THE BSPC PROPERTY GUIDE / FEATURE PROPERTY
A daily supply of free-range eggs is one of many unexpected delights offered by an extended country house near Jedburgh Rarely does a house manage to combine old and new to such great effect as Newbigging Townhead, a property that, thanks to an imaginative two-storey extension, has grown to become a spacious four/five bedroomed family home with more than a few outstanding architectural features. Located at the end of a traffic-free lane (an old drovers road) on the edge of the village of Oxnam, four miles from Jedburgh (within easy reach of the A68 to Edinburgh and Newcastle), the recently renovated, upgraded and extended house is the brainchild of present owners Stewart and Wendy Meldrum. The couple bought the original house - believed to be over 100 years old – in 2005 and although it had previously been upgraded to provide three bedrooms, the whole house was in a very jaded condition. Having fallen in love with the setting, which has amazing 360-degree views and is very private and secluded, the couple decided the existing house offered scope for improvement. “We re-worked the layout of the old house and added the extension, which is constructed in Siberian birch that in time will weather to a beautiful silver shade,” says Wendy. “Stewart worked on the design with Gordon Melrose, a Selkirk-based architect, who was on our wavelength right from day one and in addition to bringing our ideas to fruition, was a massive support throughout the entire project.” The extension layout comprises an entrance hall opening into a very striking open-plan living/dining room extending through into a fabulous dining kitchen and utility.
A spiral staircase in the dining area leads up to a beautiful galleried landing, which is flooded with natural light and reveals glorious views of the surrounding countryside. Off this is a mezzanine-style master bedroom with a wall of built-in wardrobes, en suite shower room, and a dramatic glazed gable that incorporates double doors on to a private balcony that basks in afternoon and evening sun. A cosy additional feature is the stainless steel flue that passes through from the living area below through the roof. All the remaining accommodation is in the old house – 16ft L-shaped rear hallway with two very large storage cupboards, sitting room, re-fitted family bathroom and two large double bedrooms, plus upstairs, a study and fourth bedroom with an exposed stone feature wall. Patio doors and windows extending the full height of the extension’s gable wall send light cascading into the open-plan dining and living area, a space that also benefits from solid wood flooring and a multi-fuel stove set into an inglenook fireplace. Wood flooring also extends through to the adjoining 17ft country-style kitchen, where wow factor comes in the form of a beamed ceiling, exposed stone feature wall, matching island unit, Raeburn stove and electric cooker with overhead extractor.
Newbigging, Townhead Oxnam, Jedburgh Offers Over £385,000 Details on page 10
Stable-style doors in the kitchen lead into the rear hallway and an old part of the property where the hexagonal -shaped sitting room has patio doors opening on to the front garden. Both downstairs bedrooms have storage – the larger of the two with a wall of built -in wardrobes and sliding patio doors to the rear garden. The fully enclosed garden incorporates parking for several vehicles, a pebbled driveway and paths, sheltered patio, lawn, shrub and vegetable beds, a log store, single timber garage/workshop with a covered car port to one side...and a large hen house complete with enclosed run. The hen house along with twelve laying hens, are included in the sale. “The hens are completely free range and provide us with a steady supply of fresh eggs,” says Wendy, for whom the Raeburn and hens are an essential element of country living. Newbigging Townhead is a unique and very striking property aesthetically but more than that its design, quality of build and finish, and most of all its setting, make this a wonderful family home.
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