My Houzz: Winging It in a Scottish Castle

In 2000 Nicola Hallsworth moved from England to Scotland, where her husband, Fred, had bought a house in the suburbs of Glasgow. Being a country girl at heart, Nicola wasn’t keen on life in the suburbs and longed to move to the countryside. One morning she saw a section of this castle advertised for sale in The Herald newspaper and asked Fred whether he’d be willing to move to the country. Fred’s reply: “If we can make a profit on our current house and find one with the same amount of wow factor no further than 30 minutes from Glasgow, then I’ll consider it.” Nicola turned the paper around and showed him the property. They bought it in April 2006.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Fred and Nicola Hallsworth with 2 two dogs, Serge the French mastiff and Paddy the British bulldog
Location: The Glasgow countryside, Scotland. The present building, called Houston House, was built between 1872 and 1905.
Size: A 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom wing

The castle is split into six properties. As it was built in wings, it subdivided nicely. It also has a grand communal hall (not shown) that can be used for entertaining. In 2013 Fred hosted a big birthday celebration there with more than 60 guests.

The castle in its entirety is so big that Nicola compares living with their neighbors to living at opposite ends of a street of terraced houses. “We never bump into each other. This summer it was only Fred and me in the whole place,” she says.

Nicola and Fred share the main front door with the owners of another wing. Their personal door is just off the great hall, which makes for a nice “Welcome home.”

The front door opens to the morning room, so-called because, according to Nicola, when the sun streams in, “it’s a beautiful room in which to sit with a coffee and a newspaper.” Window seats conceal cast iron radiators, so even on cold winter mornings, it’s a lovely place in which to curl up.

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My Houzz: Winging It in a Scottish Castle