Set in a wildflower meadow with stunning views, a neglected rural property presented a challenge to its new owner. But thanks to a sensitive redesign that seamlessly blended the original granite building and a contemporary new extension, it’s now an energy-efficient home that embraces the landscape in which it sits
HOME PROFILE
WHO LIVES HERE Steve Gray, who works in the renewable energy industry. He has three grown-up children who regularly visit
THE PROPERTY A four-bedroom, two-storey, renovated Victorian farmhouse with a new larch-clad extension in rural Aberdeenshire
GARDEN
Steve didn’t want a manicured lawn, so devised the wildflower garden with architectural designer Callum Barrack. Steve’s neighbour runs a garden nursery as part of a mental health charity, and she helped Steve pick the wildflower seeds
When Aberdeen resident Steve Gray decided to relocate from the city to the country in 2015, Whitestones, a rundown farmhouse close to his childhood home in Banchory-Devenick, became the starting point for his self-build venture. ‘I grew up very close to the house,’ says Steve. ‘It hadn’t been lived in since 2012 and was sold as a dwelling in need of upgrading. I liked the idea of what it could become.’
At the same time as buying the house and plot, Steve also negotiated the purchase of some surrounding land, giving him roughly two acres in total. ‘My thinking was that I’m only going to build a house once, so I’m going to do it properly. I wanted to add to the existing farmhouse, but I was also keen to retain what was there, and for the old and the new to blend.’
The project required a substantial redesign, and Steve worked on it with architectural designer Callum Barrack of Aberdeen-based Polka, with whom he had previously collaborated on an office building for his business. They worked closely together at the design stage, which lasted longer than anticipated due to a year’s delay caused by a bat survey required by planners. ‘Rather than sitting in an office and coming up with a plan, we spent a long time walking around the site in our wellies, working it all out,’ explains Steve. ‘It was very organic.’
LIVING SPACE
This image and right This airy room has a double-height vaulted ceiling and Sky-Frame sliding windows. A corner window makes for a slick indoor/outdoor transition. During the pandemic, Steve created a workspace facing the garden. Rug, John Lewis & Partners. Woodburner, Jøtul. Coffee table, Made. Hay pale grey sofa, Catalog
ENTRANCE AREA
The new bespoke staircase was conceived so that Steve can come out of his bedroom at the top of the stairs and go straight down to the kitchen. The staircase is made of welded sheet steel, the treads are white-
