Allan Duguid is preparing to say goodbye to his much-loved family home – a place he devoted a huge chunk of his free time to restoring, and carefully marrying original classical features with superb, modern facilities.
His home is Straloch House and Estate, described as “an outstanding country house with walled garden, lochan, private chapel and with a secluded, private location”.
Sitting in nearly 250 acres of prime Aberdeenshire land, it’s on the market at offers over £2,950,000.
Having lived in bungalows and regular one-and-a-half-storey houses most of his life, it had always been his dream to one day own a big house with land.
That dream came true 11 years ago when he bought the historic house and estate, thought to have been built around 1780, near Newmachar.
“We always fancied buying a big house and doing it up,” said Allan, who is married to Jackie.
“The house has two wings and when we first bought it we moved into one wing and lived there while doing up the rest of the house.
“We ended up staying there for five years as the house needed a fair bit of TLC.
“We were pretty hands-on, but in the end I got workmen in to finish things off as it was pretty tiring working full-time then coming home to work on the house every evening and weekend.”
Improvements included putting a new roof on the main house, upgrading kitchens and bathrooms, installing a heating system, new flooring, new windows and doors as well as treating woodwork. “I’d thought I’d spend about £200,000 on repairs and upgrading, but in the end I think the budget ran to more than £500,000,” said Allan who, before retiring, owned JRD Equipment in Ellon.
“It was a big challenge, but if you were to ask me, I’d say it was worth it as we got a lot of pleasure from doing it up and living here.”
They’ve decided now is the right time to sell up and are preparing to leave behind a wonderful mansion house in tip-top condition.
“No doubt, whoever buys it will want to make changes too,” said Allan.
“It’s a unique property, and for the last 10 years or so we’ve had the good of it.
“It’s been a super family home for Jackie, myself and our daughters, Louise and Natalie, as they and their families each live in one of the self-contained wings.
“It’s been great being so close to our girls and four grandchildren.
“But the time is right for us to downsize – the plan is to sell up and build three new houses.
“Looking back, what I’ve liked best about living here is the sense of freedom you get from having loads of private space – it’s just fantastic.”
Thanks to the hardworking Duguid family, all the new owner has to do is move in and unpack.
The A-listed house has many fine features including a hand-crafted kitchen, luxury bathrooms, beautiful open fires, elegant decor and Italian marble floor tiles to the ground floor, to only name a few.
Accommodation in the main house includes, on the lower floor, a gym, play room, beauty room, wine cellar, office, store room and boiler room.
The ground floor is home to a grand reception hall, drawing room, dining room, billiard room with its own bar, dining kitchen, utility room and cloakroom.
The first floor has a master bedroom with en suite bathroom and dressing room, three double bedrooms and a bathroom, while the second floor has four double bedrooms, a bathroom, shower room and kitchen.
The west wing has accommodation on three floors including a lounge, dining kitchen, cloakroom, master bedroom with en suite bathroom, three further bedrooms and a cloakroom.
The east wing has a lounge, dining kitchen and shower room, four double bedrooms and two cloakrooms.
Beyond the main house there’s a separate detached two-bedroom gate lodge which could be used to offer self-catering accommodation, a chapel and laundry building with garage. The grounds include a walled garden, a lochan and paths, bridges and streams which meander through the established woodland and garden grounds.
Hannah Christiansen, of Galbraith, who is handling the sale, said: “This is an exceptionally beautiful property offering a wonderful rural lifestyle for those buyers looking to escape larger cities and have peace and space, yet only five miles from the airport at Aberdeen. ”
Contact: Galbraith on 01224 860710.
