Cloichfoldich is a superb mansion house in the heart of Highland Perthshire that has been upgraded with an environmentally friendly heating system and solar panels.
Located next to Strathtay and just a few miles from Aberfeldy, it’s accessed by a long, private sweeping drive that branches off a country lane running alongside the River Tay.
With 23 acres of grounds, the B listed house enjoys space, seclusion and privacy.
The oldest part dates from the 1700s, with the larger and grander main section being added in the 1830s.
David Noble and his wife, who goes by the nickname Squibs, bought Cloichfoldich almost quarter of a century ago.
“It took us seven years to find this house but it was worth it,” David explains. “I used to run the Scottish Game Fair in Scone and I found out about the house through a contact there. We visited on the Monday and by the Thursday we had put our offer in.”
Looking inside
A pair of doric columns surround the entrance to Cloichfoldich. Beyond them is an entrance vestibule then a fantastic reception hallway.
The superb drawing room has tall windows and an open fireplace with marble surround. The cosier and more intimate library is the room David and Squibs most frequently use. It has south facing windows with a beautiful outlook.
The couple reinstated quirky circular windows in the west-facing wall which let in the late afternoon and evening sunlight.
The dining room has a large stone fireplace and views over the garden from its west-facing windows. A large family kitchen has a dining area and a sitting area overlooking the rear courtyard.
“When we had grandchildren Squibs decided we needed a play area for them so we created this sitting area at the end of the kitchen,” David says. “I didn’t see the need for it at first but as usual she was right.”
What was a billiard room has been turned into a spacious home office. The ground floor also has two pantries, a larder, utility room and two WCs.
Stone steps lead down to a wine cellar. After a career in the army, including more than a decade in the Black Watch, David worked for whisky exporters Matthew Gloag and his cellar is well stocked with bottles from their wine division.
Upper levels
A stone staircase leads up to a long first floor landing that gets plenty of light from a large cupula.
The enormous main bedroom is brightly lit and has fantastic views. It has a large en suite bathroom and a separate dressing room.
Three more double bedrooms have en suite bath or shower rooms, and there’s a family bathroom off the landing.
Stairs lead up to an attic level where there are two more bedrooms and another bathroom.
In addition to the main house, Cloichfoldich has a self-contained three-bedroom flat. Located at first floor level to the rear it can be accessed from the courtyard or via a raised pathway from the back garden.
“We’ve never rented it out commercially,” David explains. “Instead we always had couples in who did housekeeping and gardening. It’s worked so well that we’ve only had two couples in over the time we’ve been here. One was here for 13 years and the other for nine years.
“When the couple found out we were selling up, they of course found alternative accommodation. That would have left us in the lurch, but the son of the first couple who stayed here said he would be delighted to live here and work for us.
“He first lived here when he was a toddler and he’s now in his 20s, so it’s a really lovely arrangement.”
Beautiful gardens
The stunning gardens at Cloichfoldich extend to 23 acres. They include a beautiful walled garden, grass parkland, mature trees, fields, and a large pond with woodland.
A rotting Victorian greenhouse was replaced by a modern aluminium one which has heating and vents that open automatically in warm weather.
There are a range of stone and timber outbuildings, which are suitable for multiple uses. The garden is Squibs’ passion and she has devoted thousands of hours to making it beautiful.
“It’s a terrific garden,” David continues. “Our children loved playing here when they were little and our grandchildren love playing here now.
“Both our daughters were married here. One was in February and we had a large heated marquee. The other was in the summertime. We had the ceremony on the lower terrace and dancing on the upper terrace. Our daughter wanted a bridge over the pond to link the two so we had one built.”
Renewable energy
Around 10 years ago David had a ground source heat pump installed, which provides heating and hot water for the main house and the flat. Having 23 acres of land helped with the installation of the green technology.
“We had several 300 metre long trenches dug which had two layers of pipes at different levels. All told I think there’s nearly four kilometres of pipework under there.
“We then had 48 solar panels installed which make it much cheaper to run the ground source heat pump. If we were staying I would like to add battery storage so the solar power can be used after dark.”
With their two children grown up and married, David, 75, and Squibs, 70, have decided Cloichfoldich is too big for them. They put it on the market and after a deluge of interest a closing date of Wednesday March 27 was set.
“One of our daughters is in Aberdeenshire and the other is in Dumfriesshire,” David says. “We wanted to be closer to at least one of them and decided we preferred Dumfriesshire so we’ve bought a small farmhouse there which we’re currently renovating.
“This has been a lovely house and we’ve made some wonderful memories here but it’s time to pass it on to a new owner.”
Cloichfoldich was on sale with Savills for offers over £1.85 million but is now under offer.
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