LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
The Balado property that will sweep you off your feet.
LEAFING through a magazine while having a coffee landed property investment boss Steven Farish the home of his dreams.
Beaufield at Balado in Kinross is a breathtaking, six-bedroom family home spectacularly remodelled with good times in mind.
But it wasn’t always that way, according to its new owner.
Steven, 51, managing director of Centrepoint Scotland, was living in a three-bedroom detached house in Dunfermline when he first laid eyes on the property with a sweeping drive, accessed through electric gates.
He tells iN10: “I was having a coffee and looking through a magazine when I saw it.
“I immediately put my coffee down, got into my car and drove there. Turning the corner into the street, I thought, ‘What a lovely place’. All of the houses looked good until I saw Beaufield. It was stunning, but I couldn’t see a ‘For sale’ board and didn’t know for sure if it was the one that was on the market. I just prayed it was.
“Then, as I parked outside, someone approached and asked if I needed help. They told me the house was in fact for sale and, better still, I could view it in an hour. I honestly couldn’t wait.
“It belonged to one of the biggest entrepreneurs in Scotland, but there was room for major improvement.”
And so began the task to turn this expansive home into a dream party pad.
Steven – who hails from Dalkeith and started life as a joiner – says: “Straight away I went about making Beaufield special. I employed Gordon Dunn from Architectural Services in Dunfermline and between us we changed the way the house looked – inside and out.
“We re-did the pond and waterfall and created slabbed areas and lighting using Tom Allan from Direct Gardens who designed and completed the garden.
“Then we stripped the kitchen, which was very small and needed to be opened up.
“We took away the dining room load-bearing wall and inserted steel to support the ceiling, creating a larger, south-facing kitchen with bi-fold doors into the garden.”
The kitchen, which has traditional units and integrated appliances, now includes two fridge freezers,
two combi microwaves and two ovens.
It also boasts a black granitetopped island with a gas hob and suspended extractor fan.
Work elsewhere in the house included fitting a new gymnasium, three new en suite bathrooms, and a new downstairs loo, as well as a sauna and a balcony off the master bedroom.
But the show-stopper was the creation, in the expansive attic, of a high spec home cinema.
And as well as its three reception rooms, the home boasts a triple garage with a selfcontained guest annexe above.
Steven, who has lived at Beaufield for nine years, smiles: “The house has been fitted to exactly how I wanted it.
“It’s stunning, with everything anyone could ever wish for.
“I have an enormous cinema – just like going out to the pictures. It even has popcorn machines and a bar.
“The gym has all the kind of lifestyle equipment you’d find in Bannatyne’s, and the bar alone in the second reception room cost £17,000 to be manufactured.”
He muses: “I was asked many years ago why I worked so hard and what was I trying to achieve in my life. I said then that I would love a big house with a drive and electric gates. Two years later, unplanned, I bought Beaufield.
“I thought I was at my dream’s end.”
He wasn’t. Steven has fallen in love again – this time with a luxury, two-pool villa in Spain to which he plans to relocate.
And his beloved Beaufield is on the market with the Galbraith group for offers over £835,000.
But he hasn’t turned his back on his first love.
He says: “I have been working on my new villa in Spain, replicating my Scottish house.
“And I’ve renamed it Beaufield.”