GP’S perfect remedy for ideal home

Doctor’s 140-year-old rural retreat now in best of health

CHRIS Allan was so set on owning Ythanbank House after his first viewing that he didn't even wait to get a survey done before putting in an offer. There were too many other people interested in Chris’s dream home for his liking so he decided to take a gamble. And while he doesn’t regret the decision, it cost him dearly. “The first job I had to do was the roof as the whole back area needed re-slated,” said the 38-year-old GP from Westhill. “There was a leak when I first moved in and we found out quickly the value of getting a survey done when we heard about the state the roof was in. We got the whole back area of the roof redone, along with the guttering, so it’s in a great state for the next owners.” Chris moved from Ferryhill to the idyllic house near Ellon six years ago. He had been living in a twobedroom-flat in Aberdeen for practical reasons. However, a country boy at heart, Chris was keen to get out of the city. He said: “While I was at the University of Aberdeen studying medicine and working shifts at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the city centre flat made sense. “But I always had in mind that I’d move back out of Aberdeen when I had a secure job. “I waited until I was made practice partner in Inverurie and then started looking.” After viewing around 10 properties, he walked into the hallway of Ythanbank and knew right away he had to have it. “From the outside the property looks like a bog standard farm house. However, when I stepped inside I was won over by the gorgeous skirting boards, the stripped pine floor and a nice stairway. “I didn't want to let anyone else have a chance to buy it before me so I snapped it up.” The property, which was built around 140 years ago and was the original farm house of Ythanbank, had been covered in white paint, or ‘magnolia-fied’ as Chris describes it, when he bought it. It also had quite a few 1970s features like slatted doors on the bedroom wardrobes. “It was pretty plain and needed some modernisation but all in all the interior was in a good state.” Chris stripped out the wardrobes from the main bedroom to make the room bigger and in another bedroom he put mirrored doors on the wardrobe. The kitchen was given new ceramic tiling and granite work surfaces, while in the family room the chimney was restored and a multi-fuel stove and slate hearth were added.

MOVING ON: Chris Allan in his living/dining room at Ythanbank.

SPACIOUS: The family and, inset, the garden a Ythanbank House, nea