A bustling little farmstead

A farmhouse set in nearly 30 acres a few miles from Kinross has extensive stabling, a floodlit arena and tack room, as well as its own stretch of the River Devon. It’s the perfect set up for those looking to keep horses and live in a rural idyll

Dogs rush out to greet me as I drive down the dirt track that leads to Over Dalkeith Farm, near Rumbling Bridge.

Pygmy goats stare curiously from a field while hens scratch contentedly in their pen. The scent of horses is in the air and I can hear the quacking of ducks from somewhere nearby.

Katie Gillanders opens the front door to greet me and the aroma of freshly baked bread gusts out with her.

Things don’t get much more homely than this.

The original part of the farmhouse dates back to the early 1600s. It was “modernised” in the 1700s and then an extension was added in the 1980s or 1990s.

Katie and her husband Shaun moved in 14 years ago and have raised their three children – Ruaraid, Mollie and Freya – there.

The kitchen has an LPG Aga and original exposed beams.

To one side of the kitchen is the extension, added around 30 years ago. It has a double-height ceiling with exposed beams, and a sunroom is folded down one side, enjoying westerly views over the garden and its pond (with “Duck Island” in the middle). An open fire keeps the room cosy.

A door also leads out to the garden and there’s an en suite bedroom off the far end of the extension.

“This room comes into its own during the wintertime,” Katie, 52, explains. “The ceiling’s so high we can easily get a 12 or 14-foot tree in there.”

In total there are four bedrooms, a large utility room and a spacious vestibule that is ideal for taking off muddy boots and wet coats.

A garden wraps itself around the property. A large assortment of outbuildings houses stables and there’s a barn that’s used as an indoor arena.

The land extends to 28.4 acres and is mainly pasture, with several acres of woodland and nearly a third of a mile of frontage on the River Devon that includes fishing rights.

The property also benefits from a community hydro scheme that brings in a guaranteed feed-in tariff income of nearly £5,000 a year.

Katie’s daughter Mollie shows me round the stables – her father’s giving a riding lesson in the arena – and the land.

“It was such a great place to grow up,” she says. “We used to go swimming in the river every summer.”

Katie and Shaun, 50, bought Over Dalkeith to run their riding school and livery business but have now outgrown it. They have their eye on a 100-acre site not far away where they can expand their business.

“We’ve reached the stage where we either keep it the size it is and the kids have to do something else with their lives or we move somewhere bigger and grow it so the children become part of the business,” Katie explains.

“We have so many amazing memories of bringing up our children here, though. I’ll miss the place very much.”

Over Dalkeith Farm comes with fishing rights on a stretch of the River Devon that runs to almost one third of a mile.