AUSSIE HOUSE RULES

Extending their Georgian cottage to let in the sunshine has been a game-changer for one Scottish-Australian family

- Caroline Ednie

Portobello’s windswept sands sound like an unlikely place for a sun-loving Australian to find his forever home. But Craig Lynagh and his Scottish wife Kirsty have taken the Antipodean idea of celebrating the outdoor life as the inspiration for the recent renovation and extension of their home in Edinburgh’s beachside suburb.

The couple met in 2005 when living in London and moved together to Australia to travel. “We returned to Scotland in 2010 after getting married, having decided that Edinburgh would make a good base,” says Kirsty, who grew up in the Black Isle in the Highlands. “Our first place was in the city centre but we fell in love with Portobello after our son Alfie was born and we’d take him to the beach – not as warm as Brisbane, of course!”

By 2019 the family, who by this point included Alfie’s little brother Louis, were living in a flat in Portobello. They’d been on the lookout for a house with a garden in the area, when they spotted an online listing for a single-storey Georgian villa just around the corner. “Unfortunately, it was the school summer holidays and we were away travelling around Scotland when it came on the market,” laughs Kirsty. “We quickly drove home and went to have a look at it. We both liked its cottagey style and gardens to the front and back.”

Before they made an offer, though, the couple consulted local architects Konishi Gaffney, whose work they admired. Could the house be modernised and adapted by adding space to suit their needs? Kieran Gaffney was happy to go along and take a look at the property with them. “They were worried they wouldn’t be allowed to do too much to it as it’s B-listed,” recalls the architect.