It’s hard to imagine when looking at the latest pictures of Aquhythie Cottage in Kemnay that it started off as a derelict building used predominately for storage.
You have to look at the photos of it before its transformation to see how much work Annie Kenyon and her team have put into this beautiful home.
The cottage is believed to date to the early 1800s and is thought to have been used to house animals and people.
But when John and Trish Pope bought it three years ago with the intention of making it their family home, it was given a new lease of life.
They hired Annie and her team, based in her practice in Insch, to take on the project, which they bought with planning permission already obtained.
Annie explained that the original outline planning permission allowed the owners to knock down the building and build a bungalow in its place.
Annie, 34, who opened her practice eight years ago, had other ideas.
She said: “When I first went to the site, I was imagining that it would be a blank plot, that there would be nothing on it. You couldn’t really see the building as it was covered by overgrown trees so it was a bit of a surprise to find there was a building still there.
“When I phoned John and Trish, I said I was happy to take on the project, but only if we were able to keep the existing building in the design. I thought it was a great site and I saw the potential in keeping the original building.”
Having a passion for older buildings, Annie said she could see how the cottage could be transformed into the family home John and Trish dreamed of.
And so along with her team, she set about doing that.
“It was derelict, it was just being used for storage,” she said.
“But the walls were in sound condition and then we got a great contractor, Richard Davidson, of Ardinn Homes in Turriff. He was the main contractor so he pulled together his team.
“The first thing that my team and I always do is go out and do a site analysis which basically means you think about different factors such as where the orientation of the site lies and where the access is, where the trees are and where the sun rises and sets.
“And you use all this and work it alongside the client’s brief. They wanted a family home which was nice and light, airy, simple, had three bedrooms and somewhere they could work from home. So we did a couple of options and showed them and then pulled it all together so we could apply for planning permission.”
Annie explained that the planners were “delighted” that they were applying for something that retained the old structure – and as you can see, it has worked out well.
The new home has its history and character at its heart with its new modern aspect given its own stage.
Modern touches include making it as sustainable as possible including the use of a ground source heat pump, high levels of insulation, a wood-burning stove and using solar energy.
To accommodate the site being slightly stepped, the living spaces have been built slightly higher so you are able to enjoy the magnificent views of Aberdeenshire and the sun most of the day.
There are lots of smaller details that make this home truly stunning, like the use of different colours on the windows.
Annie explained: “The use of colour on the windows was a nice feature. We decided to use red in the cottage and green on the new additions. So the old and the new are quite clear.
“It’s lovely because you’ve got the character and then you’ve got the modern aspects as well.”
More than 50% of the original footprint has been added to the cottage with the original side featuring three rooms and the dining, kitchen and living room, plus the master bedroom and utility room housed in the extensions.
Ensuring that it was clear that the more modern aspects of the home were clearly marked was something Annie and her team firmly believe in.
She said: “My opinion is to be honest, so if it’s old, it’s old and if it’s new, then it’s new, rather then pretend it’s all a lovely old stone steading, I don’t agree with building something to look old so it matches. I’d rather think ok this is old, let’s do this properly, let’s use lime pointing on the old walls and nice joinery and get the proportions right with any new openings.
“And then with the new element, let it do what it wants. You can have windows right up and down to the floor just because you can, you’ve got nice big open spans because you can. Back in the day, the materials didn’t allow for these nice big openings or whatever it may be.”
The house has been finished for more than a year now and everyone is extremely happy with the finished product – including the judges of the Aberdeen Society Architects Design Awards.
The house was awarded an accolade in the single-dwelling category and was recognised for setting a benchmark in design.
David Mclean, one of the judges at the awards, said: “The extension and refurbishment of Aquhythie Cottage by Annie Kenyon Architects impressed the judges for its careful observation of the scale and form of the indigenous rural buildings, and the sensitive contemporary interpretation of these qualities using a judiciously selected, limited palette of materials. The simple, rational planning of the extended house provides a sequence of deceptively spacious and well lit rooms, which maintain the humble character of the cottage.”
So what advice does Annie have for others like John and Trish who are faced with the decision of retaining or building from scratch?
“Just have the confidence that you don’t have to knock something down,” she said.
“I believe we have a responsibility to keep the heritage of Aberdeenshire, we’ve got all these lovely old structures and current policy allows you to knock them down but I don’t think that is an excuse to do it. It gives you a much more interesting project if you’ve got the old structure there.
“I don’t see it as a restraint or a problem, it’s an opportunity. It can lead you to the next stage of that building’s story and Aquhythie Cottage is a great example of how you can get fantastic results at the end of it.
“And it doesn’t have to be very traditional, people think you buy an old cottage, you’ve got to stick with that. You can make it really contemporary as well. We’ve got some really funky, forward-thinking designs coming out of the studio at the moment using old structures so there are lots of options.
“Things are progressing and we want to try and get architecture in Aberdeenshire on the map. Coming up from working in Edinburgh and Glasgow, there’s lots of exciting architecture happening down there but there is lots of exciting examples happening up here too, which is great.
“People are starting to see the value in good architecture.”