YOU HERD IT HERE FIRST
Royal visited home of the Aberdeen Angus breed
A look around historic Aberdeen Angus farmhouse.
TILLYFOUR HOUSE really is fit for a queen.
The farmhouse is just 20 miles from Balmoral, the Aberdeenshire holiday home of the royal family.
And in the late 1800s Queen Victoria popped round for a cuppa.
Owners Emily and Hal Salvesen, who share the sixbedroom home with children Montgomery, 3, Cordelia, 2, and nine-month-old Alfred, explain: “Tillyfour Farm is home to the original Aberdeen Angus cattle.
“Queen Victoria agreed to come to the farm to recognise the cattle as an official breed, so the owners at the time built a new drawing room and room above so they could host her for tea.”
Emily smiled: “The ceiling in the drawing room is the original that was there when the Queen visited. It is not in perfect condition but we are not allowed to touch it because it is listed.”
The couple bought the house in 2012 while living in Singapore. The original building was built in 1700 but two impressive wings were added in 1886.
One houses an elegant drawing room with an impressive master bedroom above, while the other accommodates the kitchen and scullery with additional, bedrooms above.
Emily reveals: “We loved our life in Singapore but we always knew that if we were to start a family we would want to
return to the part of Scotland where Hal was brought up.”
It is an idyllic spot in which to raise their own children. And the location has given Hal a chance to turn his great passion for country sports into a profession.
He now runs Findrack Sporting (findracksporting.com) as well as helping out on the family farm. Emily, a qualified teacher, is now concentrating on interior design.
And her skills have been successfully used on her home. The house had been decorated with bright yellow wallpaper and green and gold patterned carpets, which, though not to Emily’s taste were of fine quality.
She says: “I was bought up in a Victorian house in Dorset, so I wanted to inject some gentle, English country style into our majestic, but in some ways, quite bleak, Highland home”.
She transformed the interior with subtle Farrow and Ball shades and added soft furnishings in vintage style by fabric designer Kimberley Bell of Peony and Sage.
Sporting trophies, inherited artwork and a few contemporary prints line the home’s walls and make brilliant finishing touches, while some statement pieces of furniture, such as the Ralph Lauren bed, came from Singapore.
Revamping the kitchen proved challenging, but after some expensive remedial work a comfortable, open-plan kitchen/ dining room was achieved.
Outside, the charming four-acre garden boasts a wealth of blooms, while a glass summerhouse provides an ideal spot for lunches and summer evening drinks.
“It really is a very special place to live,” Emily smiles.