Former village school transformed into amazing Inverurie home

As far as beautiful property renovations go, this is a breath of fresh countryside air.

By Rosemary Lowne

November 9 2023, 11:45 am

The Old Hall has been beautifully renovated by Katherine and Roger Williams. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

When Katherine and Roger Williams first set eyes on The Old Hall, it was music to their ears.

Not only did the former church and village school enjoy a stunning outlook over the breathtakingly beautiful countryside but the property had plenty of space for their two grand pianos, harpsichord (keyboard) and collections of books and music.

The rural location also meant that Katherine, a classically trained soprano singer and Roger, an organist, could practice their music without disturbing their neighbours.

Over the years the couple have breathed new life into their historic home, undertaking major renovation projects.

Here Katherine shares their remarkable renovation journey which is sure to inspire.

Roger and Katherine Williams sitting on a sofa in their inverurie home after the renovation — Roger and Katherine Williams have put love, care and attention into The Old Hall, a wonderful home near Inverurie that is positively brimming with charm and character. Image: Katherine Williams

The Old Hall, Barthol Chapel

Who: Katherine Williams, a former primary school teacher who now works at St Machar’s Cathedral as education officer and is a classically trained soprano singer and her husband Roger, a retired lecturer and head of music at Aberdeen University who is now the organist and director of music at St Machar’s Cathedral.

What: A former church, village school and community hall before it was converted into a house in the 1970s.

Where: The Old Hall, Barthol Chapel, Inverurie

As told to Rosemary Lowne

“Our property has a very long and diverse history, dating back to 1220-29. By the mid nineteenth century our house was being used for church worship with a well-established graveyard at the front.

After this our building became the village school, then a community hall but by the 1970s it was falling into disuse and was bought at the end of the decade and converted into a house.

Before we came to Barthol Chapel we lived in a semi-detached cottage in High Town, Collieston. We loved being near the harbour and the nature reserve but it was too small for a growing family.

The open plan dining and kitchen area with wooden floors, white cabinets with black countertops and a wooden dining table with six chairs. — The open plan diner/kitchen has patio doors leading to the beautiful garden grounds as well as stairs leading up to the gorgeous galleried first floor landing. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

Whether it’s homemade scones or a full Sunday roast dinner, the kitchen is the ideal place to prepare food. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

So we chose this to be our family home partly because of its rural feel but also having a friendly community setting and some facilities such as the school and church.

Also, we needed a good-sized space for our two grand pianos and harpsichord and collections of books and music and to be able to make music without disturbing neighbours.

Inspiring Inverurie home renovation journey started years ago

We moved here 30 years ago. I was pregnant with our first child and luckily he was a week overdue as we only had two weeks to get settled before he was born.

The beautiful beams created a cosy country feel in this beautiful bedroom. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

Curl up with a good book in the cosy lounge area. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

During the first 15 years that we lived here, we made small changes to the house such as replacing the bathroom suite and converting the Rayburn to oil.

But as the three children grew the bedroom space got increasingly cramped so in 2007 we got Douglas Forrest of Acanthus Architects to draw up plans for a first-floor extension to add three bedrooms and two bathrooms above the ground floor.

The ground floor layout was changed to accommodate a staircase and new entrance hall. Some lovely ideas were realised, such as exposing some of the original stonework behind the fireplace, using douglas fir joists as a feature in the main bedroom and having a double height kitchen and galleried landing.

The library room in the home, featuring two grand pianos, a vinyl record player and bookcases full of books, records and cds — Book worms will love the library area. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

The music room with a harpsichord and bookcases full of books of sheet music — The music room also hits the right notes. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

The extension turned out even better than we thought and transformed our life in the house.

We used pine skirtings and window frames throughout and chose to decorate in a country style with pitch pine dressers, engineered oak floor in the kitchen and a natural palette.

The living room was painted a soft green and raspberry used as an accent colour in the sofa and cushions.

When we first moved in, we used a deep red in the living room to cosy up the space. But after we renovated, the house was filled with light and we stuck mostly with neutrals such as Old White by Farrow & Ball and Calico and Chalky Downs by Dulux.

A room with living chairs and a dark wooden cabinet with a set of drawers — This delightful room brings the outside in. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

A bedroom in the home with a plush cream loveseat with several throws, a white framed bet with pale plaid sheets and a wooden dresser — Wake up feeling refreshed and recharged after a good night’s sleep in this fantastic bedroom. Image: Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

The brass pendent light in the kitchen is a favourite from Jim Lawrence and many curtains were handmade with fabrics from John Lewis.

I love the look of the larch panelling on our house – it makes it very different to other houses around, but we put back the original gables and the slates and so in some ways it is now closer to the original structure.

My husband loves his study overlooking the garden and his large music room to practice in undisturbed.

Renovation advice

For anyone carrying out a renovation project, my advice would be to start planning as soon as you can, as once the build is underway there is so much to decide and remember the importance of lighting.

Finally, you can never have too many sockets or storage cupboards.”