The Victorians’ love of all things Scottish has left us a rich supply of highland lodges ripe for conversion into modern-day pleasure palaces
The Victorians were serious about their fun in the countryside: strutting around their grand estates, tucking into elaborate meals, wearing a different hat for every activity. Updating these properties for 21st-century use can pose a challenge: how do you hold on to that outdoor ethos without turning a weekend away into a costume drama?
So when Karen Turner asked Jeffreys Interiors to drag Laudale House into the present day, this was the brief: turn it into a present-day fun palace, for indoor and outdoor R&R. Karen had fallen for Laudale, in Ardgour near Fort William, when she saw it 18 months ago. “I loved the location and the surrounding hills, the loch and the remoteness. I also loved the layout and the feeling of space. But I didn’t love the decor. I wanted it to feel like home and to incorporate some of the objects and antiques we’ve picked up from around the world. I liked the idea of a contemporary highland theme as well, but not in too obvious a fashion – I didn’t want it to look like a hotel.”
The scope was huge. The original part of the house was built in the mid-19th century, with a large 20th-century extension, giving a total of ten bedrooms and bathrooms and four reception rooms. The bathrooms were all replaced, with the Bathroom Company in Perth given the task of overcoming the logistical problems of installing sanitaryware in a property at the end of a narrow, winding road. The delivery trucks had to park a mile and a half away and relay the baths and basins up to the house in a smaller vehicle.
This is just a taster, you can browse the full article with more stunning photography on pages 441-450, issue 100.
DETAILS
Photography Bounce Visuals
Words Stephanie Murphy
