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WHEN YOU’RE BUYING OR SELLING PROPERT Y . . . IT HAS TO BE BSPC
A terraced cottage near Kelso with an enchanting garden designed for year-round pleasure Garden lovers will find plenty to admire about the garden at Cherrytrees, a delightful terraced cottage in the small hamlet of Heiton, just two miles west of Kelso. Both the cottage and garden have a fascinating past. Dating from the 1850s, the cottage was originally built to house Irish navvies brought over to help build the first Borders railway, after which it housed agricultural workers. Interestingly, it still has an old pigsty at the top of the garden, a quirky relic from a time when all the cottages in the terrace had their own pigsty to supplement family incomes and provide an additional source of food.
“ When my wife and I bought the cottage in 2002 it was entirely down to the garden. What we saw then was a beautiful garden with a cottage attached”
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Cherrytrees present owner, Ian Croall, has a theory that the richness of the soil owes much to the pigs – and is also a tribute to the cottage’s previous owner, a landscape gardener. “When my wife and I bought the cottage in 2002 it was entirely down to the garden. What we saw then was a beautiful garden with a cottage attached,” he laughs. Further improved by Ian, the garden is compartmentalised to display different features as you meander its length from the sheltered courtyard next to the kitchen door past expansive lawns with seating areas in shady areas beneath the trees, paved patio, all-weather polytunnel, mature planted beds, fruit trees and bushes and decorative water feature, up to a picturesque summerhouse (complete with mains electricity and fire pit) at the top of the garden, adjacent to a raised seating deck that reveals spectacular views of the Eildon Hills and Peniel Heugh monument. “It’s a garden for all seasons and reasons,” Ian adds. “Whatever the weather there is somewhere here to work, sleep or sit quietly and observe the wildlife.” Internally, the cottage has spacious accommodation over two levels characterised by exposed ceiling beams and deep window sills – vestibule and hall leading to a living room with stone fireplace and open fire, dining room (currently used as an office) with picture window and built-in storage, 18ft country-style dining kitchen with walk-in larder and range cooker that also provides heating and hot water, bathroom with over-bath shower, and third bedroom, which has a built-in bed and storage.
Upstairs in the property are two front-facing dormer bedrooms - master with twin fitted wardrobes. The property also has an outhouse, coal and log stores, driveway and three timber sheds – including a double shed next to the parking area. Cherrytrees is a character property in an idyllic garden setting – a home that will captivate any outdoor enthusiast.
Idyllic Setting
Featured Property Cherrytrees, Heiton, TD5 8JR
Offers Around £175,000 • Details on: Page 36