Style meets substance

Home to the architect who designed it, the award-winning Cedar House at Logiealmond is an exceptional contemporary home of both style and substance, as Helen Brown discovered . . .

CEDAR HOUSE was designed specifically for and to harmonise with its amazing rural setting in the heart of Perthshire and to provide the perfect stylish family home for Mark and Chloe Walker and their children.

After relocating from London, the couple had spent some years living in tied houses before deciding to build for themselves. “They were quality of life decisions,” Chloe explained, “both coming north and eventually deciding to create our own home from the ground up. Mark had and still has his own one-man architectural practice and that fitted with how we wanted to do this.

“And because this house has been such a success, there have been interesting spinoffs and projects for him that have grown out of it and been inspired by Cedar House.”

Finished around the millennium, it has indeed been a wonderful house to live in for the family — and has received an amazing amount of public recognition for its style and innovation, winning a prestigious RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) award in 2001 and going on to earn further plaudits from the Architects’ Journal and Dundee Institute of Architects. It has featured in both STV’s The Home Show and Channel 4’s Britain’s Best Home.

The site was suggested by a friend who knew the area and the idea was to create a house that would look good in a wooded location, particularly one with such a wideranging view and south and west-facing aspects. “We planned for a 16-week build that eventually lasted 52!” Chloe added. “That happens even to architects! Mark worked with the components of the site and space — he’s not a believer in having something already prepared that can be pulled out of the bottom drawer and applied to any area. He believes that the best kind of building has to address its site. ”

Cedar House is built as a single storey construction with a timber frame, highly insulated and clad in cedar lining and white cement render. There is a light, cedarshingled roof, zinc gutters and downpipes. The theme of slate and wood is continued internally in flooring and wall panelling.

The main public areas are open plan, including vaulted ceilings and illuminated partitions. Extensive use of sliding doors all along one side make the very most of light and space out onto the large patio and garden, with the fabulous countryside setting forming a perfect backdrop. The large sitting room has both height and width and a wood-burning stove acts as a natural focal point for the dining area.

As well as the open outlook through the glass sliding doors to the exterior, there is also a full wall mirror that reflects the size of the room and gives an extra feeling of space.

The kitchen is fitted and fully equipped and there is separate utility space - in fact, the house is particularly well served with storage.

The internal hall is also deliberately wide and spacious, with no tight corners and a sense of real flow about it, as you move from one area of the house to the next. It leads to the four original bedrooms, all with built-in wardrobes and two bathrooms.

The house was extended in 2008. A new master bedroom suite was added, complete with its own bathroom and dressingroom/ garden room with massive wardrobe space — and a carefully-lit dressing table section built in.

Externally, the patio was also extended and a new barbecue pit built by the Walkers’ son.

Chloe, a teacher by profession, also makes jewellery as a hobby and has plenty of space to set out her materials — as does Mark, in a roomy and light-filled corner office.

“We wanted the whole house to embrace the garden and the landscape beyond and give us room to breathe inside.

“The bedroom space is practical but not enormous — this house is very much about living space. It’s a flexible party house and lovely for dinners with room for 12 to start with and potentially many more when needed. We use all the space - nothing is shut off.”

It will be a hard act to follow but the Walkers aren’t setting any limits of time or style for their future design for living. “We don’t have any set plans for the immediate future, “Chloe added. “We’re just pressing the refresh button and it’s feels like a really nice idea to have that flexibility!”