From the outside,79 Abbey Wall Road is an unassuming townhouse.
Just step through the blue front door and go up the stairs to the first floor landing and you see what the house is all about. A tall window displays a sweep of sea with the Isle of May and the Pentland Hills on the horizon.
“This is where the estate agent said viewers would first realise the house has the wow factor,” smiles Moraig Page.
Originally from Dundee, Moraig and her husband Sandy lived in Glasgow for many years. Sandy taught architecture at Mackintosh School of Architecture and Moraig worked in the education sector. They retired nine years ago aged 60 and initially moved to a cottage in Kirkmichael. “It was just too isolated for us,” Sandy explains. “One winter we were snowed in for three weeks.”
They decided to relocate to the East Neuk and started house hunting. “I don’t know how many properties we looked at but we kept returning to this one,” Moraig says. “It was far too big for us but everything else was perfect and we eventually decided just to go for it.”
On the ground floor are two bedrooms, a shower room and a WC. A back door opens to the garden where there’s a summerhouse that takes full advantage of the outstanding views.
“We’ve got electricity and a heater in there so from this time of year we’ll start having our breakfast in here,” Sandy explains.
Upstairs on the first floor, a kitchen/dining room stretches the full length of the building. The sink sits in front of the sea-facing window. “Doing the dishes is never a chore in this house,” Sandy chuckles.
On the other side of the landing is a sitting room and behind that is a large double bedroom. There’s also a family bathroom on the first floor.
On the uppermost level is the spectacular living room, which has windows on three sides – including a pair of top-hung Veluxes that frame the view, which is even more spectacular from this vantage point. A large wood burner heats the room.
An exposed stone wall has a beam jutting out that was once the counterbalance for a pulley. “This was the net loft when this was a fisherman’s house,” Sandy explains. The exposed beams have a folding ladder cunningly hidden among them. Drop it down and you can get up to a little minstrel’s gallery overlooking the living room.
The master bedroom has fine views over the harbour. “We love listening to the sounds of the harbour at work when we wake up in the morning,” says Moraig. A family bathroom and another bedroom complete the top floor accommodation.
With so many stairs Sandy and Moraig have decided the house won’t be ideal when they’re a few years older. They’re in the process of buying a large property in Tayport which they plan to sub-divide into two homes for them and their daughter’s family.
“When I read property pieces in The Courier the people always say they love their home and I wonder why they’re selling it then,” Moraig says. “Now I understand. We do love this house but sadly it’s time for us to move on.”
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79 Abbey Wall Road is on sale with Savills for o/o £380,000.