into property.
He and Elaine, 46, lived in Burundi for several years, setting up an orphanage, before returning to the UK when the country’s political situation deteriorated.
They have run Eden Mansion as part family home – their 16-year old son Josh lives with them – and part high end guest house.
“We have up to six letting bedrooms but normally only operate with four, and we’ll close for periods when we want to. We get a lot of tourists who want to stay in a historic building.”
The house is also in huge demand during major golf tournaments.
When the Open was last held in St Andrews one of its major sponsors, Rolex, rented it for the princely sum of £35,000 a week. Stretching to 5.3 acres, the gardens are as special as the house.
“We’ve got American redwood and sequoia,” Chris says. “Some of the beech trees are more than 200 years old.”
There’s a south facing lawn that captures the summer sunshine, but the crowning glory is a walled garden with Victorian greenhouse and summerhouse.
“The summerhouse had a glass roof that was in a terrible state so we replaced it with a tiled roof,” Chris says. “It’s a room we use all through the summer now.”
There’s also a two-bedroom lodge that’s been treated to the same level of upgrading as the main house.
With their serviced apartments business in Edinburgh, Chris and Elaine are looking to move closer to the capital.
“I’ll be happy when the house sells,” Chris says. “But I’ll also be sorry to leave what’s been a wonderful home.”