Breakfast television star Lorraine Kelly has sold her Dundee home for almost £850,000 after moving to the south of England to be nearer work.
The 58-year-old’s seven-bedroom home in Broughty Ferry complete with summer house, fish pond and enclosed walled garden, was put on the market last year and it has now been snapped up.
Built in 1927, the house was designed by George C Morton of Bruce, Morton & Son, a well-known firm of architects, and is described as “one of the finest houses in Broughty Ferry”.
In true daytime TV style Miss Kelly gave the house a makeover after snapping it up eight years ago.
She replaced all the double-glazed windows, installed an electric Aga cooker and overhauled many of the rooms.
The property was advertised for sale in November with an asking price of offers over £825,000.
Property records show it was purchased earlier this month by a businessman from the East Midlands and his wife for £845,000.
The sum represents a tidy profit for Miss Kelly and cameraman husband Steve Smith who bought it for £775,000 in 2010. The chat show host previously revealed she had decided to sell up because she had grown tired of the weekly commute between Dundee and London and wanted to spend more time with her husband.
She said: “Steve and I want to be together a bit more but that’s not to say we won’t go home a lot as all our friends and family live up there.
“Dundee is home but we wanted to move somewhere closer to work because getting up at 3.45 in the morning, every single minute counts.
“For years I’ve been travelling up and down from our home in Dundee to London to do my show, and not only has it been exhausting, we’ve really missed each other.”
The couple, who married in 1992, have now bought a new property in Buckinghamshire.
Their former home in Dundee boasts three floors and an integral garage, “lovely” enclosed gardens with two walnut trees and a copper beech.
There is a summerhouse, a paved seating area and a sheltered and paved courtyard.
The courtyard has a small fish pond, a covered area and a hot tub.
On the ground floor, the “most elegant” drawing room has French doors that open to the garden, an open fireplace with wooden mantel and fitted bookshelves.
Two sitting rooms have wooden floors and bay windows which look out to the gardens. The kitchen has beautiful wooden units with granite worktops and a three-oven Aga.
Estate agents said the house had been modernised but retained original panelling, pitch pine doors and staircase, fireplaces, patterned plaster ceiling decor and cornices.
A sales brochure for the property stated: “The layout and presentation of the house are ideal for both modern family living and for entertaining.
“The finish and presentation throughout is exceptional.”
