Tracey Beaton was done with fixer-uppers. Until she saw derelict Culdees Castle.
Partner Rob persuaded her to view the 200-year-old Gothic mansion near Crieff.
And a few months later the couple moved into Perthshire estate, having snapped it up for the bargain price of £740,000.
Tracey and Rob, both 52, live in a house adjacent to the castle with her children, Evie, 14, and Ava-Grace, 10, and her mum Kathleen Stewart, 76.
But they hope to eventually live in the castle’s west wing, having spent the last six years transforming its east wing into a luxury wedding venue.
And Tracey and Rob themselves are among the many couples who have tied the knot in Culdees Castle chapel.
When they met online Tracey lived in Kent and Rob in Swindon, which are 170 miles apart.
Tracey says: “We dated for a while and decided we either need to split up or move in together.
“So we started to look for somewhere that was in between Swindon and Kent, because Rob has two kids as well.”
How Rob found Tracey a ‘wow’ property
It was on a trip north to Scotland to introduce Tracey to his parents that a property for sale caught Rob’s eye.
Having always lived in newbuilds, he was keen to find a home he could make his mark on.
Tracey, previously an estate agent, had done up several houses over the years and was reluctant to take on another project.
But she relented on condition Rob find something special worth the effort.
She says: “I had a lovely seven bedroom mansion house near the beach and I loved where I lived.
“I said I’m not moving until you find me a wow property.
“He fetched me here and said I’ve found this.
“I was dumbstruck.”
The castle itself was in no fit condition for habitation. The last residents abandoned it in 1968, stripping the structure out and leaving it to degrade.
Moving the whole family into Culdees Castle Estate
Tracey is less than enamoured by the 1960s house on the estate they are living in while they renovate Culdees Castle.
But she saw it was big enough for the whole family including her parents. Her father John moved with them but died last year.
Tracey transferred her job to Stirling and Rob, a global IT consultant, worked from their new home as they set about creating a glamping site on the estate.
Once that was generating money Tracey gave up her work to concentrate on transforming the castle itself into a wedding venue.
Tracey says: “That’s pretty much where we are now. Rob does a fulltime job then does renovations in the evenings and weekends.
“I do all the glamping, the weddings, the advertising, the marketing.”
Both are accomplished at DIY and have done much of the renovation work themselves, including roofing, flooring and installing windows. They have a small team of tradesmen helping them where required.
Rescuing Culdees Castle from ruin
They have reused as much of the original materials from the castle as possible, including floor tiles Tracey painstakingly salvaged which were buried under muck.
Tracey says: “We’ve done much more than it looks. We’ve done most of the east wing of the castle up to the chapel, which is on the first floor.
“We’ve also done the three floors above, putting the floors and walls in, but we can’t use them until we’ve done the next section of the castle for fire and building regulations.
“We have to have fire escapes and we can’t stick a metal fire escape on the outside of a grade two listed castle.”
A space previously overrun with weeds and rubble is now an opulent glass roof courtyard for wedding receptions and events.
Culdees Castle stable is now stylish Pucks Bar, named after its last equine inhabitant.
The intimate Champagne Turret lounge was previously a larder for hanging game.
And the ruinous chapel has been beautifully restored, with dramatic ceiling art and new stained glass windows featuring resident peacocks Spirit and Stride.
The spectacular transformation of Culdees Castle featured on Channel 4s Renovation Nation.
Rob and Tracey’s TV wedding
The show focussed on Tracey and Rob preparing the chapel for their own wedding in August 2023.
Tracey says: “That was a big deal for us. Not only was it our wedding but Channel 4 were filming it.
“It was the best wedding advert for the castle we were ever going to get, so we needed to make sure it looked amazing.
“But we were just shattered. Rob was on the roof just two days before the wedding still fixing things!”
The pressure reached boiling point in the final weeks before their wedding.
Rob says: “Before our wedding for 18 months solid we worked seven days a week.
“In the summer we were often out until 11pm doing stuff.
“Three weeks before the wedding I could have walked away from the whole lot.”
But everything came together for the big day, and Tracey and Rob were married at an altar which they had revived with their own bare hands.
“It was a bit surreal,” says Tracey. “The thing that did it for me was when we were at the altar holding hands and I looked down at the floor that I had saved!
“Three years prior I had sifted through soil and spent hours moving all those tiles. Then they were moved from room to room to room until they finally went down in the chapel.”
It will likely be several years more before the castle is fully renovated. Parts of it still have no roof, windows or even floor.
Before making a section of it into living quarters for themselves, Tracey and Rob intend to create holiday apartments, primarily for wedding guests. They’re currently working on a large dining room.
“It’s a time and money thing,” Rob says. “They more money you’ve got the faster you can do it.”
Renovations cost £30,000 each month
They spend an average of £30,000 a month on renovations.
“Every penny we earn goes back into it, and then some,” says Tracey.
Both Evie and her grandmother help out with the running of the castle. Evie helps Tracey with the glamping, weddings and regular events, including monthly afternoon teas. Kathleen looks after the gardens.
What’s its like having your very own castle?
Tracey says Evie and Ava-Grace are “not that impressed” – but their friends are!
She and Rob hope that when Culdees Castle is fully restored it will be a business they can pass on to their children, including Rob’s daughters Chloe, 27, and Mia, 17.
But Tracey adds: “We have to remember it’s our dream, not the kids’.”
‘It’s a real labour of love’
Rob, however, loves the concept of having his own Scottish castle.
That’s despite their families thinking they were nuts when they bought it.
“They still do!” Tracey says. “But we enjoy this, we have a laugh.”
Rob says: “Everyone close to us knows this not a financial thing, it’s a heart thing.
“You would never do this for financial gain.
“It’s a real labour of love.”
Conversation