FACT FILE
WE LEARNED...
NAMES Kate & Sandy Crerar (along with Innes, Jude & Robin)
CHOOSE YOUR FINISHES EARLY on in the project. You think you have loads of time, but suddenly you have to make decisions about everything at once and that can be really overwhelming.
Designed by Fiddes Architects, the home is a modern take on traditional vernacular properties. The Siberian larch cladding and black roof nod to the look of local barn-style buildings
PHOTOS DAVID BARBOUR
OCCUPATIONS Event manager & commercial manager
CONSIDER OUTSIDE SPACES before you finish the build. We have a lovely decked area, but didn’t factor in anywhere specific to place the BBQ etc. I’d love to have an outdoor kitchen-style space built-in somehow, but we can’t figure out a way to do this in retrospect with what we already have there. I also wish we had considered some kind of built-in shade outside for very sunny days!
When Kate and Sandy Crerar were living in a small house in Aberdeen, their needs as a growing family meant they had to think bigger in terms of space. Their next decision was how ambitious they wanted to be with that change. “We knew we’d end up moving to the country eventually, as we both grew up there, but we weren’t sure if it was time for that yet, so we’d been considering larger houses in our existing neighbourhood,” says Kate. “When we spotted this plot – we went to see it just for fun – we had a gut feeling about it. It felt really special with lovely views, and only a 10 minute walk into the nearest village. It was an ideal location.”
LOCATION Aberdeenshire