Interiors: Sam and Kim Wightman had a vision for a luxury family home near Kinross where light and space were in abundance. The results did not disappoint

Published on Sunday 22 January 2012 11:39

ANY HOUSE I’ve lived in I’ve built,” says Sam Wightman, reflecting on the home-building bug that seems to be part of his DNA.

Each time a house is finished, he gets itchy feet for the next. “It’s in your blood and you want to keep going,” he says.

All of which explains what brought restaurateurs Sam and Kim Wightman to build Turfhills Farm House. Located in the hamlet of Turfhills, less than a mile to the west of Kinross, the site was being sold with planning already in place for a steading development of five houses, and with an architect, Keith McFarlane of the Dunfermline-based practice McFarlane Curran & Co, already involved.

The Wightmans – who own Café Kisa in Auchterarder and Le Jardin Café at Dobbies in Kinross – had other plans for this spot: they wanted to build three individual houses, including Turfhills Farm House. It meant they had to start the planning process again and convince the planners, “which is quite difficult in the countryside,” says Sam. The couple worked with Keith on the new plans. “When you’ve done it before, there aren’t so many ifs and buts,” says Sam. “We wanted lots of light and high ceilings, and we wanted this house to flow.”

Sam credits Keith for his understanding and translation of their brief. “It’s a difficult thing to get the house that you think works. This house works really well,” he says.

Turfhills Farm House was built on the old stackyard of the farm, which had a cottage at the front, and the Wightmans moved into this cottage while the new house was being developed. The building is L-shaped and one enters via the glazed porch into a double-height dining hall, with double-height windows at the rear filling this space with light and granting views out over the garden to the countryside beyond. This space sets the tone for what to expect from this house: natural light, and lots of it.

“I think you need lots of glass and light; it’s a feel-good thing. As soon as you come in the front door you see right through into the garden and that works well. It’s fantastic sitting here and looking up as this space is about seven metres high,” says Sam.

The dining hall opens onto a bedroom wing on one side, with two guest bedrooms (one en-suite) and a bathroom, and into the living room on the other side. This room includes a deep bay window with French doors into the garden – a feature designed to draw even more light into the room. “We wanted to bring the garden into the space,” says Sam.

A chef, Sam is passionate about cooking, so the kitchen was never going to be simply about style. He worked with Callum Walker Interiors in Perth. “We went through four or five designs before we got what we were looking for,” he says. “Kitchens are quite difficult; we really had to pick the kitchen for the house.” Having chosen a traditional kitchen in their previous home, the couple took the opposite approach here with a sleek design by Bulthaup incorporating a large island and wall-hanging ‘floating’ units along one wall.

“I like that this kitchen has a very engineered quality. With the floor disappearing under the wall-hanging units, it feels clean-lined. A kitchen has to flow; you need to have everything at hand, lots of work surfaces and a good extraction system. This extractor is like a semi-commercial one and is really fantastic,” says Sam.

The slender dark grey quartz worktop on the island is combined with chunky black walnut on the breakfast bar, while a stainless steel surface extends along the wall section. The combination of materials works beautifully. Large profile porcelain floor tiles retain the crisp aesthetic, while the three large pendants suspended over the breakfast bar soften the effect with their diffused light. Completing the look, the caramel leather sofa is elegant and minimal. “We don’t like clutter. We wanted to keep things as minimalist and clean cut as possible,” says Sam.

Sam agrees that experience from the restaurants filters into their home. Just as he and Kim take inspiration from visiting other restaurants, they keep an eye on other homebuilders too. Last year, while on a trip to visit family in Houston, Sam spent three days looking at show houses. “I like to see new ideas,” he says, “and I love that American style, that open-plan feel.”

Like the dining-hall, the galleried landing above this space is a good example of this connected, open-plan style. “We wondered at first how we were going to use this space, but we use it all the time; we have a TV here and it’s a family space,” says Sam. The house was designed with family living in mind. As well as the couple’s two children who live here, Kisa, 14, and Ryan, 16, there are four grown-up children: Samuel, Alicia, Charlene and James.

With five bedrooms, this house can accommodate visitors. The three main bedrooms are on the first floor, along with a study. The master suite includes a dressing room and en-suite bathroom and the bedroom features a west-facing balcony with a view to the hills, while the two other bedrooms share a Jack and Jill en-suite shower room.

“From the outset you have this picture in your head of how you want the house to look,” Sam says. “I just see the finished product.” The biggest challenge was building over the winter of 2009-10. “It was a bad winter and it was tough,” he says. “It’s never straightforward building; you have your ups and downs and you have to be prepared for the challenge.”

The build was a full-time commitment as Sam was on site every day while Kim focused her attention on the restaurants. Sam credits his wife for the look of the interior when choosing fittings, and the furniture and artworks.

The former cottage has since been replaced by a new house, which the family are now moving into, and the final house to be built will be even larger and include stables and a paddock. Each property has its own entrance with electronic gates, and each is individual in terms of the design. As Sam says of Turfhills Farm House: “I’m over the moon with how this house has turned out.” There is always the next project though.

• Turfhills Farm House has a guide price of £600,000; contact Rettie & Co (0131-220 4160, www.rettie.co.uk)

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