WORDS REBECCA FOSTER
PHOTOS DAVID BARBOUR & TOM MANLEY
Aileen and David Downie are no strangers to major projects, having constructed various houses for themselves in the past. When the couple decided to move back to their native Scotland, hunting for a plot of land rather than an existing property was an automatic decision. “We’d been living in a home we’d constructed in York for the last 20 years,” says Aileen. “Th e idea of going back to something we hadn’t created ourselves gave us both a sinking feeling.”