Aberdeen Family Home
Set in the rolling greenery of the Scottish Highlands, this Victorian granite-built house, just a stone’s throw from Aberdeen, is a storied retreat for a young family. Originally intended for a grand extension, our clients stepped back to focus on revitalising the home’s existing character. Enter our team, entrusted with infusing life, warmth, and purpose into this home.
A couple, with two young children, wanted their home to balance elegance with informality, drawing inspiration from the surrounding woodland and northern light. The result is a thoughtfully designed home where timeless refinement meets playful practicality. Victorian charm is all about scale and proportion, and this house has it in spades. Yet the cool, northern light—Aberdeen sits on a latitude with Stockholm and St. Petersburg—posed a challenge. One of our first interventions was replacing heavy stained glass from the front doors and large sunbeam window, and replacing it with clear panels to instantly brighten the hallway.
Having lived in the property for time before the transformation, our clients knew how they wanted to use each space, and chose to make their largest reception room—a majestic drawing room—a relaxed space for games, films, and family time. Bespoke joinery in a bold blue houses the television, while armchairs on castors ensure flexibility. To tone down the scale of the space and make the atmosphere feel more convivial, we kept the wall colour below the picture rail, giving the effect of lowering the ceiling height.
A house of this grandeur and level of architectural detailing still merited a grown-up space, so we addressed this by converting the morning room into a formal entertaining space. To add depth to the walls, we inserted linen wallpaper into the existing profile of panelling and introduced elegant sofas and an ottoman with skirts to elevate the space. The playroom, meanwhile, is painted in a soft green, with a deeper blue green on the bespoke joinery. It's currently decorated as somewhere for children to gather with friends but designed with adaptability in mind, this room will effortlessly transform into a study in the future.
Like many Sims Hilditch projects, the heart of this house lies in the kitchen. Flowing seamlessly into a light-filled orangery, this space is a symphony of practicality and charm. Large enough for the whole family to gather for Christmas and Summer celebrations, woven pinoleum blinds have been thoughtfully installed to filter sunlight and hold warmth in winter. Brass hardware and coffered timber ceilings lend depth and comfort to this capacious room, counterbalancing the location's blue light and softening the acoustics. Sitting alongside the kitchen is a comfortable dining room, and a spacious boot room and powder room.
Upstairs, we reconfigured space to create a generous principal suite. Opening into an entrance hall which overlooks the garden, to one side is an elegant panelled bathroom, and the other a grand bedroom area. Decorated with beautiful wallpaper, the room blends soft sea blue with fabric-rich details, antique mahogany chests, and a bespoke ottoman. Beyond is a dressing room to complete the suite, created with thoughtful storage designed in-house.
The two children’s rooms, each with private bathrooms, are decorated with elements that adapt for their growing years. Details such as ample storage have been added to ensure these spaces evolve to suit the family. These spaces also transform into guest bedrooms when needed, as the children also have a fun bedroom retreat above the boot room.
With its muted apple-green front door and an orangery opening onto a terrace, the house celebrates its countryside setting. Steps sweep down to a private lawn and tennis court, offering plenty of space for this young family.
