Homewasnever unloved

Sir, – As a former journalist, I know the temptations and dangers of embroidering and even reworking facts to create stronger stories. However Jack McKeown’s report of architectural awards, Downalong (November 17), is a step too far.

In the late 1960s, my uncle, Charles Speid, sold Forneth House and Estate. He projectmanaged the construction of a new house in woods still owned, while his wife (my aunt, Josephine Speid) created a magnificent alpine garden in the rocky terrain below. This is the house described by Mr McKeown in a propertyfor-sale related article last year, as “designed by a naval architect to resemble a ship sailing through the trees”. Poetic for sure, but totally untrue.

After my uncle died in the 1970s, my aunt moved down the hill into a row of former quarry workers cottages, renovated as a single dwelling, and in which she lived in until 2010, when she moved into a care home. She died in 2012, aged 98. Downalong was then sold, and I watched with trepidation as the roof was removed (in icy November!), and then deep upset as the building disintegrated to the point only the two end gables remained.

The completed structure (with an identical footprint) is indeed 21st Century state-of-the-art, worthy of commendation. However Downalong never fell into “disrepair”. To have this renovation described as “a template on how to rescue other unloved rows of rundown cottages across Scotland” has upset many.

Downalong was a comfortable and much loved home, a social hub remembered with affection by many generations of Jo’s family and friends and neighbours alike. It never fell into disrepair. It was never rundown. And it was never, ever ever unloved.

Angela Jeffs. Burnside Cottage, Forneth, Dunkeld.