So off we set from Ardgeith Steading to the next property - The Mill House and Steading at Old Ellick. On the way I called the estate agent for the bonus house we had checked out in the car the previous night, and amazingly they agreed to a viewing that afternoon. Exciting!
Old Ellick had caught our eye two weeks before but the estate agent had so many viewings on that this was the first date we could book for. Old Ellick was, at this point in time, the top reason for making the trip to Scotland for some viewings, and it seemed a lot of other people were heading this way too.
Just for a bit of context, this is the journey from Perth, to Ardgeith then onto Old Ellick, driving up through the Cairngorms national park - a spectacular drive. The average speed of just over 30 mph isn't a reflection of our driving, that's Google's honest assessment of the roads and quite close to the mark!
The Mill House, Old Ellick, Tomintoul - £270,000
The Mill House is an imaginative, generously proportioned and beautifully appointed mill conversion with separate steading offering masses of storage and fantastic conversion potential, all situated in a sizeable plot extending to over 0.5 acres in this magnificent Highland setting. This unique and beautifully presented three bedroomed home has been sympathetically restored and is constructed to a high specification using quality materials and with the inclusion of a first floor living space ideally arranged to take advantage of the wonderous views. Outside the gardens offer outstanding views of the Highland scenery and are easily maintained with large lawns which are complemented with mature tree planting and parking for several vehicles. Offering a real get away from it all lifestyle, this is a rare and solid opportunity to acquire a property within this sought after location.
For once we felt the estate agent wasn't exaggerating the benefits of the property - but the proof would be in the eating (or viewing).
And yet we were in a bit of a dilemma about this one. It was beautiful, unusual, good plot of land, a development opportunity to have fun with. It was on the market at a good price. This house ticked all our boxes, and we were sure this was the one! We spent the first week after we enquired about it on tenter hooks hoping that the seller did not receive such an amazing bid that they took it off the market again by moving straight to 'under offer', and fretting about the wait until we could come and view.
Then, another house came up, equally stunning and equally well priced, but with an incredible twist - more to follow on this very soon! Suddenly the quandary was about which house was best, and what if we liked them both enough to put a bid on and which one did we want most. How do we bid on them in the right order so that we find out if we have won our favourite house first, and the second favourite house second, as a back up?
Again, our fabulous solicitors at Ledingham Chalmers, Emily and Gary, came through for us. They said the trick was to make an offer but make it only valid until the day before the closing of the other property, thus forcing the property owner to make a decision and let us know in good time to get a bid in on the other should we not get lucky with the first choice. They were on stand by to stick our offers in as soon as we gave the word.
Then a closing date was put in place for Old Ellick for 8th August (less than a week off) and the seller was insistent that offers would only be accepted from prospective buyers who had viewed the property. We can understand why - there would inevitably be some naive buyer whose research hadn't made it clear that this lovely place was remote. The nearest shop was over 10 miles away, it was over a mile up a dirt track, it was 300m above sea level, but on the face of it beautiful. The road to the property didn't have snow poles - not because it doesn't get snowy, but because as it's not a main road and they don't plough it.
The house was a good size, cosy, compact, with a fantastic first floor open plan lounge with views from all sides. And the master bedroom on the ground had french doors opening out into the garden wit the best view down the valley. The garden stretches to half an acre, including two large cherry trees. It has private water, fresh from a stream, and drainage with mains electricity and oil fired central heating - a great combination. Having private water and drainage in Scotland gives you council tax benefits (£500 per year or thereabouts), and the power was on mains meaning it was cheaper and more reliable than off grid options such as solar panels or a ground source heat pump. Another benefit was that furniture and white goods are available by separate negotiation. This meant that we would be able to rent the house out immediately to cover the 12 months between now and us moving in and help us cover the cost of owning a second property in the short, bridging, term.
And if all that wasn't enough to sell the house, the local area was absolutely stonking, and the perfect place to get busy being retired:
Located in the Glenlivet Estate within the Cairngorms National Park and in the heart of Speyside. The Cairngorms National Park offers an abundance of sport and recreation activities with a number of way marked walks and cycle trails nearby, including the Speyside Way. Fishing, shooting and stalking available on local estates, including salmon fishing on the world famous River Spey. There are a number of golf courses in the area as well as the Lecht Ski and Activity Centre, which is open all year round for skiing and mountain biking. Speyside is the home of malt whisky and this area forms part of the whisky trail with many distilleries with visitors' centres close by. The observation area for the dark sky park is just outside of Tomintoul and has been designated as one of the best areas in the UK for observing the night sky as there is no light pollution. There are also a number of castles a short drive away, Ballindalloch, Balmoral or Braemar all good for a family visit.
The steading is ripe for development as another dwelling or independent holiday let which everyone will factor into their bidding, but would provide us with a little project without disrupting our lives, plus a potential income from a rustic little Air BnB or even a tiny boutique restaurant offering exclusive dining for four when we felt like it. It was a really exciting prospect.
The Estate Agent was young, local and enthusiastic but also realistic and not pushy. The location was great, and the house in great condition, with no rising damp or woodworm in the roof joists (something seemingly quite rare in Scotland), but the conversion was (in his words) very 1980s. Not disastrous, but perhaps not quite as we would choose. The kitchen and bathroom turned out to be a lot more dated than the photos originally suggested and Liz found she would be wanting to invest in updating them as soon as possible. But it could all be done, even if we had no money left to do it with at first.
So, it was stunning. Yes, it's been well presented with some brilliant photos taken on an ideal day and if you want to get away from it all, wouldn't this be the place? This property, as with Ardgeith, and the next one are all in the national park, driving prices and desirability up but giving a wealth of recreational opportunities all 4 seasons of the year.
But, for whatever reason, and we still can't put our finger on it, in reality it didn't make an emotional connection. Neither of us left gagging to put an offer in. Reading between the lines from the Estate Agent, our current maximum bid at £340,000 would already not be enough to secure the place and there were more viewings literally queueing up down the lane. We waved through the next couple and shut the farm gate behind them on our way out. We felt a but flat - why had this seemingly perfect house left us cold?
So we stayed focused and moved on to the next and final property in Cairngorms: Woodside Cottage, whilst trying to fix where we went from there as the update from Calmac wasn't good! Our road trip was literally running out of road.
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