Mark Aitchison’s first viewing of Welland House eight years ago was not exactly auspicious.
Despite the fact it had a grade II listing, its horrible modern windows, two ugly septic tanks and wild, overgrown grounds were enough to make him want to keep driving.
But a glimpse of the home’s glorious, uninterrupted views over the Welland Valley, with 250 feet of river frontage and fishing rights all part of the package, convinced him to investigate further.
‘I had always wanted to have a kitchen with picture windows overlooking amazing rural views, so this was my opportunity,’ says Mark, 60, the managing director at Frontier Agricultural, the UK’s largest crop production and grain production business, which has an annual turnover of more than £1.5 billion.
‘Plus I am very keen on restoration so this seemed like a great project to take on.’
‘I am a biologist and keen fisherman, and the chance to have otters, kingfishers and dragonflies at the bottom of my garden was incredibly appealing.’
Mark, a self-confessed perfectionist who grew up in a rough part of Liverpool and had dreamed since childhood of escaping to the country, realised, however, that he had met his match when he toured the house.
In the small village of Tixover, just a 10-minute drive from the Georgian Lincolnshire market town of Stamford, it was ‘lovely, plus it had never flooded,’ Mark says, ‘but it was wrecked’.
The house, built of beautiful golden-yellow Stamford limestone, was filled with damp, as rainwater had been allowed to pour in, and much of the work that had been done to it over the decades was ‘a complete bodge job’.
With a team of local master masons and craftsmen, he repointed the entire property – originally three 18th-century cottages that had been later united – with lime mortar, fixed the roof up with original Collyweston stone slate and rebuilt the brick chimney stacks in stone.
A porch was also added, blending seamlessly with the main façade.
‘It was built to look as if it had been there for over 200 years old,’ Mark says.
As for the inappropriate windows, Mark spent more than £20,000 replacing every single one, with bespoke stone mullioned windows with bronze casement frames, or hardwood sash models.
Everything modern went out the window, except the new ‘zingy’ interiors.
Local limestone flooring, infused with fossilised shells, was laid inside, and the entire property – which Mark shares with his 11 year-old-son – was rewired, replumbed and replastered, all part of a £600,000 building budget that he says was significantly blown.
Mark’s longed-for kitchen with views over gently rolling agricultural land and grazing sheep came in the shape of a vaulted-ceilinged extension, giving the four double-bedroom house a total 2,800 sq ft of living space.
It houses a bespoke Alexander Lewis kitchen with natural quartzite worktops and a dining area with bespoke bifold doors, fitted with traditional peg fixings in place of modern screws.
‘I’m a stickler for detail,’ says Mark, who has taken on several smaller renovation projects over the years. ‘I just can’t bear for things to not be just right.’
He was no less exacting when it came to the decorative scheme of Welland House.
With the help of Rutland-based interior designer Elizabeth Stanhope, who specialises in top-end country house makeovers, the house now features chalky Farrow & Ball hues on the wall, Manuel Canovas and Osborne & Little wallpapers and fabrics, and pure New Zealand wool carpets.
Zinging minty greens and deep turquoises are picked out in chairs and cushions, and the bathrooms are kitted out with Fired Earth fittings and tiling.
The grounds have been another project for Mark, a keen gardener. He has created several stone terraces, installed a Victorian-style greenhouse and a brick potting shed, and grows vegetables and salads as well as David Austen roses.
Mark has also nearly completed the restoration of The Forge, a detached 768 sq ft two-bedroom cottage that has its own sitting room, wine store and river view.
The cottage is, however, now being offered for sale, along with the main house, for £1.85m, as Mark is moving to Shropshire due to work and travel commitments.
He is loath to leave his ‘brand new 1750s house’, but hopes its idyllic location will be appreciated by one of the many young families currently scouting the local area for a rural home, just a 50-minute commute into London King’s Cross from nearby Peterborough station.
He will leave with only one dream unfulfilled – which he hopes the new owner might take on.
‘Imagine a boat house on the edge of the river,’ he muses, ‘with a kitchen and folding doors opening onto a dining area, a waterside walkway and outdoor BBQ area.
‘You could simply step into your canoe or go fishing. That would be perfection.’
Welland House is for sale with Fine & Country for £1.85m.
Get the look
In the manicured, landscaped grounds sits a greenhouse by Alitex, specialists in Victorian-style conservatories, roof lights and atriums. Prices for greenhouses start at £11,250, alitex.co.uk
Manuel Canovas’ Tiana fabric, in Turquoise/Nattier, was used for the cushions. £99 per metre roll, designs.colefax.com
Flitting between green and grey depending on the time of day, Farrow & Ball’s soothing French Gray is used on many of Welland House’s walls. French Gray No.18 Estate Emulsion £47.95 for 2.5litres, farrow-ball.com
Welland House’s floors are softened by Jacaranda Carpets’ 100 per cent New Zealand wool Natural Weave Square, available in creams, greys, squares and charcoals. £100 per metre sq, jacarandacarpets.com
Alexander Lewis, in Market Harborough, crafts British-made kitchens and works to specific briefs for individual clients. Expect to pay from about £30,000 for a kitchen; alexanderlewis.com
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on purchases made through one of these links but this never influences our experts’ opinions. Products are tested and reviewed independently of commercial initiatives.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
MORE: These are the cheapest places to buy a property in the UK right now
MORE: Man raffles of his £3.2million mansion for just £10 per ticket
MORE: How the recession will impact first time buyers
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/25/take-look-inside-13169423/
0 Comments