Former dower house with seven bedrooms and wonderful period features for sale in Angus

The mix of dramatic period décor with contemporary private spaces ensures a warm reception for B&B guests at Balmuirfield House in Angus.

Coming from a background in hospitality, Morag and Stuart Clark were looking for more than a home when property hunting: they were looking for a house that could also work for a bed and breakfast business, so finding the right scale and layout was key.

After selling their business in Aberdeen in the summer of 2008, the couple spent a few months travelling before returning to Scotland and doing work on their house, which they sold in January 2010, ready for a new start.

Picture: Galbraith

Some properties they viewed had fantastic spaces for guests, but the private spaces felt compromised and they searched far and wide before coming to Balmuirfield House, which has a quiet location on Harestane Road on the northern edge of Dundee.

Straight away Morag and Stuart were drawn to the flexibility of this handsome property, which has seven bedrooms (three en-suite) on the first floor, along with three reception rooms, a large kitchen and adjoining family room, a snug-cum-study space, two bathrooms, a utility room and a laundry on the ground floor.

“We could see that this house had lots of potential for us,” Stuart recalls. “It’s almost like having two houses in one.

Picture: Galbraith

"The front reception rooms work for guests, but we can enjoy them too, and we have privacy at the back of the house with the kitchen and family room, the snug and our two bedrooms.

"We always wanted guests to stay here and have that feeling that they’re in someone’s home.”

Picture: Galbraith

Believed to have been completed in 1904, Balmuirfield House is B-listed and stands in a large, mature garden with about five acres of land, and the Dighty Burn runs through the grounds along with a former lade and ponds.

The Clarks bought the property in April 2010 and opened it to guests within six months, although it was longer before the whole house was completed.

The arrival of the couple’s daughter, Josephine, now seven, gave them a deadline to work towards. While the property was in good condition, the interior needed a cosmetic overhaul to suit Morag and Stuart’s style.

Visitors get a sense of the dramatic interior from the hallway, where the couple laid black and white Amtico flooring, creating impact on arrival.

Picture: Galbraith

The three reception rooms face south, and they all have working open fireplaces, so the house immediately feels warm and welcoming.

“We really brightened the house in terms of the décor,” says Stuart. The couple tackled most of the work themselves, from redecoration and installing new light fittings – 42 in total – to the new window dressings, all of which Morag made.

Picture: Galbraith

The couple felt that it was important for each space to have its own identity, including all the bedrooms, and the design for each room began with the fabrics Morag sourced for the curtains and with furniture from their last home, which they complemented with pieces sourced for these spaces combined with upcycled furniture that was given a new lease of life here.

One of the bedrooms features a stunning French oak four-poster bed which the couple bought years ago from Touch Wood, while another has one with a canopy that gives this bedroom an Old World sense of grandeur.

The reception rooms are no less impressive, both in terms of styling and the period detailing.

Picture: Galbraith

The dining room features painted glazing on the upper section of the bay window, and each small pane depicts a pond scene delicately rendered in golds and greens, as if bringing a snapshot of the natural world from outside inside.

This feature is repeated in the bay windowed sitting room complemented by Morag’s selection of fabrics for this space, while the period fireplace boasts richly carved timber detailing.

The kitchen is more contemporary. It faces east, for beautiful morning light.

Picture: Galbraith

It’s colour scheme had been very heavy, so, while keeping the Aga range, Morag altered the mood completely with crisp white cabinetry against worktops, walls and flooring in tones of grey.

“I wanted a kitchen that wouldn’t date, so I started with the white but then added influences of this modern grey palette,” she says.

Picture: Galbraith

The snug space is also in various grey tones to enhance the flow between it and the kitchen and family room, whose connecting doorway has been opened up.

“It doesn’t matter what era things come from if they sit together well,” says Morag, who has a background in graphic design and relished the opportunity to work with this handsome period property.

Here, vintage pieces are combined with contemporary furnishings and accessories, including the 1970s dining table in the kitchen and the vintage cabinet in the family room.

Picture: Galbraith

The couple also made a fundamental improvement to the house when they installed a biomass heating system in 2014.

As Stuart explains, it was a cheaper and a more environmentally friendly option than the 15-year-old oil boilers it replaced, and qualified for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

Balmuirfield House is now on the market, and whoever buys the house will inherit those payments, which continue until 2021.

Picture: Galbraith

It has clearly been a pleasure for the couple to see how guests have responded to the character and personality of this interior.

When asked whether she’s hoping for another project, Morag says: “I’d love to do another one. We have some fantastic furniture that will come with us, and I’m looking forward to mixing it up and changing it.”

When considering what they will miss on leaving, Morag talks about the wildlife that comes with a garden of this scale, while Stuart cites the location.

Picture: Galbraith

“We’ve everything we need being so close to the city, but it feels like we’re in the country,” he says. “It’s so quiet here at night, it really does feel as if you’re away from it all.”

Picture: Galbraith

Balmuirfield House is on the market at offers over £525,000 with Galbraith.

Words Fiona Reid