Video: 7 Heatherwick Steadings, Kintore
Family gets in the spirit for Halloween night hi-jinks
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LIFE at Heatherwick Steadings has been a scream for the Scott family – especially at Halloween time.
Kay and husband Phil, 43, have turned their sprawling country house into a fun place to live for their three children, Lucas, 8, Libby, 6, and Flynn, 5.
“The property comes with a large barn and while we haven’t kept horses, we’ve had several good parties there,” said Kay, 37.
“We’ve had two brilliant Halloween nights when we spent a lot of time decorating the barn to make it extra scary for the kids.
“We ordered bales of hay for people to sit on and we had a bonfire. They were big parties with lots of children and grown-ups, and everyone went to a lot of effort with their costumes.
“We’ve got great memories for us to take away when we move.”
The barn has an upstairs which is fully-floored, plumbed and hooked up to electricity.
It could be perfect for someone to use as a hobby room – such as practising music or playing games.
Kay, who works as a recruitment co-ordinator for Aker Solutions, and husband Phil, an operations manager for Schlumberger, have lived all over the world.
Previous homes have been in Trinidad and Dubai and, just before moving to the steading near Kintore, they were living in Houston, Texas.
“We’ve brought a bit of the ex-pat lifestyle home with us,” said Kay.
“It’s quite common when you live away from home that you get to know other ex-pats and have big gatherings with them.
“We’ve kept a sense of that since we moved back to the North-east, and have enjoyed having big summer barbecues.”
Inside the house the family have a “den” – a common term used in the States for a cosy, communal room for kicking back and just chilling out in.
And, as they were so keen to have a spacious home, when they first viewed the property they asked the developer to convert the garage into a further family room.
This is now a main gathering point for everyone.
Kay said: “It’s all open plan with the kitchen so it’s nice for me to have the children nearby when I’m cooking.
“They often do their homework at the table and they are at the age where they love playing with things like Play-Doh.”
But the most fun and games are to be had outside.
Handy with a toolbox, Phil has built the kids their own playground with a climbing frame in the back garden.
The property comes with three acres of land, and Phil enjoys nothing more than heading off on his sit-on mower and working on some project on the land. Over the past two years the children have enjoyed playing on a home-made golf course and a quad-biking track – all created by dad.
They’ve also been enthralled by mum’s vegetable patch which has produced potatoes, strawberries and broad beans over the years.
They’ve even found catching the bus to Kintore Primary School, five minutes away, an adventure. And there’s one more member of the family who’s made the most of his surroundings – lab-retriever Sonny.
“The dog loves getting outside and running around,” added Kay.
“We live near the woods so there are lots of good walks nearby.
“Sonny was a rescue dog but I’m sure he’s forgotten his humble beginnings now he’s been spoiled by all the countryside.”
The Scott family are now planning to build the house of their dreams near Kay’s family in Balmedie, over- looking the sand dunes on the Menie Estate.
