It’s not uncommon for couples to take on certain home improvement projects together.
But John Adam and Khanim Guild are taking their bonding activities far beyond keeping the garden looking its best or doing up the spare room.
The pair are in the midst of transforming the 19th century North School in Peterhead into a new bar, restaurant and function room – with a two-storey day spa attached.
John and Khanim, a lawyer and courtroom interpreter respectively, have no real background in property.
They are taking on the towering task as a labour of love.
And as if the school conversion isn’t enough, they are also sculpting former council offices on the site into their five-bedroom dream home.
“Some people say we are crazy”, John confides as he talks us through how this all began.
How did couple land old building?
The venue was latterly known as the Glenugie Business Centre.
By then it was used by Aberdeenshire Council’s social work department and as a music school.
The local authority left in 2016 and the music school exited shortly after as it feel deeper into decline.
Things looked bleak for the beloved but battered 1870s building, with no buyers keen to take it on.
The council reluctantly agreed to bring its centuries of history crashing to the ground, believing demolition was “the only option” for the site.
John and Khanim disagreed.
John, who is a managing director at the Gray and Gray law firm, has wanted to run his own pub ever since working in bars as a student in Edinburgh.
Khanim, meanwhile, is from Azerbaijan and has dreamed of running her own restaurant and Turkish spa for many years.
And while some may have seen a rotting wreck when they looked at the old school, they saw their golden opportunity.
They formed Azeri Ecosse (a nod to their Azarbaijani and Scottish backgrounds) and swooped in last December with plans to save the school.
‘Some parts were collapsing…’
Last month, their proposal was unanimously approved by delighted councillors.
And what could have been a pile of rubble is now being prepared to “fill a huge gap” in Peterhead’s hospitality offering.
Standing on the faded outline of a badminton court in the old games hall, John tells us about the countless hours the couple have put into the project.
He said: “We both have teenage daughters who went to music school here, and had been keeping an eye on it since it went up for sale…
“We eventually thought ‘let’s see if there’s a deal to be done’, and here we are!
“Before officially buying it, we started work ourselves in January to save the building.
“Every week it was falling down, and a new leak would appear. Some parts were collapsing.
“For about three months it was just ourselves and our family, we have done hundreds and hundreds of hours doing things like stripping out rot.
“It took five months to take stuff out, we filled about 20 huge skips.”
They brought in tradesmen in the summer, and the building is now mostly wind and watertight.
Peterhead North Bar will rejuvenate food and drink scene
Phase one is the bar and lounge, with a restaurant for about 60 people attached and a function room at the back.
It could be serving up its first customers as soon as January.
Asked what local restaurant it would be most like, John says he is aiming for something like the popular Fennel in Inverurie.
He added: “There is a huge gap in the market here, there are no real restaurants apart from in the local hotels.
“We have got friends who will drive from Peterhead to Aberdeen to visit Miller and Cater for a steak…”
What’s next after pub opens?
Next, they plan to create office space in old classrooms, before moving on to the spa.
The closest such spa to the Blue Toon is in Dunfermline.
The house will be the final piece of the puzzle.
Peterhead North Bar sums up the happy couple
John explained how the venture represents he and Khanim – who are “partners in life as well as partners in crime”.
He added: “We are not a big company, we are just a small family business trying to do it for us and the kids.”
The North Bar logo has been designed to incorporate the buta – an almond-shaped motif of Persian origin later used in paisley patterns.
It means something to them both; sharing the same background as Khanim and because John, as an “old school mod with a Vespa at home”, is no stranger to paisley shirts.
That logo, as it happens, will be emblazoned back to front on the wall of the female toilets.
Why? So that it shows up properly in any bathroom mirror selfies.