St Helen’s is a beautiful house on Crieff’s Ferntower Road that has been lavishly upgraded by its owners.
The six-bedroom home in an enviable position in the pretty Perthshire town. Crieff Hydro is at the end of a lane running alongside the house and the town centre is just a five-minute walk away.
Kyle and Jemma Cockburn live there with their three children, Lili-lu, 10, Spencer, 7, and Innes, 4.
The couple bought the house around 18 months ago and set about an ambitious programme of renovation works. “We were lucky in managing to dodge between lockdowns and get tradesmen in to do it up,” Jemma, 32, explains.
The couple were attracted to the house by its period features, its great location and its large, wraparound garden.
The property had been partially restored by the previous owners but there was still plenty of work to be done. “They had all the original cast iron radiators sent to Yorkshire to be professionally restored,” Kyle, 36, says. “They’re fantastic. They hold their heat for a long time after the boiler’s gone off.
“They also spent something like £50,000 double glazing the house. That included double glazing an original stained glass window on the stairs, which I’ve never seen done before.”
Starting to renovate
Kyle and Jemma revamped the kitchen and it is now the heart of the home. They installed a high quality German kitchen with granite worktops and limestone flooring. The kitchen also features a wood burning stove – one of no fewer than three log burners in the house.
The room is now split into two areas, a kitchen section and a living/dining space which has a table, chairs and a couple of sofas arranged around the wood burner.
“This is where we spend nearly all our time,” Jemma says, warming herself in front of the stove.
Across the hallway is the living room. Another wood burning stove blazes merrily in here, and the high ceiling features ornate cornicing. In addition to a big bay window it has two west facing windows, making it a nice bright space.
To the rear of the house is a smaller living room, where the third wood burning stove is located along with a couple of red leather armchairs and some of Kyle’s extensive whisky collection.
“This is a great room for reading in, and during covid it’s been a good place to hold Zoom calls from,” Kyle continues.
The ground floor also has a utility room, boiler room WC and an attached garage with electric door.
Six bedrooms
An original staircase with wrought iron balustrade winds up past the beautiful stained glass window to the first floor landing.
The master bedroom sits above the living room and features a bay window that enjoys views across to Crieff Parish Church, as well as a window to the side.
There are three more double bedrooms at first floor level, one of which has an en suite shower room, and a family bathroom.
Kyle explains: “When we bought the house the door to one of the bedrooms had been blocked over and a new door knocked through from another bedroom. I think the owners were planning to turn it into a big master suite.
“We reinstated the original layout and added an en suite bathroom to one of the bedrooms. We’re not fussed about having an en suite in our bedroom but it’s nice to be able to offer guests their own bathroom.”
The en suite was created by adding a partition wall. With one eye on the heritage of the house, the couple had this installed without damaging the cornicing so future owners can remove it should they wish to.
The attic level would once have contained the servants’ quarters. Kyle and Jemma replaced the rickety original staircase with a new one. They also insulated the attic to modern standards and installed several Velux windows.
Its two bedrooms are occupied by Spencer and Isaac. They’re well laid out for children, with plenty of floor space for toys and games.
Fast broadband
St Helen’s now has a modern gas central heating system. The electrical system has been upgraded and Ethernet points throughout the house mean it has excellent internet connections.
The garden was also given an enormous overhaul. “We put down 14 tonnes of sand and laid 220sqm of turf to create a nice lawn,” Kyle says. “A lot of the garden was a jungle when we bought the house. In fact, there’s a section of the garden we didn’t know existed until we cleared the wilderness and saw it.”
Today, St Helen’s has a fantastic wrap-around garden. To the front the garden is screened by walls and high hedges, giving excellent privacy. The rear garden has stone walls and is a terrific suntrap.
An electric gate opens onto a spacious parking area. Meanwhile, an alternative driveway leads to the garage. To one side of the house a coop contains three friendly hens who provide eggs for the family.
Unwind in the sauna
A former stable building has been beautifully converted into a six-person sauna, complete with mood lighting, Bluetooth speakers and patio doors to the garden.
A row of log sheds store enough firewood to keep St Helen’s three stoves burning all winter. Kyle has a friend who works in the timber industry and drops off rounds of wood, which he splits and seasons himself.
Kyle owns Crieff-based estate agency Asset Properties, as well as a local lettings agency. He has decided, hardly surprisingly, to sell his house through his company. Once it sells the family are planning to stay in Crieff, where their children go to school and where they feel part of the community.
“We want to stay in Crieff – it’s home to us,” Kyle explains. “The reason we’re selling our house is I’ve been working seven days a week for 10 years now.
“Covid has taught us that family time together is more important than spending all your life working. We want to downsize so I can work a bit less and we can spend more time together as a family.”
However, he gazes wistfully around St Helen’s wonderful kitchen: “Having said that, when this place does sell handing over the keys is going to be a bit of a wrench.”
St Helen’s, Ferntower Road, Crieff is on sale with Asset Properties for offers over £699,999.
