Then and wow...
Once nearly derelict with pink walls, home is now a modern gem
THE residents of one Scottish village are experts in change... and have been for centuries. In the days when we travelled by coach and horses, Howgate was the first staging post on the road from Edinburgh to the Borders.
After travelling ten miles out of the capital en route to Moffat, Dumfries and Peebles, horses would be changed at the stables of the Old Howgate Inn.
Fast-forward to the 21st Century and change is still a priority in the hamlet, now a conservation village near Penicuik, Midlothian.
John Burgess has been carrying on the local tradition by overhauling Templevale, a house that had been famous for its bright pink exterior walls.
If you Google ‘Howgate’, the country property is one of the first images to pop up thanks to its once-vibrant exterior.
Mr Burgess, a property developer, was only half-joking when he said the house ‘just jumped out at me’ during his search for rural buildings to renovate.
Now, thanks to his hard work, Templevale has been restored to its original glory, its stonework scraped of every scrap of pink paint and repointed in lime mortar.
Mr Burgess said: ‘I could see the potential of the place. It was basically falling down.
‘I ripped out all the internals – floors included – and took it back to the bare walls. We rebuilt the chimneys and removed the pink paint.’
Within a day of Templevale going on the market last week, three viewings had been arranged. The house has also featured in an episode of Channel 4 property show Love It or List It, hosted by Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer and broadcast last Wednesday.
The programme featured a couple from Portobello, Edinburgh, who were considering a move from their home in a graveyard, so they were given a sneak preview of Templevale.
However, it did not ‘hit the nail on the head’ for them, according to Spencer.
Templevale probably started out as two farm cottages, joined sometime after the 1888 construction date found on a plaque at the rear of the house.
Today it is a superb, four-bedroom family home laid out in a way that suits contemporary tastes.
It lies ten miles from Edinburgh, but thanks to the car it can be reached much faster nowadays thanks to the capital’s City Bypass.
The main door opens into the heart of the home, a modern kitchen/living/ dining area with bi-fold doors leading to the rear garden.
The kitchen has a central cooking and dining island and is warmed by a wood-burning stove – perfect on chilly winter nights.
Off the right-hand side of the kitchen there is a large utility room, plumbed for washing and drying facilities. There is also a ground-floor shower room with a WC and basin.
The north and south wings to the property are separated by a wall, beyond which is the staircase to the four first-floor bedrooms.
There is also a sizeable living room, which mirrors the dimensions of the dining/kitchen area, offering additional space in which to chill out.