The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
A new house with a history
A three-year-old house in rural Fife was built to exacting standards and reused stone from the farm buildings that stood there before it. For owner Leigh Connelly, its completion was a milestone in a remarkable journey
With stone and timber clad walls, and state of the art fixtures inside, The Paddock is an impressive house.
What’s even more impressive is the story of its builder and owner, Leigh Connelly.
The 35-year old found himself out of work, homeless and with no qualifications at age 20.
“I spent nine and a half months living in my car,” he recalls. “One time I wanted a packet of Monster Munch but I was a penny short. One penny. I’ve never forgotten that moment.”
He trained as a heating engineer, began making property investments and finally managed to get hold of some old farm buildings on a site outside Springfield, near Cupar, that had failed to sell at auction.
He obtained planning permission and has built five homes on the site, one of which is his own.
With limited funds to begin the project he did much of the work himself – including installing an access road. “I would run the digger until three or four in the morning,” he says. “The headlights didn’t work so all I had to see by was the whirling orange light on the top. It was pretty brutal.”
Leigh’s hard work and grit have paid off, though. The Paddock, where he lives, was the last house in the development to be completed.
The detached four bedroom home is accessed by the road he made, which comes off the country lane between Springfield and Cuparmuir and winds its way around the side of a field.
The super -insulated home has an air source heat pump for heating and hot water.
At the heart of the property is a quality German-made kitchen. Next door is Leigh’s study, which has a sauna off it.
The living room has glazed doors out to the west-facing rear garden, which is decked and has a hot tub to one side.
Also on the ground floor are a utilty room, shower room and an attached double garage.
Upstairs are three large double bedrooms. The master has a luxury bathroom – the shower delivers water at an astonishing 80 litres a minute – and a walk-in dressing room.
Despite the monstrous output of that shower, the home’s very low energy. “It’s really well insulated and everything’s LED,” Leigh says.
“Even with the hot tub kept warm all year round, heating and lighting, it only costs £110 a month in electricity.
When he’s not developing property Leigh is a gymnast and is training for the British Masters Championships in August.
He’s also in the midst of his next project, a development of eight luxury homes in Dunino, just outside St Andrews.
He used the Paddock as a test bed for the technology in these homes.
“There’s a Sonos sound system wired into every room and outside by the hot tub,” he says. “There’s an electronic keypad on the study door and the blinds are electronically controlled. The heating is automatic and you can adjust it from your phone.
“I went way over the top with technology and quality but I wanted to showcase what you can do.”
I went over the top with technology and quality but I wanted to showcase what you can do