John Buchan’s Borders retreat

A former Borders coaching inn where John Buchan once put pen to paper is on the market, finds Kirsty Mcluckie

Broughton Green is a historic former coaching inn in the village of Broughton in the Borders, which – for such a peaceful spot – has inspired some of the most thrilling adventures in literature.

The house has been owned by the family of the Scottish novelist John Buchan for five generations, and he used to write here during family holidays to visit his grandparents.

His granddaughter, Deborah, Lady Stewartby, current owner of Broughton Green, says: “The drawing room, like many traditional houses, is on the first floor to make the most of the views. One window looks out and up to Catscleugh, the hill opposite, and the other window looks over what is called the Road to the South, and it is there that John Buchan would write, while his sister had the opposite view.” Anna Buchan was also a novelist, writing under the pen name O. Douglas.

The landscape weaves its way through John Buchan’s work, the most celebrated of which is The 39 Steps, although Lady Stewartby says there are novels which have a much more direct link to the house. She says: “A Lost Lady of Old Years ,anovel set during the Jacobite rebellion, is about the house when it was an inn and the search was on for Bonnie Prince Charlie.”

Built in about 1700, Broughton Green started its existence as a farmhouse and then became a coaching inn on the Dumfries-to-edinburgh route. It is reputed to have been a stopping off point for the Highlanders on their march south to Derby.

The Buchan family came to live here when the celebrated author’s grandparents moved in, circa 1874. They were married in the drawing room.

John Buchan last visited the property in 1938, by which time he had been created Baron Tweedsmuir and appointed Governor General of Canada.

Lady Stewartby first remembers coming to the house as a very small child, but she and husband Lord Stewartby came to live here permanently in 1995 after their three children had left home.

The lord was a pre-eminent expert on Scottish coins and gifted his extensive collection to the Hunterian Museum, but Deborah says her husband also had very firm ideas on how to look after old houses.

She says: “He believed that historic houses should not be changed, or as little

as possible and of course the house is listed. But the kitchen area was a rabbit warren of little rooms and so we opened that out.”

“Apart from that, my husband wanted it to be as much as possible to stay as it always had been but with modern comforts. He was a great one for spending money on things that didn’t show – which was annoying when I wanted to buy new curtains – but it does mean that it is in frightfully good nick.”

The house, despite its age, is very well presented and would make as comfortable a family home today as it always has.

There is a central reception room used as a dining room, a bright sitting room and a ground-floor bedroom with three more bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs.

The reconfigured dining kitchen has an AGA, fitted painted wood cupboards and a scullery. A boot room, cloakroom, shower room and laundry room provide good domestic spaces.

The first-floor drawing room, bathed in natural light from large windows and featuring intricate plasterwork, would make as ideal for an intimate wedding as it must have done 150 years ago.

The garden is mostly at the back and side of the house and has been Lady Stewartby’s domain. It has been well planted to provide year-round interest and there is a large lawn. A paved terrace makes a lovely outside dining area and there is a steading and outbuildings , with development potential available too.

A commemorative bust of John Buchan takes pride of place in the garden and comes as part of the sale price – it would certainly be a shame to move him.

Most owners feel a bit of a wrench when they leave a much-loved home, but after five generations, Deborah admits that it is a very big decision for her family to sell. “But it will make a lovely family home and that is what it needs to be.”

The drawing room window looks over what is called the Road to the South, and it is there that John Buchan would write