MODERN RUSTIC’
Leanne and Callum Watt remodelled and extended their dated cottage to create a stylish, country family home
We love the lifestyle in Aberdeen (once described as being the happiest place in Scotland), but we’d outgrown our three-bedroom semi home nearby,’ says Leanne. ‘We were looking for a challenge with plenty of character, so when we spotted this rundown 100-year-old cottage, on the outskirts of Dyce, we didn’t hesitate. We viewed it on the Tuesday and put our offer in the next day, which was the closing date. There were a few other bids, but most of the viewers were put off by how much work was involved.
Although we were happy, we were also a bit nervous when we got it – we hadn’t really expected to win the bid and weren’t completely ready for a renovation! We sold our previous house and set up home at my parents’ home for the best part of a year, while we planned a total renovation.
We had already renovated a onebedroom flat and a three-bedroom semi-detached house before we moved in here, but this project was way beyond anything we had attempted before. I remember getting the keys on the first day and standing in front of the house, not knowing what to do first!
Starting from scratch
We stripped the cottage back to a shell on day one and split roles down the middle almost immediately. Calum has generated some great ideas as he has experience working in the building and floor trade and became project manager, while I handled the finances and interior design. He was on site most days, overseeing things and helping with building the extension.
My dad painted the rooms, which was a brilliant saving. We took down internal walls, changed the layout,
installed a new heating system, as well as a new roof and insulation, changed the location of the front door and added an extension. No part of the structure of the cottage was untouched once we’d finished with it!
An architect friend of Calum’s helped us reconfigure the layout, utilising every inch of storage space, and designed a single-storey extension encompassing the full height of the cottage. As there’s quite a lot of wildlife in the area, including badgers, and as the house lay empty for quite a while, we had to have a bat survey carried out before we could get planning permission. Luckily there weren’t any bats in the house and so it didn’t cause any delay.
We hired a friend of Calum’s who is a builder to do a lot of the work, and called in various tradesmen for the electrical and plumbing works. There were a few stressful moments though – particularly when we realised the roof was rotting and would cost us an extra £15,000 to fix and re-slate, which made a huge dent in the budget.
‘WE’VE USED INEXPENSIVE TILES WITH A DARK GROUT TO MAKE THEM STAND OUT’
Tricky times
Another time, we knocked a wall down to find the remains of a huge rat behind it! Then Calum had the opportunity to go offshore with his work and at that point we had no roof – not ideal as it was a rainy summer!
I also discovered I was pregnant part way through the works and had to take a step back. All in all, the renovation ended up being a lot more work than we anticipated. Later on in the build, we were still trying to finish the decorating and other jobs while looking after