WHY HOUSE WORK COUNTS

We now have a place that looks like it’s been here 150 years’

Conversion was a tough, lengthy job – but what a result!

SWAPPING their two-bedroom Georgian flat in Edinburgh’s West End for a period home in the country has been life-changing for John and Katie Langley.

The couple – who own and run building company JML Contracts Ltd – needed not only vision but skill to make the dream a reality.

With John’s building prowess and Katie’s love of interiors, the couple wanted something that required work.

And the 19th Century, three-bedroom stone farm house they found in Auchterarder, Perthshire was the perfect fit.

“It was just what we were searching for; a real project.” says Katie.

Although the farmhouse was small, there was space in the garden for a large extension. And with plans to have children, the couple knew they would need to double the size of the existing house.

The first priorities, however, were to convert the steading into a self-catering holiday cottage and build an office for the construction business next door. Meanwhile, with the help of close friend and architect, Kerry Smith, the Langleys drew up the plans for their home extension.

By the time the plans were approved Katie had given birth to their first son Jamie, now 10. And just a few weeks before their second baby, Freddie, 8, was born, the family moved into the newly-completed holiday cottage to allow work on the farmhouse to begin.

Katie remembers: “Having the holiday cottage finished meant that Freddie and I could come back from the hospital to somewhere dust-free and warm instead of a building site.”

Now there was a second baby in the family, the pressure was on to get the house extension completed and the work was done within a year.

The three-bedroom farmhouse now had five bedrooms and three bathrooms upstairs.

Downstairs, the kitchen was double the size plus there was space for a pantry, utility room, cloakroom and boot room and a small sitting room next to the kitchen.

To speed up the building process John used SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels), a highly insulated building method in which his company specialises.

But the couple was keen for the new extension to sit in harmony with the original farmhouse, and so clad it in salvaged stone from a local railway station.

Katie says: “Cladding the building was the slowest part of the project. But we now have a home that looks like it has been standing for 150 years while having all the comfort of a new build. And because it is so well insulated we rarely have to turn our heating on.”

The décor is in soft, neutral shades, lending the farmhouse a clean, contemporary edge. Rich slub silks and linens in co-ordinating colours have been used for curtains and blinds.

Katie, who with John now has another son Will, five, confesses: “I love wallpaper but daren’t use it as with three small boys it would be wrecked in weeks.”

With the house renovation and extension finally finished, Katie and John are able to focus on the things that matter – their lovely family and the growing business.

“We love this house,” says Katie. “However I can see that as the boys grow up we will be tempted to change things. You never know, I may even have some wallpaper!”

thearnscottage.co.uk jmlcontracts.co.uk