AUGUST 4 • 2013 The Mail on Sunday By Paul Drury T O me, the Royal Burgh of Dunfermline has always been synonymous with two things – magic music and brilliant build- ings. It produced the key players of bands such as Nazareth and Jethro T ull, and gave us The Skids as well as renowned singer Barbara Dickson. Both of the Fife’s town’s claims to fame come together in Balmule House, a country mansion on the outskirts that boasts a five- century pedigree. In the 1980s, it was home to Stuart Adam- son, lead singer of another local band that made the big time, Big Country. For a local lad who grew up in a flat above a chip shop, buying the old stone house at Balmule must have seemed like landing the keys to a fairytale castle. It’s for sale again but while it would be tempting to suggest a rock star’s lifestyle was on offer, the truth is that Balmule is far removed from the property left behind by Adamson, who died in 2001. Over the past five years, owner Franc Jeffrey has set about a renovation pro- gramme breathtaking in scale and admirable in achievement. He explained that when he bought the property in 2008, Balmule had 78 windows, none of which opened. In fact, most were nailed shut. Successive owners had systematically retreated from its extremities over five dec- ades, presumably because of huge heating bills. As a result, Mr Jeffrey said, a four- storey house had been steadily reduced to two as the top floor and basement were locked up and effectively abandoned. ‘Within minutes of coming up the driveway here, I knew this was a building that needed help,’ said Mr Jeffrey, a successful travel industry entrepreneur. ‘My hobby is buying old buildings and reno- vating and modernising them. I find the place becomes part of you, becomes pe rsonal. This was never just a bricks and mortar job.’ Had it been a strictly business venture, it’s unlikely any bank manager would have approved the no-expense-spared approach that has resulted in one of the best-appointed properties in the country. It consumed 13 gallons of white egg-shell window paint, 16 chimneys were repointed and repaired, 43 ceiling lights were refur- bished, 12 new gates were installed and the grounds were returfed. The kitchen boasts a four-oven Aga and the basement has been reclaimed to provide a recreation space and a billiards room. Upstairs, there are luxury bathrooms and bedrooms galore. Sadly, the recording studio that Adamson installed in the coach house became a victim of its own success. It was so well-soundproofed that no fresh air could get inside, causing it slowly to decay over the years. Stripped back to the walls, there are now plans to have the space converted into a four- bedroom holiday cottage. On the ground floor and in the basement of the main house, a new air conditioning sys- tem allows the rooms to be cooled or heated within five minutes. M R Jeffrey said: ‘Now, there is underfloor heating in all the bathrooms. Parts of the house are 500 years old but now they have got all mod cons in them. Nowadays, I am travelling a lot. It would be easier for me to have a small place in Edinburgh and another in the States. ‘There will definitely be another project. I will either build something from scratch or I’ll find a smaller place where I don’t have to be all the time. I’ve just spotted one possibil- ity in Boston.’ Unusually, Mr Jeffrey elected to hire a marketing company to promote the sale of Balmule. He had spoken to estate agents but, in a crowded market, he was not convinced they had the desire to make his place stand out from the rest. Lianne Bootland of Midas Property Consult- ants developed a colourful, eye- catching brochure which has as much appeal online as in its printed form. The brochure includes a timeline showing Balmule’s role in past, turbulent times. For example, the building was set alight in 1845 by local cloth workers complaining about poor wages and conditions. To illustrate how long ago that actually was, the timeline help- fully explains that this was 16 years before the start of the American Civil War . l Offers over £2.2 million are invited. 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