The Herald - The Herald Magazine
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TRADITIONAL larger-style tenement flats can often offer more space overall than many two-storey houses – and with the convenience of one-level accommodation. Traditional flats are also renowned for high ceilings, big windows, generous room proportions and in many cases, original features and ornate plasterwork. Add a coveted location to the mix and interest is guaranteed from young professionals, second steppers and downsizers – as is the case with a second-floor flat in Clarence Drive, Hyndland, an area high on the list of Glasgow’s most wanted West End locations.
A traditional vestibule and stained glass panelled front door opens to reveal an L-shaped hallway leading to the accommodation – two large public rooms, dining kitchen, bathroom and three double bedrooms.
Decorative plasterwork is a feature throughout the flat but particularly so in the bay-windowed living room, which has elaborate cornicing and ceiling work as well as a feature fireplace and display alcove.
This 21ft room has open aspects along Falkland Street and down Clarence Drive
– as does the nearby sitting room, another beautifully proportioned space where eyecatching features include ornate plasterwork, expansive full height built-in bookcase along one wall, and a distinctively different tiled fireplace with wood-burning stove.
Overlooking the rear of the building, the dining kitchen has white high-gloss floor and wall units with matching Corian worktops, tiled splashbacks, open shelving and integral appliances.
Finally, the bathroom has a tiled floor and walls to three-quarter height and incorporates an over-bath shower. The apartment also has natural wood floors throughout (bathroom excepted) and good storage, including a walk-in cupboard and butler’s pantry in the reception hall.
Offers over £389,000 are invited by Pacitti Jones West End.
UP 14 per cent year on year, homes in Stirling, pictured above, showed the highest annual regional price growth on the Scottish mainland, according to the latest Walker Fraser Steele House Price Index (Scotland) produced by Acadata (formerly the Your Move Acadata House Price Index).
South Ayrshire was a close second with an annual rise of 13.4 per cent, while in third place East Lothian recorded a rise of 11.2 per cent – the highest gain overall was a 28.4 per cent rise in the Shetland Isles, where the average house price has now passed £200,000.
The average house price in Scotland at the end of September was £189,452. Alan Penman, business development manager at Walker Fraser Steele, comments: “September proved to be another booming month for Scottish house prices, with average figures rising again month on month to a level 3% higher than the previous year. Largely this has come as a result of changing demand from buyers, many of whom have opted for larger, more expensive, houses with bigger gardens and more space for working from home.”
HATS off to The Wee House Company in Ayrshire, which has been crowned winners of the 2020 Build It Awards in the ‘Best Off-Site Manufactured House’ category, based on a Wee House located on North Uist, a spectacular setting for one of their delightful wee homes.
The annual Build It awards recognise and celebrate all aspects of self-build and renovations, including completed projects, services, and suppliers.
Specialists in modular construction, The Wee House Company, founded and run by managing director Jennifer Higgins, designs and fabricates houses in a factory in Cumnock.
WHO doesn’t love a traditional chocolate-box-style cottage? Braeside, a charming mid18th century detached villa on Main Street in the centre of Drymen certainly has all the characteristics.
Run as a Bed and Breakfast business in the past, this rather deceptive two-storey cottage-style villa has five en-suite bedrooms, including one on the ground floor, which could alternatively be a third public room if required.
But that’s not all: the addition of a further detached, three-bedroomed guest house in the back garden (another cottage-style property converted from a large garage with loft space above) makes Braeside an opportunity on several levels as a family home with holiday letting accommodation – or flipped, with the main house the business focus and the smaller property the owner’s accommodation.
Making it a triple whammy, the garden also houses a high-end garden room/studio, which has also been used previously as a short-term let equipped with an open-plan living room/bed-sit complete with kitchenette and adjoining shower room – or it could make an ideal garden office, artist’s studio, gym. The only limit here is your imagination.
The main house is a characterful mix of traditional and modern with the emphasis on style and comfort. The entrance vestibule and central hallway lead on one side to a front living room (with fireplace and woodburner) open-plan to a dining room, the latter
numerous vehicles, while the elevated garden studio is a picture-perfect addition complemented by a pretty front-facing decked terrace and adjacent lawn with planted borders.
Drymen is a very desirable village within Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park surrounded by scenic countryside
– a popular overnight stop for walkers undertaking the West Highland Way.
Local amenities include a primary school (going on to Balfron High School), shops, two hotels, two golf courses and The Clachan Inn, Scotland’s oldest licensed pub dating back to 1734. Drymen is also easily accessible, only 18 miles from Glasgow and just eight miles from the railway station at Balloch.
Braeside is for sale with Rettie’s Bearsden office at offers over £489,000.