Steph and Douglas Mitchell looked at scores of houses before deciding they wanted a new build home.
“We just liked the idea of a house no one had ever lived in before,” Steph explains. “We were able to choose all the decor, the kitchen and bathrooms. It could all be done to our taste.”
She laughs, adding: “Five years on there are one or two wee bits I wish we’d done differently. The downside of choosing everything is if you end up not liking something you’ve no one to blame but yourself.”
The handsome, five bedroom detached home is part of the Beechgrove Rise development by Richmond Homes in the Fife market town of Cupar.
“We moved in five years ago,” Steph continues. “Ours was one of the last houses in the development to be completed, which was good because it meant we didn’t have long to wait for the road to be finished and streetlights to become operational.
“The people who bought the very first houses had something like five years of building work going on around them.”
Steph (28) and Douglas (40) share the house with their four-year old son Harris and year-old spaniel Sam.
They chose Cupar because of its proximity to family. “Both of our families are spread between Newburgh and Cupar,” Steph says. “So we wanted to be somewhere that was close to them, especially when Harris is young.”
Douglas works in the oil industry and stays in a flat in Aberdeen during the week, returning to the family home at weekends.
The house lies near the end of the development, which is in a quiet cul-de-sac towards the western edge of Cupar.
It’s south facing, and the entrance leads into a large hall with impressive wooden staircase.
The main living area is an open plan kitchen/dining/living space with French doors out to the back garden.
There’s also an impressive lounge with a wood burning stove, but Steph admits it’s used mostly for special occasions.
“I thought we’d use that room more than we do but having this lovely open plan space means it’s where we spend virtually all our time.” What was intended as a dining room has become a playroom for Harris, with his toys scattered everywhere, and Douglas’s study is next door. There’s an integrated double garage, WC and utility room downstairs.
On the first floor are five bedrooms, two en suite. At 19’7” by 18’ the master bedroom is enormous – and those dimensions exclude the en suite and dressing room, both of which are as big as the bedrooms in some new build homes.
“The master bedroom was one of the things that really attracted us to the house,” Steph says. “Having such a big bedroom is fantastic. We’ll probably never get something that good again.”
With Douglas working away much of the week, the five-bedroom house is simply too big for Steph and Harris, so the couple are planning to look for a smaller house.
“We’d be happy to buy another newbuild,” Steph reckons. “We’ve had a positive experience with this one.
“I think what would be ideal for both of us, though, would be an old house that had been modernised inside.
“That would give us the best of both worlds.”
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk
22 Beechgrove Rise, Cupar, is on sale through CKD Galbraith for offers over £475,000.