School is out forever at this unique family home

By Heather Rose
Posted: 2008/10/17

WHEN the bell sounded to mark the end of classroom life at the Old School, in Balfron, the magnificent red sandstone building might well have been left to fade into history.

The nearby area, which had also been a school site before Balfron High School was relocated and rebuilt, was becoming the setting for 27 upmarket new homes. But, worried that all the old buildings would be demolished, local people took action, even drawing up a petition with 300 signatories, to ensure the beautiful old school building - a much loved landmark edging Cotton Street since 1864 - would be saved.

They succeeded. After the school lay derelict for a few years, a local company, Urbis Developments, bought it. Now Urbis has completed what must be one of the most remarkable of architectural homework exercises. They have transformed the Old School into two of Scotland's most unusual semis.

One is now for sale through agents Corum, in Bearsden, at a fixed price of £340,000.

These two homes are far from conventional. Instead of having front and back facades, there are two front facades.

The frontage on to Cotton Street sees the Old School's red sandstone returned to its original beauty. The sills of two of the front classroom windows have been dropped, enabling each house to have its own main front door leading out to Cotton Street.

The house for sale makes use of the former boiler room at garden level in the centre of the building and, because it has its own independent access as well as an interior access, it could be the perfect setting for a home office or studio.

Move round to the other frontage on the opposite side and you step from the traditional to the ultramodern, a facade that marries perfectly with the surrounding modern housing.

No doubt, though, the greatest transformation has been to the interior.

Seeing this four-bedroom, six-apartment home today it is hard to believe this building ever housed classrooms and a headmaster's study.

Very spacious, very modern, and with an integral garage plus a private parking area and a landscaped garden, this is very much a designer home.

The main ground floor has real oak floors. Double sliding patio doors from the living area lead to the landscaped terrace. The kitchen area is both luxurious and highly practical, complete with topof-the-range appliances.

More well-planned features are to be found on the bedroom level.

One of the most practical has to be the location of the utility room.

Instead of following the conventional pattern of being adjacent to the kitchen, it is near all four bedrooms, beside the main bathroom, and ready plumbed for the washing machine and tumble dryer. Even the upstairs hallway has been given added focus by making full use of as much natural daylight as possible.

This clever architectural exercise has not only saved the building from extinction, it has also earned the Old School a special award from the local heritage organisation.

And even the original clock is functioning again. Now fully restored with a new mechanism, a timepiece that was so important for school life in the past is now helping ensure the building remains a local landmark.

INFORMATION:
0141 942 5888; www. corumproperty. co. uk


A SELECTION of oneand two-bedroom apartments and a threebedroom duplex property feature in the final release at Sovereign House Developments' Broch estate.

in Perth. Prices range from £129,995 to £340,000.

Although the 20-home development's title reflects a historic form of circular housing in Scotland, a theme echoed in the overall shape of the estate, these homes are very much designed for 21st-century living.

Homes at the Broch, which is situated off Caledonian Road, include open-plan lounge-dining-kitchen areas.

All bedrooms have built-in wardrobes. There are floorto-ceiling windows and the two-bedroom duplexes have rooftop terraces.

INFORMATION:
08450 178657; www. sovereignhouse. net