NESTLED away in a sleepy corner of Aboyne and surrounded by mature trees, this five-bedroom house is picture-perfect.
In fact you’d never guess from looking at its peaceful exterior that a huge labour of love had gone into Conifer House.
The lovely property on Old Tollhouse Road has been home to John and Renee Raper for almost 20 years.
The quiet location with nearby schools was perfect for their daughters, Emma, now 26, and Katy, now 23.
And three years after they first settled in Aboyne, they decided to invite Renee’s parents Norman and Linda Owst to join them from England.
“We thought it would be nice to have them with us as our daughters are their only grandchildren,” said 56-year-old John, who is retired from his work in the insurance industry and now drives a minibus for the school run across Deeside.
“Having them here would help Renee get back to work.
“And we had the opportunity build a little bungalow on the side of our house for them.”
Both originally from Yorkshire, John and Renee set about preparing for the grandparents’ arrival.
At that time the property had a big garage joined on to the house and accessible via a utility room.
The couple extended the garage to create a lovely bungalow, which has now been a happy home for Norman, 84, and Linda, 77, for the past 17 years.
But since the girls left home – Emma for London and Katy for Edinburgh – the large five-bedroom house has been too big for John and Renee, who works as a specialist in organisational development at The Robert Gordon University. “We’ve realised we can’t stay here forever now that the girls are grown,” said John. “But Norman and Linda are both very active in the Aboyne community and don’t want to move.
“So we set about separating their bungalow from our house. We had to jump through hoops to get all the planning sorted, but we made it and are delighted with the result.
“The bungalow stands on its own now, away from the main house and there’s also a fence between the two.”
John and Renee took the opportunity to build a new log cabin-style garage, laid an extensive new driveway and finished the look with a five-bar wooden gate.
Inside Conifer House, the rooms are all spacious and bright with views of the expansive grounds.
John and Renee spend most of their time in the massive kitchen/family room in the middle of the property.
They have made the most of their location over the years, taking regular walks up The Fungal, which is also where the famous Aboyne Games Hill Race is held and which they’ve both competed in.
And John even enjoyed his daily commute when he worked in Aberdeen.
He said: “I worked in Commercial Union, which is now The Monkey House on Union Street.
“That meant a 40-minute drive home from work every day, but I didn’t mind it.
“Especially if you have had a hard or busy day, when you’re driving the country road to Aboyne you feel like you’re entering another world.
“We are sad to leave this place behind, but we feel ready.”