At Kirkwood, we pride ourselves on building luxury homes to an unrivalled specification, in desirable locations where people can enjoy the life they want. No one knows this to be true more than our passionate team, which is why a number of our Kirkwood colleagues have purchased their very own Kirkwood home!
We recently caught up with these staff members to find out what they love most about their homes, and why they believe so much in the homes they’re building and selling…
Scott Martin, Finance Director: ‘The Drumallan’ at Ury Estate, Stonehaven
What made you choose this particular housetype and development?
“Having three daughters, we felt the time was right to move to a larger home, affording the girls more space to enjoy as they grew up. At the time when we were considering a new home, the ‘Drumallan’ at Ury Estate - which we ended up buying - was in fact the showhome and on visiting, we were immediately attracted to its generous layout and abundance of natural light, which just added to the feeling of space.
“The downstairs layout is expansive and versatile with 3 reception rooms - perfect for us to utilise as a family. Upstairs there are decent sized bedrooms – even a guest room to accommodate grandparents - as well as two superb en-suites and a family bathroom.
“We already lived in Stonehaven at the time and really wanted to stay within this location. Ury Estate is a beautiful setting to call home, with countryside and coastal views, a close proximity to the A90 and AWPR, yet walking distance from the town centre restaurants, shops and the beach. It’s also an ideal location for taking the girls to school and their various activities in the town.”
What do you love most about your home?
“There are so many remarkable features in our home, though I personally love the kitchen, dining and family area. Our kitchen is extremely high quality with stone worktops and high-spec appliances. The dining and family area is really generous, offering ample space for a dining table and informal seating. This is the room our family enjoys the most.”
How would you describe the quality of your home?
“It’s excellent quality throughout. Kirkwood invests heavily in their house design and offers quality fixtures and fittings as standard.”
Tom Lobban, Sales Advisor: ‘The Craig’ at Ury Estate, Stonehaven
Why did you choose this housetype?
“My wife was the one that ultimately chose it. When I worked at Kirkwood’s Charleston Grange development in Cove, there was a lovely showhome of ‘The Craig’ and as soon as Christine walked through the front door for the first time, she said ‘I want one of these’, and that was that!”
What do you love most about your new home?
“I love the en-suite - it’s just unreal! Some larger houses don’t offer an en-suite like ‘The Craig’ - it has a separate shower cubicle and a centralised bath with a window above. It’s a really nice touch and adds a sense of luxury.
“It’s also great having a garage, and utility room - and we love the spacious kitchen, dining and family area offering another living space in addition to the lounge. We’ve added a lovely table with corner seating and we spend so much of our time here. We also enjoy having French doors, they let in so much natural light and offer easy access to the garden.”
How would you describe the quality of your home?
“It’s a superior build with an excellent finish and this is ultimately why we bought our house from Kirkwood. I knew from looking at what other developers have to offer, the level of quality wasn’t even coming close. I work for Kirkwood, so I already knew how fantastic the specification was and it was obvious on doing a real fact-find that nothing else compared.
“There’s lots of high-spec and attention to detail that makes a big difference, such as the quality kitchen and worktops, plus the superb bathroom fittings - these are made to last. I also love the little touches such as the cooker hood matching the kitchen cupboards and the beautiful internal doors and ironmongery.”
Erin Clayton, Team Assistant: ‘The Craig’ at Kingsford Rise, Alford
What made you choose this particular housetype and development?
“When we began the search for our first home, Kirkwood was the housebuilder that stood out from other developers due to fantastic internal finish and quality of the build. We viewed the ‘Craig’ showhouse in Cove and we absolutely fell in love with it and could totally see ourselves living in this housetype!
“The Craig’ is a perfect size internally and offers enough space not just for the two of us, but also for when we are ready to have our own little family. We were set on buying a newbuild as this was our first home and we wanted everything to be fresh and new - neither of us wanted to work around a previous owner’s taste or décor!
“We chose the Kingsford Rise development in Alford as my parents are close by and I wasn’t quite ready to move too far from home. We also didn’t want to live in the centre of Aberdeen - we wanted a modern home out in the country. Alford is the perfect little town - it has all the amenities we need.”
What do you love most about your home?
“Personally, I adore my en-suite bathroom. I love that ‘The Craig’ has two baths upstairs - the en-suite is now my little sanctuary! I also really love our lounge - it’s roomy, but cosy and it’s where we spend most time together watching Netflix. My partner would definitely say the internal garage is his favourite place - he loves to potter about in there, it’s a bit of a man-cave to be honest.”
How would you describe the quality of your home?
“I expected on buying a newbuild to have a few snagging issues here and there, however we have had no issues at all - the quality of our home is outstanding! When choosing our kitchen and tiles, we were surprised at the quality and choice available. We also find that even though our house is spacious, it always feels cosy which I think is due to the careful consideration from the architects on the design of the internal space.”
Jon Morrison, Senior Architectural Technologist: ‘The Cluny’ at Monymusk
What made you choose this particular housetype and development?
“My partner and I originally owned an apartment in the city centre which we had definitely outgrown! After enjoying ‘city life’ for a number of years, we wanted a quieter pace of life and a home with enough space for our future family. It was important that we had 4 bedrooms, as we didn’t want to move to a smaller property then find we may need to move again in the years to come. I particularly loved the layout of our ‘Cluny’ housetype, as it has a lovely bright hall with a winding staircase, fantastic open-plan kitchen, dining and family room, plus a formal lounge, 4 double bedrooms with storage, en-suite and a utility room - absolutely ideal for our needs!
“We chose the Monymusk development because it’s a really pretty village with lovely surrounding countryside – and really close to the Head Office, so literally just a few minutes commute each day. The development is now sold out and has really matured since we moved in - it’s a lovely community and very family-friendly.”
What do you love most about your home?
“I love the open-plan aspect of our home - plus it’s extremely spacious on both floors. We now have 2 little girls and the house gives us all the room we need. I also installed a stove downstairs after we moved in, which is lovely in the winter months!
“Since we moved in, Kirkwood developed a new style of this housetype, called ‘The Lyon’. There’s a showhome of it which can be found at the Ury Estate development in Stonehaven and it’s absolutely fantastic!”
How would you describe the quality of your home?
“It’s really well finished with a great standard of specification. We are still delighted with our home and had hardly any snagging when we moved in! Our carpet fitter at the time said it was the best finished house he had ever worked in - and he had been fitting flooring for 40 years!”
Fiona Grant, Financial Controller: ‘The Craig’ at Cowdray Meadows, Dunecht
What made you choose this particular housetype and development?
“I was really hoping to downsize which was proving particularly difficult as naturally, you compare a potential home with the space and scale of your current property. The challenge was to find a home that offered all the space I needed and the features I wanted, so the move would feel a lot easier.
“When I viewed ‘The Craig’, I was completely taken aback – this house was the perfect fit for me. It actually has features that are usually found in larger homes, including a utility room and a stunning en-suite with a shower enclosure and lovely centralised bath - quite the indulgence!
“I chose our Cowdray Meadows development in the lovely village of Dunecht because it has wonderful walks in the area for myself and my dog to enjoy. The fact it is close to my work was also an added benefit! There’s a local garage and shop for everyday items, an excellent bar and restaurant, as well as a wider range of amenities just a few minutes drive away at Westhill which is ideal.”
What do you love most about your home?
“I love everything about my new home - it is spacious and open with a lovely, generous hallway as soon as you walk through the front door. All the room sizes are ideal, the bedrooms all have built-in wardrobes and there are further storage cupboards to keep everyday items out of sight!”
How would you describe the quality of your home?
“The quality is outstanding, with a top of the range German kitchen and high-spec appliances. The sanitaryware is also high quality as are the internal doors. The attention to detail on other items such as the lovely ironmongery is great too.
“‘The Craig’ certainly has kerb-appeal, it is a pretty house - almost cottage-style - which I love. All my visiting friends have been amazed at how spacious the house is internally, and have been suitably impressed by the features, specification and the finish. I am now happily settled in this quiet, friendly development and really couldn’t be happier in my lovely new home!”
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