Who: Ben and Ann Goss, three Highland bullocks, one working cocker spaniel called Crumble and farm cat Minnie Mao
What: A beautiful traditional main house set in a formal garden with attached steading. In total, the property cover nine acres.
Where: Milton Brae in Miltonduff just outside Elgin.
Here’s what Ben had to say about Milton Brae’s renovation journey….
Anne and I purchased the property in 1995 and spent almost a year renovating it. That means we have spent almost 30 years in the house, raising our three children, who have all since moved out, married and entered their 40s.
Anne spent those years guiding our children, while I am a teacher and help with the charity Give Them a Sporting Chance, which turns the sporting and recreational dreams of the disabled and carers – of all ages – into reality.
I also work with The Chaffinch Trust, which works on a number of projects in Moray and encourages co-operation between all of the fantastic organisations serving the poorest people in Britain and in countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Nepal and many others.
So tell us about your home
Milton Brae is a traditional four-bedroom farmhouse built in the 1840s, which we have completely modernised during our time here.
There is a sitting room with a Baxi Burnall fire, an ash-free heating system that takes the air it needs for combustion from under the floor. The room has great views out over the garden, while our dining room has an open fireplace.
The ground floor also has a shower room and a big farmhouse kitchen complete with an Aga.
Upstairs, we’ve got the bedrooms and a big, family-sized bathroom.
One of the renovation works we did was to extend the property by using Hopeman sandstone. We chose that so it would blend in with the original stonework.
An expansive steading and forest of trees
Also on the property is a large steading which, when we bought it more than 30 years ago, had planning consent for four homes. We have been in discussion with Moray Council over re-establishing planning consent for four homes in the steading and the 9 acres we own have been registered in the Moray Development Plan and the council’s ‘Call for Ideas’, which looks ahead to the next decade of the area’s development.
Outside is also where we used to have two goldfish in one of the cattle troughs but Cod and Fish seem to have moved on.
There is a formal garden in which we have planted hundreds of trees best seen from the aerial photographs.
We have a tree-lined driveway, an avenue of trees and a coppice. We’ve also planted many indigenous Scottish and specimen trees – a prunus serrula Tibetica, also known as a Tibetan cherry tree, with its glorious bark that can be peeled off and used to light fires.
There is a variegated Turkey oak, a holm oak, a specimen conical Copper beech, grown at The Edinburgh Botanical Garden and numerous other oak trees.
Our pride and joy is a horse-chestnut conker tree grown by a mother-in-law in Edinburgh, removed from the New Town garden and planted at Milton Brae.
There are two sentinel trees on the horizon, planted as tiny saplings 30 years ago that are now almost 40-feet tall.
‘It really is the best home in the world’
When we moved in it was for a number of reasons. We were living in a tied property for 10 years and wanted to live in a village in Moray. A friend mentioned they were considering selling this property and it was an ideal opportunity for us to renovate it.
When we first saw it we could see the potential. The space and the views up into the hills were astounding. But the property required a total rebuild – drains, phones and plumbing all had to be overhauled.
It took 12 months of work in the end, with the assistance of wonderful local builders.
When it came to decorating we used Auldearn Antiques, with Roger Milton and his amazing parents who helped find the traditional wallpaper we used in the sitting room and living room.
An alcove was made to fit a Bechstin baby grand piano and light switches at elbow height.
The biggest challenge in the whole renovation was creating the gardens and planting all the trees. It was a huge undertaking. One thing we never managed to do was to grow a chamomile lawn with a stone circle.
And if we were to do it again, we’d make sure that the cold water pipe didn’t run parallel to the hot water one in the kitchen. It slightly heats the splash of water we need for our glasses of Miltonduff whisky, the best whisky in the world.
But it really is the best home in the world, and we love it enormously. It is the people of Moray that make it incredible. Our Working Cocker Spaniel, Crumble Goss, and farm cat adore it almost as much as we do.
Milton Brae, Miltonduff, is on the market for offers over £650,000.
To arrange a viewing contact Strutt and Parker in Inverness on 01463 490311 or check out the property online here.
Conversation