A staircase that is mainly a functional sculpture was the starting point for the house that Walter and Karen Milne built

“It was something I wanted to achieve,” says Walter Milne, reflecting on what led him to build Newmilne House, on the banks of the Dighty Burn on the outskirts of Bridgefoot, just north of Dundee. “I’d never have been able to get a house like this buying it, so I had to build.”

A resident of this area since he was 14, Walter was living in a neighbouring house (that his father had converted from an old joinery workshop) when the opportunity arose to buy the land on which Newmilne is built, with his younger brother Callum.

The construction business is familiar territory for the Milnes: Callum and Walter are directors of the architectural metalwork company Metaltech UK, the family business they took over in the mid-1990s and rebranded as Metaltech in 2008. Current projects include the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh and the new £31.5m swimming pool complex in Dundee, as well as residential projects at Gleneagles.

While business is business, it is quite another thing to embrace a personal project and build your own home, particularly to the specification Walter and his wife, Karen, demanded here. The site was originally home to a mill and came with planning permission for two bungalows. The neighbouring house, which is also individually designed, was built first and Callum initially lived there before moving on. Newmilne is the second house that was designed for this site

“It was quite daunting,” he agrees. “We tried to design a house that we thought would fall in line with building control and planning regulations.” When the local planning authority requested various changes to make the house fit better within the local vernacular, Walter decided to take a different approach and design a house that was completely unique. His decision to use natural materials, including Douglas fir, Clashach stone, slate, lead and copper, satisfied the planners.

As Walter says: “This house is a much bigger statement.” As a fan of Grand Designs, this house was Walter’s “grand design”.

During the process Walter parted company with the original architect and hired another, Andrew Black, who took the initial plans for Newmilne and made the house work. The brief was for “lots of open space, split levels, no tight areas and some curves,” Walter says, adding: “Curves cost money and there are a lot of curves in this house!”

“We wanted a house that fulfilled our personal needs, where there wasn’t a wasted room,” Karen explains. “It’s a big house, but we find we use the space.” The plans did evolve: Newmilne started out as a five-bedroom house but ended up a three-bedroom house – although if you consider the layout, there is scope to create additional bedrooms, both upstairs with the dressing room, and on the ground level where there is a large cinema room and an even bigger gym that had initially been drawn up as a three-car garage. The property has almost 4,600sq ft of space, plus a separate double garage, within 0.74 acres of land.

Newmilne took two years to build. “This wasn’t a kit house; it was built on site, basically by one joiner, Allan Robertson – an old family friend – and one labourer,” says Walter. “This was phenomenal for two people.” Specialist companies were brought in as required: for example, the leadwork was done by the Edinburgh-based D Blake & Co. And Walter was hands on – having sourced the copper downpipes from a company called Coppa Gutta, he fitted them himself.

Although tweaking plans during the build added to the cost, the changes improved the finished product. One corner of the house features double-height glazing, so the first-floor slab was cut back and a balcony installed, creating a galleried study-cum-snug on the upper floor and a striking double-height feature within the living room.

The angled stone fireplace was also added using Clashach stone, and the same finish features in the double-height dining area – with its high curved roof – positioned behind the staircase, and with views towards the Sidlaw Hills. The external detailing of the stone is replicated internally, stone for stone, highlighting the attention to detail.

Likewise, in a house filled with angles, each angle is mirrored by another, creating a sense of balance and unity. The quality of the craftsmanship is evident in the grooved walnut feature walls, one of which was added to help define the seating area, with curved walnut-clad walls sweeping from the entrance into the kitchen and second seating area downstairs, and forming the curved master en suite above – all credited to Bentley’s shopfitters in Dundee.

Walter and Karen embraced a similarly high-spec approach when fitting the kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen features glass-fronted units by RWK with Kuppersbusch appliances, while the main bathroom includes Philippe Starck fittings and a walk-in shower enclosure with a curved wall – a feature that required a bespoke fibreglass floor finish in the shower that was colour-matched to the tiling. The same detail appears in the curved master suite, only here, once you’ve got over the size of the space, you can’t take your eyes off the giant circular Kohler Jacuzzi bath.

The couple also invested in the integrated Bang and Olufsen home entertainment system as well as the programmable Lutron Homeworks lights. “I personally think the house looks even better at night; it has a completely different feel,” says Walter. While some houses are all about the external views, Newmilne also delights in the views between the spaces inside and in that sense of interconnectedness, which is enhanced by the lighting.

The project has great memories for Karen: Walter proposed to her on the balcony off the master bedroom, when the house was still a building site. And Karen has also made her mark with the internal colour and decoration and furnishings, adding warmth to her husband’s more minimalist eye. So how do they follow this?

“Ultimately, I will build another house, but not in the immediate future,” Walter says, acknowledging that he’s learned from this project. “Next time, I’d have the design detailed on the drawings, I wouldn’t deviate from the drawings, I’d have costs for everything, and it would come in on budget.”

While Newmilne House was clearly a major investment, both financially and in the time and effort involved, the Milnes achieved what they wanted: a unique, surprising, and striking home. As Walter says: “We’ve had this house five years now, and I still get a buzz out of it.” k

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