Experience pays

Seasoned renovators Sue and Jim Savege put their knowledge and skills to the test when renovating and extending their 19th-century Scottish cottage

- Caroline Ednie

When Sue and Jim Savege bought their 19th-century cottage in rural Aberdeenshire eight years ago, they loved its location and connection to the surrounding woodland. But the former estate cottage-previously home to the estate's nanny and chauffeur-was in need of some TLC.

"When we moved in, it was your traditional but and ben house," says Sue. "Built of dressed granite with a slate roof, two main rooms downstairs and a loft. Over the years, it had been extended with a fairly ugly slate-clad flat roof extension to the garden which provided us with two bedrooms upstairs and two small wings at either end of the cottage-one of which was a (very) small kitchen. All of these extensions had minimal insulation and the kitchen in particular was very cold."

As experienced renovators, Sue and Jim had already turned around the fortunes of previous homes-including a large run-down 16th-century farmhouse in the Lake District and a traditional cottage in Wales. So after relocating to Aberdeenshire, they were realistic about what was in front of them. "We are definitely not renovation and new-build newbies," emphasises Sue. "Needless to say, we have learnt alot along the way. We knew that with a bit of adaptation, it could be a fantastic home for us."