A NEW LIFE IN THE COUNTRY

This East Lothian farm steading is starting a fresh chapter, its heritage intact thanks to its visionary owner

- Caroline Ednie

DETAILS

What A restored farm steading

Where Near Haddington, East Lothian

Architects Cameron Webster with lan Parsons Conservation Architect

Main contractor Malcolm Paterson Joiners

Concerned by the continuing loss of Scotland's agricultural heritage and the lack of public access to what little is left, George Mackintosh decided to put his money where his mouth is and purchase one of the largest farm steadings in East Lothian.

Built in 1860 not far from Haddington, the Grade B-listed Papple Steading had lain derelict for a number of years before Mackintosh, a businessman with a farming background in rural Inverness and Aberdeenshire, decided to take it on. This was four years ago, and followed an extensive search for a suitable site. “It started off as a project to find and save a steading and make it available to the public,” he says.

Mackintosh's vision was to revive the steading complex in order to create a longterm, sustainable heritage site, ultimately a living agricultural museum offering accommodation and woodland walks. The first phase of this vision was completed last summer and involved the restoration and conversion of the main farm buildings into self-catering accommodation.

"Because it's so big, it needed to be a mixed development to keep it sustainable.” he says. “My main interest was in saving Papple and its heritage. It will be a rare thing - an intact steading of this size, and a place where people can come to, and enjoy and learn. But it has to be financially sustainable in the long term. So what we have effectively created in phase one is a holiday / business retreat as part of a wider vision for an agricultural heritage centre and more public space?