Colton House is the kind of house you wish you’d grown up in.
With its sweeping drive, stately oldtrees, walled garden, outbuildings, hidden nooks, and the relaxed sprawl of the house itself, it’s the sort of place you could pretend to be one of the kids from the Narnia Chronicles.
The C listed house dates back to 1895, with an extension to the rear that was added in the 1930s.
The nine bedroom mansion is owned by Callum Robertson and his brother and sister.
Since their father’s death they’ve successfully operated it as a holiday let but it was the siblings’ childhood home and has been in the family for three genarations.
“My grandfather W.B. Robertson bought Colton House and Colton Farm,” Callum explains. “He was in the linen trade and very well known in Dunfermline during his lifetime.
“My father was born here and then me, my brother and sister were too.”
Stone pillars at the entrance gate are echoed in the Tuscan columns at either side of the front door that support a stone porch.
As Callum shows me around it becomes clear the warm memories he has of growing up here.
He points to a cupboard in the hall: “That’s a dumb waiter,” he smiles. “When I was a boy I used to climb in there and my brother would wind me up to the first floor. My mum would have torn strips off us if she’d found out. It’s screwed shut now for health and safety resons.”
The house has the wonderful meandering layout that only very large Victorian homes are blessed with.
The reception hall is bigger than most living rooms and houses a wood burning stove. The drawing room and dining room both have open fires with beautiful decorative surrounds.
To the rear of the house, overlooking the courtyard, is the spacious kitchen. Callum and his siblings have renovated the rearextension, creating an en suite ground level bedroom with French doors leading out to the garden.
Up the main staircase is the first floor with five bedrooms in the old part of the house and three in the extension wing.
The master bedroom has south facing windows and a door leading out onto a balcony, as well as a new en suite bathroom.
There are more rooms in the house than there is space here to describe them. At attic level are a suite of rooms that have fallen into disrepair but could form offices or owners’ accommodation if the house was turned into a hotel or used as a holiday let.
The garden is as unique and interesting as the house itself.
There’s a walled garden that must once have been magnificent but that has fallen into a degree of abandonment. “One of the parties that have looked at the property was a yoga group,” Callum says. “They thought the walled garden would be fantastic for classes.”
An old tennis court has weeds poking through it and there are hidden paths, vegetable gardens and an area of woodland.
Callum’s father sold off the farm some years ago but retained 10 acres of fields around the house, bringing the total spread of land to just under 14 acres.
“There was coal mining in the area and he wanted to retain a buffer zone around the house in case it ever encroached near us. Fortunately it never has.”
To one side of the house is a large courtyard with a U-shaped stone steading and a small tower in the middle. These look ripe for conversion into a couple of houses or single large home.
Whoever buys Colton House will need to have deep pockets: there’s a lot of work needing done.
But the property’s potential is almost limitless. A boutique country hotel in the mould of Andy Murray’s Cromlix House. An upmarket holiday let that’s centrally placed and perfect for large groups. Or one of the most special and magnificent family homes in West Fife.
Callum is clear which of these options he prefers.
“I would absolutely love to see a family buy this place,” he says. “I remember the house as being full of love, life and laughter. It would be wonderful to see it that way again.”
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk
Colton House is on sale through Savills for offers over £750,000.