Ayr’s house that time forgot can be yours for £795,000

Sep 3 2010 by Edwin Lawrence, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

IT CAN claim to be the oldest continuously occupied house in Ayr.

And beautiful Barns House is on the market for offers over £795,000.

Some may think it’s the house time forgot.

But it’s a real masterpiece – painstakingly restored.

The original part of the house dates back an incredible 400 years to 1610.

And it was remodelled as a fabulous Georgian house in the late 1700s, when Robert Burns was around Ayr.

Barns House once stood alone on the southern fringes of the town, but is now right at its heart.

It was saved from a demolition order in 1915 – when it was going to be replaced by four semi-detached houses.

Saviours then were Welsh-born Theodore Bruen and his wife, who set to work restoring the period details.

It was saved again in 2003 when Nigel and Morna McMahon walked through the front door.

The Irish couple weren’t even looking for a house – but they fell in love with Barns House.

And, in conjunction with Historic Scotland, they have updated and modernised their A-listed home.

The couple also put in a lot of work on the garden, which had been untouched for 10 to 15 years.

The project took them about a year, with Mrs McMahon working on it full-time and Mr McMahon working on it at nights and weekends.

Mr McMahon is proud of the fact that upgrading of the period house is not necessarily obvious.

He said: “You couldn’t guess we had spent a penny on it and that’s what we wanted – to restore it to its original form.

“It feels like you are stepping back in the time. We wanted to do the right thing by the house for future generations.

“When you have a house like this, it is not a question of owning it but of being custodians and looking after it for the future.”

Iain Robb, of selling agents Strutt & Parker, said: “This house is akin to a Georgian museum. It is a wonderful example of the Scottish Georgian style and has been very sympathetically modernised while retaining its period charm.

“When you first glimpse it through the front gates, this architectural gem is tremendously welcoming and the house is delightful throughout.”

Barns House is being marketed by Strutt & Parker’s Glasgow office on 0141 225 3880.