KEYS TO KNOW
Braidwood Steadings delivers luxury for horses and humans, finds Kirsty Mcluckie
Buying a rural property with good equestrian facilities can be an expensive business, particularly if the location is convenient for a city.
Those with a significant amount of land are often, by definition, private estates, detached country homes or former farmhouses, and if they are within easy commuting distance of Edinburgh, can come with a seven figure price tag.
No 1 Braidwood Steading, near Penicuik is a rare offering then.
The three-bedroomed farm conversion in a group of four similar properties is a good sized family home without being vast.it also has five acres of land, including three paddocks, extensive stabling and a training arena.
An end terrace, the house looks over its own land, giving a feel of privacy and it is in a south-facing, sunny spot.
Delia and Guy Thorley bought 1 Braidwood Steading 14 years ago. The house was a recent conversion. Along with its neighbours, it had been professionally developed about three or four years previously, but the outside space was a bit of a blank canvas.
Delia says: “At the time we were living in Edinburgh, but I am a keen eventer, and we found that every time I wanted to ride for 45 minutes, it would take about three hours to travel out of the city to the horses who were at livery.
“We really wanted to buy somewhere where it was possible to just walk outside and they were on the doorstep.
“Living in the city, in Bruntsfield, we also spent so much time looking for a parking place coming home from work that when we moved here we found that it didn’t take that much longer to travel door to door from Edinburgh.”
As a relatively recent conversion, the house needed little doing to it initially but the surrounding fields needed a lot of work to get them up to the standard required.
The land had no fences or gates, there were no stables and the couple upgraded the land to be suitable for horses by getting rid of 74 tons of unsuitable soil and rubbish and draining the paddocks and arena.
Delia says: “Having done all the work, it has become exactly what we wanted, it is easily maintained even though we both work, and has provided all the space for dressage, showjumping and cross country.”
But the land has let them do more than indulge her “all-encompassing hobby”.
The family, which includes daughters, Abi, 17, and ten-year-old Holly, also has a pair of alpacas as pets, hens provide the household’s eggs and Guy has developed a very productive vegetable patch and polytunnel in the garden.
Delia says: “We are lucky to be able to eat our own veg and there is a bit of a barter system going on with the neighbours for produce, eggs and fresh bread.”
The house is deceptively spacious and makes for a comfortable rural property.
The open-plan dining and sitting room is triple aspect and adjacent to the pretty country kitchen.
The three bedrooms are served by three bathrooms, two of which are ensuite and there is a floored attic which has been a useful added playroom for the girls.
One necessary addition that the Thorleys have made in their time is the front porch. Delia says: “We needed a decontamination chamber as otherwise we were walking hay and straw straight into the house every day.”
The glazed porch is a beautiful addition, enhanced by an original glass door which the couple commissioned.
It is set into a beautiful, irregular piece of yew which was sourced at the Newhall Estate a mile away and designed by acclaimed theatre set designer Francis O’connor, who worked extensively at the capital’s Lyceum Theatre.
Delia says: “It is a unique piece and we love its wonky edges. It is a real talking point for guests.”
The location of the house has worked well for the couple.
Guy, who travels with his career as a development director, can access the airport easily, while Delia, who now works in Gorebridge, cycles to work along the disused railway line.
She says: “I realise I’m very lucky to have had such a stress-free commute.” 1 Braidwood Steading, by Penicuik, Midlothian.