IT WAS while cleaning out the loft of their sprawling, historic property that Elizabeth and Robert McGuire took a trip back into the past.
After five years of living in North Kirkton House, St Fergus, they’d decided to put the five-bedroom home on the market and were getting it ready.
But on entering the little space – the only one of their three lofts that they don’t use – they found a wonderful hidden treasure.
“It’s the loft above the kitchen which we think would have been the servants’ quarters originally,” said Elizabeth, 53.
“There was about 100 years’ worth of wallpaper on the walls and we started peeling off the layers.
“We came across an old calendar from the year 1897. It was so fragile that it started to disintegrate almost as soon as we touched it so we got it in a frame right away.
“It’s so interesting and it has a picture of a lady called Doris on it, and it says it’s from the Brae Breweries on it.
“We believe the house dates back even further as the year 1852 is engraved in cement, outside by the sheds.”
Both from Aberdeen originally, Elizabeth and Robert, a 59-year-old company director, fell for the traditional features of the house when they first viewed it. Elizabeth has spent the years since then furnishing and decorating the house in an authentic rich and sumptuous style, with antiques and pieces of furniture all picked up for a song.
Elizabeth said: “None of the pieces have been expensive as I’ve picked them up mostly second hand at sales and auctions over the years.
“The toilet in the main bathroom was bought from a junk shop while on holiday in Berwick and then I picked up the cistern somewhere else.”
The house has a bright sun lounge as well as a huge conservatory – Elizabeth’s favourite room – located off the kitchen.
Both the drawing room and the sitting room boast beautiful fireplaces, which the couple make use of in the winter months.
The dining kitchen has a lovely country feel and each of the bedrooms seems huge and historic, straight from the pages of a Jane Austen novel.
Measuring 16’3" x 12’2", the bathroom is a Victorian masterpiece with stunning features including a cast iron bath and traditional-style toilet with wooden cistern surround.
Outside, the grounds have been well-tended by Elizabeth who has enjoyed planting flowers.
It’s been a wonderfully peaceful house for the couple, whose five sons are grown up and live in Aberdeen – apart from when young visitors descend.
“We have 11 grandchildren and one on the way,” added Elizabeth, laughing.
“They range from one-and-a-half to 12 in age, and this house has had lots of room for them all to play.
“It’s a good family home for an older couple like us with grown-up children and it’s great for having people come to visit.”
The McGuires are planning a move to Forres next where they will be renovating a hotel.