"It takes a long time to become young."
Tantalon Place
If ever a job demonstrated the desirability of employing an architect, even for a modest scheme, then this is it. The clients knew of Richard Murphy only through a mutual acquaintance. They initially asked him for his advice, they had decided to extend their house by building a conservatory on the rear. They wanted to know if Richard considered a Mahogany conservatory to be a better choice than a UPVC model.
He was able to convince them to allow him to design a new scheme which as well as giving them a garden room also contained a utility area concealed behind moving shutters. The resultant extension was a superb addition to the house which will still be admired in many decades to come long after a conservatory would have withered.
An existing wash-house was semi-demolished and a new structure designed which while looking north and west admits south light through a set of roof lights. The room itself has sliding doors which open and close in such a way to completely open the north west corner to the garden in the summertime. A cantilevered pergola completes the composition.
We lost our plasterer Kevin Todd, our first full time employee just before this contract began through bad health (he later made a full recovery and is these days self employed) and so our first thought as his replacement was to relaunch Hector Gordon's plastering career.
Hector was a neighbour, an honourary grandfather to our kids and a retired plasterer. He was a plasterer from the old school when they used to make their own mix using horse hair and the labourers 'peed' in it to prolong the workability.
Unfortunately he was also past 70 and wisely decided that this was a job too far. Fortunately he knew another plasterer, Charlie Orr, who was only in his mid 60's and Hector introduced us to him. Charlie became our standby plasterer and a good friend. He called Gail, 'Carol' for no reason we knew of and he, like Hector was a gentleman plasterer from the old school.
Sadly he was already suffering from lung cancer when we met him and several years after this project was completed he died. But he had a trick of his own to pull at the time because he insisted that Hector would be his labourer and watching the two of them puffing away mixing and plastering was a rare site to behold.
Coincidentally, he once said that the job he had enjoyed working on the most in his career was a residential extension to a college just outside Dalkieth called Newbattle Abbey, the place which brought me to Scotland for good and now the site of our workshops.
This job also ended the stonemasonry career of Hugo (Alan Rae) who for medical reasons was forced to leave his trade, the last true trade as he liked to refer to it. When was the last time any joiner ever went into a forest and chopped down a tree and carried it back to his work shop and then hewed it with his bare hands and made a door or a table or a window he asked me by way of explanation - And when did you last climb up a mountain and crack a piece off and carry it back to your workshop I wondered? The joys of craftmanship, really.
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