Perfect spot to raise free-range children
A former farmhouse near Selkirk in the Borders is well-suited for a young family, especially if they enjoy all things equestrian, writes Kirsty Mcluckie
Two and a half miles north of Selkirk in the Scottish Borders lies Lindean Farmhouse, a very pretty property with excellent equestrian facilities.
The property is set in five and a half acres of gardens and paddocks, and its coloured stone exterior looks out over the countryside at the front.
At the rear, the farmhouse adjoins a community woodland, which is not only beautiful to look at but fills the air with birdsong.
John and Mary Smail bought the place 28 years ago, moving from Selkirk with their two children.
Mary says: “We were looking for somewhere to keep a couple of ponies for the children and, in fact, this was much more than we needed. But we fell in love with it.
“It required work, but we came with a ten year plan, quite prepared to see it through.”
She describes Lindean as a quirky house. “It started life as a much smaller property and it has changed over the years so there are odd parts of it – shadows of doors where they used to be, for instance – which makes it interesting and full of character.”
At one point it was the farm manager’s house for the nearby Sunderland Hall Estate, and some of the surrounding cottages in the lane were built as smallholdings by the estate for soldiers returning from the First World War, but Lindean predates all of them.
Mary says: “When we bought it, we were told it was early-victorian, but some of the people who worked on it found that it was older.
“The stonework is river stone, but later parts are dressed stone, and we have worked out that it may have started as a two-bedroomed cottage that grew over a great deal of time.”
When the Smails moved in they took on the major tasks first, including installing a damp course and treating woodworm. Once the remedial work was tackled, they moved on to upgrading the interior.
Mary says: “We concentrated on making it warm and comfortable, but working round the best features and really trying to keep it to the style that suited its age.”
This included the addition of a conservatory at the turn of the century. “We went for a plain style, as the house is quite plain and anything too fancy wouldn’t have been in keeping. We sourced local coloured stone to match the original to tie it all in.”
For the interior, the couple sought out items such as light fittings in antique sales to blend in with the property.
The garden was laid out before the Smails’ time – photogaphs of Lindean from the 1950s show the beautiful stone terracing which leads down in steps from the front. But the whole area needed work and Mary says they employed a dry stone dyker to rebuild a wall each winter in his downtime, with the Smails planting up each bed in the summers in between.
The garden as well as the house was a long-term project, but as Mary worked part-time back then, in the library at the Scottish College of Textiles in Galashiels, she was able to devote herself to the project.
John was editor of the local paper in Selkirk, so neither of the couple had much of a commute, but potential buyers of the property might be interested in the fact that Lindean is less then five miles from Tweedbank railway station.
The Smails’ little boy and girl were at primary school when the family moved in to the farmhouse, and their long tenure has seen their daughter recently get married on the terraced garden. The shape worked like an amphitheatre, while the field hosted a marquee. So the house has suited the Smails at various stages of their lives.
Mary says: “The great thing for our son and daughter, when they were younger, was the community wood behind the house, which they used as a playground. They would go there every day with the dog, so this house really has allowed them to be free-range children.
“Both had ponies and would ride with their friends using the farm
At the rear, the farmhouse adjoins a community woodland, which is not only beautiful to look at but fills the air with birdsong
tracks and the old drove road, or go canoeing in the river in their teen years.”
The property’s L-shaped stable block was built by the previous owners, but during the Smails time in residence it has been reroofed and well maintained. With four loose boxes, storage and a garage it is an excellent amenity and offers potential for more than just a home for a family pony.
Having made the decision to sell Lindean, Mary and John plan to stay in the area as both are involved in local life.
Mary says: “Selkirk is still a joinedup community, with the rugby club and a strong musical tradition, it is a lovely place to live.”