Picture-perfect listed thatched cottage for sale in idyllic Highland location

Fortingall is a very pretty village, but this listed cottage might just take the biscuit, says Kirsty McLuckie.

The remarkable settlement of Fortingall was built by shipowner and MP Sir Donald Currie who bought the Glenlyon Estate, including the village, in 1885.

The whole village was designed by the architect James MacLaren who influenced the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and taught Sir Robert Lorimer.

Picture: Savills

Fortingall was built in an arts and crafts style which combined Lowland Scottish and English influences which is why you could be forgiven, when looking at the village’s row of thatched houses called Ardtrasgairt Cottages, in thinking you had somehow wandered into Devon or Cornwall.

The views give it away. Situated at the mouth of Glen Lyon, the spectacular outlook is unmistakably Highland Perthshire.

Fiona and Jim Watson bought Glencroft Cottage, Ardtrasgairt, 22 years ago as a weekend retreat from busy working lives in Glasgow.

Fiona says it was a snap decision. “We had a timeshare in the area but in Aberfeldy we spotted a picture of the cottage in an estate agent’s window.

“We had never visited Fortingall, but we drove round and couldn’t believe this wonderful Hansel and Gretel village.

“When we went to see the cottage it sounds ridiculous but we kept thinking that there must be something wrong with the area because it all felt too good to be true.”

Picture: Savills

They haven’t regretted that decision since, although there was work needed to the 100-year-old property.

Fiona says: “Internally, I suppose rather than have the roof re-thatched the previous owner had lined the walls upstairs in polystyrene, which took away a lot of the character.

Picture: Savills

“When we removed it we found beautiful tongue and groove panelling which we restored.”

The cottage needed total redecoration but the biggest task they undertook was adding the extension at the back.

Picture: Savills

Fiona explains: “Originally, you went straight into a very small kitchenette and just off that was a little shower room.

We didn’t think it was particularly nice to have a toilet off the kitchen so Jim extended out the back, so now you come into a utility hall, and go up stone steps to a lovely vaulted kitchen which has the conservatory off it”.

Picture: Savills

From the glazed room you look over the pretty garden and out onto woods – a good place to watch the red squirrels.

The extension had to be thatched to match the rest of the house and in 1997 the couple replaced the whole roof.

A master thatcher, Graham Carter from Peterborough who had carried out the work on 13 of the surrounding houses in Fortingall, was brought in.

Picture: Savills

Roofs of this type should last between 30 and 40 years, but Fiona says that the it can be dependent on where the reed comes from, and even what the weather is like when it is harvested.

“Apparently ours had the right weather conditions because Graham inspected the house in 2014 and estimated that it is good for another 15 to 20 years.”

Picture: Savills

Two upstairs bedrooms wouldn’t have been there when the house was first built so the estate workers would have just had two downstairs rooms, now serving as a dining room and sitting room.

The original tongue and groove doors are still there, complete with heavy metal locks, and each room has a fireplace so Fiona thinks that the two-roomed cottage would originally have housed more than one family.

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When the Watsons took over the house the garden was not enclosed so they would often find sheep wandering through when they arrived each weekend.

Because the couple have dogs, American Akitas, they put in a fence and Jim built a wall. After planting, it is a beautiful enclosed space which offers a lot of privacy.

When they aren’t using it, the cottage has let successfully to holidaymakers, with bookings for around 30 weeks of the year.

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They are now building a home nearby, but selling Glencroft will be a wrench.

Fiona says: “I remember one occasion early on, sitting at the front door, drinking a glass of cider dressed in a boiler suit because we’d been working on the house, looking at the view and realising that we would never get tired of it.

Picture: Savills

And we haven’t because it is simply so stunning.”

Glencroft cottage is on the market for offers over £235,000 with Savills.