Interiors: Ice House, St Cyrus

Louise McCabe freely admits that her father, Robert Milne, and his brother, John, initially didn't know what to do with the 18th-century ice house they bought in 2007.

The brothers, who run a farming company, had revamped farm cottages for the rental market, but this building posed a greater challenge.

"We decided it would make an interesting holiday home," says Louise, acknowledging the building's idiosyncratic character and fabulous location, just outside the Angus village of St Cyrus.

Tucked between the cliffs and dunes of St Cyrus beach, the ice house is built into a hillside on the edge of a nature reserve. Glorious coastal walks stretch in either direction, while there are great sea views from the dune tops as well as from the property's grass roof.

The building itself is inextricably linked with the boom of the fishing industry in the 18th century, when exports of salmon left Montrose for the Baltic, Netherlands, Mediterranean and Adriatic.

Salting or pickling was the preferred preservation method until the late 1700s when local man George Dempster came up with an innovative new practice – packing fish in ice.

"Until then, people in London hadn't tasted fresh salmon," says Louise.

Ice houses were constructed as year-round stores, with the ice shovelled in via ceiling shafts.

This particular example was built where the mouth of the North Esk was located in the 1790s (and from which ice would be taken in winter) although the course of the river dramatically altered in 1879 when it burst through the dunes to reach the sea.

In its more recent history this ice house stabled horses, and was turned into a restaurant, before becoming the home of the owners of the restaurant. Nevertheless, the building needed work.

"It was very leaky and both side wings were falling in," says Louise, referring to later additions to the original building.

Most of the building was concealed underground, with limited natural light coming in through windows created within the ceiling shafts, and through the only visible section of the building that protruded to the front. Excavation revealed the cement faade of the building's bulk, which has since been clad in Siberian larch.

A local architect drew plans for a reinterpretation of the ice house. "He originally suggested knocking it down, but for us that wasn't an option," says Louise. Since the building isn't listed and had been used as a residential dwelling, the holiday home concept was undisputed by planners.

Extensive leaks called for external tanking with a waterproof membrane. A desire to expose as much internal stonework as possible, a feature now highlighted by recessed floor lights, meant new insulation was added primarily to the exterior.

"The underground location affords natural insulation," says Louise, explaining that a new electric central heating system is complemented by underfloor heating below slate-clad floors, while there's a log burner in the living room. Solar panels fitted to the front section's roof provide hot water in summertime.

Those dilapidated wings had accommodated a kitchen to one side and a bedroom to the other, with both rooms suffering from restricted natural light. New glazed doors to the faades of the newly rebuilt wings were inserted, giving the ground-floor bedrooms vastly increased light and outdoor access.

New glazing was also fitted to windows occupying the ceiling shafts, and to the protruding front section too, where French doors now overlook the dunes.

This space, once the front-of-house area of the restaurant, is now a kitchen/dining area, which opens via a large aperture to the living room within the original stone vault. The previous owners added a mezzanine here, which has been transformed.

"The interior was very Gothic," says Louise. The mezzanine's timbers are now painted white and there's a sofa bed there, which together with a day bed in a little room off the master bedroom extends the capacity of the property, which has two double bedrooms and a twin.

As building work took place in fits and starts over a two-year period, Louise had plenty of time to plan the interior, opting for a fresh, New England, style. Original pitch pine floorboards were stripped, and a slab of Caithness slate taken from Louise's dad's garden was laid as a hearth for the living room stove.

"We left it unpolished," says Louise, whose pursuit of a rustic style extended to the kitchen, where cream-painted solid pine units, handmade in nearby Inverbervie, were teamed with extra thick timber worktops.

Steptoe's Yard, a reclamation centre within a mile of the ice house produced treasures such as the old church pew and table in the dining area, the latter teamed with chairs from the family farm that were stripped and repainted.

In the living room a leather wing-back chair from John Lewis and a double "snuggle" seat are positioned under the mezzanine, beside the stove; remaining chairs are grouped beside a wall-mounted television.

A giant gilt-framed mirror propped against exposed stonework adds a flamboyant touch. Louise imbued the interior with luxuries; a seat built in the main bathroom – a functional means of concealing a piece of immoveable rock – is, for example, draped in sheepskin.

Traditional-style fittings for the main bathroom and two en suites were sourced via their plumber. However, the roll-top bath had languished in a farm shed for years before it was re-enamelled and painted the same heritage shade that Louise used for the room's tongue-and-groove panelling.

The master bedroom sits on the upper floor under the vaulted ceiling, while the ground-level double and twin spill onto the terrace where there's a barbecue area inspired by the outdoor lifestyle of Louise's sister Joanne, who lives in South Africa.

Built-in seating that's wired for sound encircles a sunken fire pit, with the cliffs at the back of the ice house providing a wonderfully sheltered environment; there's even a post-beach outdoor shower here.

Its name may speak of a chilly past, but this ice house couldn't extend a warmer welcome.

For more information, visit www.icehousestcyrus.co.uk; for availability and booking details, tel: [phone], or visit www.cottages-and-castles.co.uk

This article was first published in The Scotsman, 2 April, 2011