A 200-year-old Aberdeen church tower has been transformed into a luxury penthouse apartment after nearly two years of renovations.
The three-bedroom house tower now has a gourmet kitchen, sauna and rooftop terrace whilst retaining original features like its bell tower.
It took nearly two years and hundreds of thousands of pounds, but now the property within Melville Court at Rose Street is ready to rent.
“Mammoth” renovation job wasn’t the original plan for owners
Nicola Hartland, who is originally from Aberdeen, was one of those behind the “mammoth project”.
The businesswoman grew up in Aberdeen but moved to London ten years ago to work with technology companies.
She was initially looking for a one or two-bedroom flat so she had somewhere to stay when she was visiting friends.
She partnered up with another Aberdonian, Lowell Forsyth, who went to school opposite the church tower at Aberdeen Grammar School.
When the church tower came onto their radar, they jumped at the opportunity.
When she saw it, Nicola Hartland said: “Oh my goodness, look at this. You couldn’t get any more opposite from what I was initially looking for.
“We decided to take on this mammoth project and decided this was something we needed to do as a business, as an investment, as a team.”
Aberdeen church tower required extensive work
Nicola Hartland said the house required transformative work after it had been used as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) by students, requiring rewiring among other extensive work.
Despite this a number of developers were interested in the property.
The born-and-raised Aberdonian said an important aspect of sealing the deal with the previous owner was committing to preserving the building’s aesthetic and not splitting it up into multiple apartments.
She said: “It was a lot of work, everyone thought we were completely mad when we bought the place. But we had that vision.”
The plan for the future, once licenses are agreed, is to rent out the building as a luxury short-term let.
The Tower – which has its own Instagram page @abztower – is being rented out for £2,300 per month on Duo Lettings.
Conversation