Filled with contemporary character

Some steading conversions have come a long way from humble beginnings, discovers Kirsty Mcluckie

Steadings can make characterful and original homes, and by definition most are set within stunning rural locations.

The best byres, stables and carriage house conversions will retain something of their original feel with traditional features worked into the design but coupled with a contemporary touch.

If it is a recent conversion, a renovated steading can also be a great deal more comfortable than the neighbouring purpose-built traditional farmhouse and cottage, encompassing double glazing, creating open-plan living spaces and making the most of the views.

Many of these properties are modest as developers tend to divide larger farm buildings to make multiple homes, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

Just launched on the market, Convinth Steading is an impressive six-bedroomed country property within easy reach of Inverness and six miles from Beauly.

The steading has stood on the site for hundreds of years and was painstakingly restored by the current owners between 1998 and 2001.

With five reception rooms and features such as a gym, the house also has a spectacular master bedroom suite housed in one wing, and extensive land.

It has a delightful courtyard garden, a rose garden with a charming oak barn adjacent and a productive apple orchard.

It is offered for sale together or separately from the more modest farmhouse, which was rebuilt in the early 1900s and renovated in 1999.

John Bound, who is handling the sale for Galbraith in Inverness, says: “The sale of Convinth Steading and farmhouse present a very exciting prospect for lifestyle buyers.

“The steading was designed very much with entertaining in mind. With oak

doors, exposed wooden beams, Caithness stone and oak flooring, and a bespoke handmade birch kitchen, it is a wonderful family home with views over the glen and the countryside.”

The buildings and the surrounding grounds were formerly part of the Lovat Estate.

The farmhouse is currently let and Convinth is being offered for sale as a whole at a guide price of £1,100,000 or in two lots.

Balbeuchley Steading at Auchterhouse is a little more modest, but is a beautifully presented three-bedroomed property with stunning views.

Seven miles from Dundee, it has a proper country feel, with exposed beams with all rooms and views across the open countryside to the Lomond Hills in Fife and beyond.

The landscaped tiered garden is designed to take full advantage of its setting, with a large south-east facing terrace, a summer house, south-facing decking, specimen trees and plantings, and a stone walled lawn dropping away to the land beyond.

Within the picturesque area of Pitcaple, to the north of Aberdeen and near Inverurie, Hawthorn House is a detached steading on the edge of a hamlet, with countryside views.

Its outstanding feature is the double height sitting room but there is also a family room, four bedrooms, a dining kitchen and a large garden.