Dave and Alison's dream renovation on £1.2m Ellon home

Press and Journal

01-06-2025

Who: 'F1 addict' and retired managing director's advisor Dave Forbes, 74, and his wife, Alison, 66, who worked in logistics at Conoco, plus their adorable golden retriever, Blue.
What: Milton Of Leask House, a gorgeous countryside home with five bedrooms, a dog grooming cabin, views of Bennachie, resident swans plus a self-contained flat above the double garage.
Where: Around five miles from Ellon, less than a ten minute drive from Collieston.
Back in 2011, I had just retired from working as managing director's advisor at IPIC (International Petroleum Investments Company).
We had a very busy life in the Middle East – mainly Abu Dhabi – for 27 years.
At the end of my career, I worked with the Mercedes Formula 1 team which was particularly enjoyable for me.
I was a lifetime Formula 1 addict, and got to meet drivers like Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
Coming back to the UK meant that we could have our own property.
Because, living overseas, we lived in rental accommodation all the time with no opportunity to make it our own.
So that was the driving thing for me. We finally had our own house and we could do whatever we wanted to do with it.
We saw the property on the ASPC website, and it was like a dream come true.
Our first impressions were of the lovely ponds and wildlife, including resident wild ducks and swans, the spacious and lavish greenery of the woodlands, and the unspoilt tranquillity of the area.
It was in good condition at the time, but we felt that it was perhaps a little dated, and it didn't take full advantage of the available space.
The way it was configured never really worked for us. We wanted to change the flow of the property so that it suited us better.
We started in 2011 with the utility room.
It was basically just a porch at the back of the house, and not really usable as a utility room – that, for me, was the most important change that we make quickly.
Then we started on the bathrooms, and upgraded all of them. We just ripped everything out and started again.
The self-contained flat above the garage wasn't really habitable for more than a night or two, so we upgraded that completely.
And we installed the office.
The biggest area we had to tackle was the kitchen.
When we came here, the flooring was really outdoor flooring and it definitely wasn't suitable for domestic use indoors.
We took it all up, dug it all out and re-laid the slab for the house.
It was a a big job but it was a pleasure to get rid of the flooring because it was such a pain to live with.
But it gave us the opportunity to rearrange the layout of the kitchen, install other electrical points and cables under the floor.
The kitchen is my favourite part of the house now.
I love to cook, so it's all based around that for me in the kitchen.
For me, my favourite part is the office.
I can sit in peace, surrounded by my computers and play to my heart's content.
I don't mean playing games, I don't do that, but I can mess around with IT to my heart's content.
It's comfortable, well-lit, quiet. It couldn't suit me better.
As for outside, we added a greenhouse, dog cabin, tool shed, and henhouse.
Before our golden retriever Blue, we had his mum and a couple litters of puppies.
We get a lot of rain here and the retrievers would come home covered in mud, so it was essential to have a dog spa.
Blue, in particular, is a large dog with the equivalent of size 12 feet. If he comes into the house at any time after being out for a muddy walk, it's a catastrophe!
There's a dog bath which has a hydraulic lift so it can be lowered for the dog to get in and lifted to waist height so that the dogs can be washed and dried.
It makes it easier for us humans as well.
There's a dog hair dryer installed too.
And we have an infrared ceiling mounted heater so that in winter they don't get cold.
Blue loves the outside space here too.
We have ponds, and we get a lot of wild ducks.
We have had resident swans here every year since we moved here. They have bred here every year till this year. They have been phenomenal.
Mr. Swan and I have had a few run-ins over the years, but we get on pretty well now.
I was once helping get the swans back over to the pond when they found themselves in a field surrounded by cattle.
I put them into a tub one by one to bring them home, and Mr. Swan didn't fully comprehend that I was trying to help, and he launched a full-blown attack.
The swans were reunited within a short time as well – and my bruises healed pretty quickly too!
Mr. Swan and I have had a great relationship since then.
We feed them as well. It's really nice to have them right there on our doorstep.
In renovating our home, we wanted to achieve an authentic, quality finish, that was consistent with the look and feel of the house when we purchased it.
Our greatest challenge was to ensure that all our renovations were internally consistent, and conveyed a common theme of top quality.
We like to think that we were largely successful in this endeavour.
It's nice to reach a point where you can draw a line under all the improvements you wanted to make, and see them finished.
It has been really rewarding.'
Milton Of Leask House, Ellon, is on the market for offers over £1,200,000.
To arrange a viewing contact Raeburn Christie Clark and Wallace on 01358 720777 or check out the website aspc.co.uk