BUYING a burned-out ruin with the intention of transforming it is the kind of stressful challenge that most people avoid.
However, Julie and Alistair knew that they wanted to live somewhere extra special.
When they finally decided to take on the challenge, their excitement was overshadowed by another life-changing event.
“We bought Sabhal Mor on the day our first child Lachlan was born,” said 37-year-old Julie, the deputy manager at Inchmarlo House Nursing Home and Retirement Community.
“On the way to the hospital, while I was in labour, we went to sign the papers for the house. Buying the ruin wasn't as exciting as it should have been as I was pretty busy.”
The couple had lived in houses in Braemar and Dinnet before taking on the challenge.
Alistair, a 36-year-old from the Isle of Skye, had always dreamed of converting a house, but Julie was less enamoured with the idea.
“My husband didn’t want to live in a house that someone else had built – he wanted a home that was completely our own.
“I went along with him, thinking it would never actually happen.”
But in the summer of 2004, Alistair could wait no longer and the couple started looking for projects they could take on.
Despite its devastated state, they were drawn to the steading in Muir of Fowlis, Alford.
“It was an L-shaped steading which had been in a fire 40 years ago.
“It had absolutely no roof, inside the building there were trees, shrubs and bricks all over the floor.
“But, unlike the rest of the steadings we viewed, it had an upstairs throughout the property.”
The couple couldn’t wait to start work, but it took three and half years before they could move in.
“We had absolutely no idea what we were doing and the house was massive.
“It was completely stressful but once it started the builders and joiners were fantastic.”
The pair decided that if they were going to go to the expense of building their house, it was going to have all the luxuries they had ever dreamed of.
“Ali wanted a wireless music system for the downstairs, so in each room we have a touchpad and speakers in the roof.
“Ali loves coffee and he wanted a built-in coffee machine in the kitchen and so I said, ‘well if you get a built-in coffee machine, I get a jacuzzi’.
“We have a very spacious jacuzzi in our bathroom which has a perfect space for a wine glass.”
The ultimate luxury for fitness-lover Alistair was his own gym.
“Ali had used gyms since he was 14 and had dreamed of having his own.”
As soon as the kitchen was put in the family, who by this time had an additional member – baby Kerin, who is now three – moved into their new home.
“It was still a building site for the first six months that we lived there,” said Julie.
“We got so used to it that when the carpets were put down it felt like a luxury.”
The couple enclosed the garden with fencing, built a decking area along with a kids’ play area.
So why are they leaving their tailor-made, luxury home?
“At the time, building your own home is terrible but we’ve got the bug and want to do it again.
“We’ve been putting it off for a while but it’s time to start again.”