The house with summer space, inside and out
A pretty Perthshire conversion makes for a very flexible home, finds Kirsty Mcluckie
Ayton Coach House is a delightful semi-detached former coach house sitting in a picturesque spot two miles from Abernethy and seven from Perth.
The house dates back to the 18th century and was formerly the coach house for the neighbouring Ayton House, but nowadays its quaint exterior opens up inside to a spacious and bright modern home.
Caroline Irwin has lived here for 12 years. She says: “I’d moved back up from London and lived in Blairgowrie but bought here to be closer to family. It is a lovely place to live, very quiet and rural and even though the house is semidetached, it is very private.”
The house had been converted from ruined stabling and outbuildings some years before, but when Caroline took over, it had been empty for a while and needed attention.
She says: “The walls and windows were the same but I’ve changed almost everything on the inside. We rewired, put in new floors, created two new bathrooms and installed the kitchen.”
The work was carried out before Caroline and her family moved in, so fortunately they didn’t have to live in a building site as there was an impressive amount of upheaval to get it right.
The result is a flexible house, having two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the ground floor, with the dining kitchen, conservatory and dining room, and a master bedroom suite on the first floor, along with a sitting room, study and further reception room, all of which take advantage of the views over the garden.
Caroline says that the layout suits her and is particularly useful, with downstairs bedrooms when elderly relatives come to stay.
In the large garden there are lawns, borders, a woodland area dominated by a magnificent walnut tree with rowans, wild cherry and birch plus a wilder area.
And in Caroline’s time here, the garden has has been tamed, but it is the upgrading of the attached and previously ruined outbuildings that have made a huge difference to how the house is used.
The old stalls for horses and the carriage house at the back of the house have been adapted to create a wonderful courtyard.
Four years ago, Caroline roofed the old stables, which open on to the courtyard and the whole area is accessed by large carriage gates.
She says: “It makes a wonderful place to eat out, it is very sheltered and in the summer it just becomes another room.”
At the same time she added a pretty glass porch at the front of the house and the conservatory, which links the kitchen to the courtyard at the back, means that you can follow the sun the round the house all day.
She says: “We are in and out most of the time, with all the doors open. In the winter the first-floor sitting room is really cosy, you can close it off to make a smaller space or open it out when you have guests.”
Another unusual aspect of Ayton Coach House is its double-height ceilings, which you don’t expect in a period cottage.
The hall, stairway and galleried landing are lit by the rooflight above and both the landing and the bedrooms upstairs have beautiful exposed beams and high ceilings. Such abundance of light has created great spaces for Caroline, a photographer, to display art.
She says: “I have a lot of my father’s paintings and those given to me by friends, and I paint myself, using the studio upstairs, so it is nice to have a lot of wall on which to hang them.”
She has kept the decor neutral and added eclectic and colourful furnishings, mostly inherited or gifted.
Outside is about an acre of private grounds and Caroline says in the recent hot weather she was very glad of the dappled shade afforded by the area of woodland.
She has left part of the garden as wilderness to attract wildlife and the walnut tree in particular is attractive to a host of red squirrels, while at night the garden is full of the sound of owls.
Caroline has greatly enjoyed her time here and added much to the comfort and flexibility of the house. She says: “It is still very quirky and that is why I love it.” 0 The front of Ayton Coach House, Perthshire.
0 The first floor sitting room.
0 The covered part of the courtyard garden which was converted from former stables.
3 The sun room links the kitchen with the courtyard.
3 The master bedroom.