In April 2022, after years of planning, renovations, pandemics and building control issues the old “Bothy” at Achray Farm is finally complete and available for holiday-let Trossachs accommodation with bookings on AirBnB, listed as “The Cake House”. This compliments The Old Farmhouse which is our other holiday house.
The name comes from the storage of cattle cake , a name for concentrated food for cattle in a compressed flat form. These days, cattle are more likely to be fed from pellet concentrates but 50 years ago the Cake House was the store for these feeds on the farm.
Planning
Master Planning for the renovation was undertaken by Alasdair Baird of Studio Baird Architects in Fife. Detail, planning application and warrants were from Claire Gibbons at T Square – Architects, locally in Dunblane. The project started with a design works in early 2017 leading to a pre-planning application, followed by the detailed application in 2018.
The final outcome is remarkable close to the sketches as you will see below.
Before
Images from before works started. The “Bothy” as it was also known had a chimney at an alarming angle and cracks in both gable end walls that eventually necessitated new foundations and rebuilding. As a listed building, all stone was reused, windows and door alcoves remained the same and bat surveys carried out before works started.
During
Renovation images. Things didn’t always go to plan and our specialist heritage wall builders faced some challenging times when the sandy subsoil cause the collapse of one section before the new reinforced concrete and insulated subfloor could be poured. A new line of foundations to replace the padstones was required, costing several weeks of delay.
In line with the Old Farmhouse renovations we also focused on sustainability and impact. The building is heated by the same biomass system as the rest of the farm and insulated to the highest degree possible for an old building. Our potential bird roost displacement have been mitigated by new boxes and homes and the new internal floors are natural cork and bamboo.
After
We hope the renovations have been sensitive and in keeping with the environment and status, and that providing investment with purpose will have secured the building for a new and long life.
You can see a larger range of images on AirBnB (available for booking) with a sample below.
