Going down the steps to the back door and heading into the house is quite the revelation, as the hall opens up to the living space with a bank of windows on two sides, overlooking a fine view of the Forth Bridges and the firth. It is south-facing so very light and bright.

Harald Rotsch bought Shoreland seven years ago, when he and his partner were looking to move from a small flat in central Edinburgh.

He says: “It was a happy accident. We were invited to dinner in the house as we were friends with the son of the architect, Kenneth Oliver from the Dunfermline firm Oliver & Robb Architects, who built it for his family in 1976.

“Over dinner, they happened to explain that they were looking to sell, and we looked at each other and realised that this could be the answer for us. We weren’t even really thinking about moving out of Edinburgh, but the house and the fantastic location persuaded us.”

Shoreland is actually two detached properties. The main house has two floors with the sitting room, a study, bathroom and master bedroom – complete with walk-out balcony – on the upper floor.

Stairs lead down to another two bedrooms and a bathroom, a utility room and an open-plan kitchen and dining room, which is double-aspect with doors out to a garden.

Here you will find a studio as a self-contained annex, which Harald says was built originally as a pottery studio. “It was already converted into a one-bedroom flat when we bought it, and pre-Covid we let it out to holidaymakers.”

It is separate enough to ensure privacy for both properties, whose outlook, taking in all three of the Forth crossings, is incredible.

Harald, who is an engineer by profession, enthuses: “I am a fan of bridges – and those views are amazing. I have hundreds of photographs and I haven’t got tired of it.”

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The vista is ever-changing too. He explains: “In terms of river traffic, there are sailing boats, cargo ships and some cruise ships passing by, but what makes the house really special is the wildlife, particularly the sea birds that are on the flats when the tide is out – oyster catchers, curlews, redshanks and in summer the eider ducks and shellducks.”

There is a sizeable garden that is sheltered from the road by a high wall with a good amount of green space, a veg plot and patio too.

He adds: “We also have a shelter to keep the kayaks, which can be launched from steps down to the beach right in front of the house.”

In their time in Shoreland, Harald and his partner have upgraded the bathrooms and replaced the roof, which was flat.

He says: “We angled it and added solar panels, and made the rest into a green roof.” It is covered with sedum plants, which are sea-hardened and not only insulate the house, but are environmentally friendly, and the roof screens the house from the road too.

The couple have enjoyed the convenience of the location too. He says: “The train station is just up the hill so, if you time it right, you can be in the city in not much more than 20 minutes. We are at the start of the Fife Coastal Path so there are lovely walks on the doorstep too.”

With a job move for his partner, a geneticist, it is now time to sell, but Harald says that he is well aware that he will never find anything quite like Shoreland again.

“I’m really sad to leave, but we feel we have been really privileged to have had the chance to live here in the first place.

“The dinner when we discovered the house was obviously fate.”

Shoreland, Main Road, North Queensferry, is priced at offers over £699,950.

For more information, contact Stevenson Marshall on 01383 721 141.

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