Scotland Interiors: Rooms with a view at Point Clair, Loch Ness

Who:

Kalpesh Patel, 48, a film and TV production designer, his wife Trusha, 46, a medical biochemist, and their daughter Karin, 18, a student

What:

Point Clair House – a stunning waterside, six bedroom, five bathroom, art-deco style retreat, with games room and cinema

Where:

Set in four enchanting acres on the breathtaking shores of Loch Ness

We were looking to invest around £1 million in a property. I stumbled on Point Clair. The location sold it.

I took my first trip to Scotland to view it and bought it right away.

I was overwhelmed by the loch and the mountains; the peace and calm.

The house had so much potential. Most spectacular are the living room and master bedroom whose windows have a 30ft span of curved glass overlooking the loch and mountain backdrop. They are the most insane views imaginable. Simply priceless.

We bought Point Clair in April 2019.

The house had been painted magnolia and had basic, tired looking furniture, and a semi broken kitchen.

One of the bedrooms with stunning views at Point Clair.

The bathrooms looked like something straight from a 1970s Argos catalogue.

The whole place needed an emergency makeover. We spent a full year on its renovation, modernisation and interior design. We used local crews for the work and also firms from Inverness, Fort William and Glasgow.

We had to completely rebuild the kitchen and utility room and all the bathrooms were renovated.

We turned a small spare room into a two-tier, theatre-style cinema and converted the double garage into a games room. We also built a barbecue hut at the rear of the property to cater for all weathers. As this is our second home – and a holiday home we share with guests – we wanted all the comforts we enjoy ourselves on our stays abroad.

In terms of style, we went for modern luxury and a hint of classic.

With our Indian background, we decided to add colourful Bollywood-style silks and fabrics for the curtains and cushions, which we had stitched in London and shipped to Loch Ness.

The workbench in the entrance hallway is 200 years old and came from a vintage yard in Manchester. I found the 10ft church pew in a store in Bognor Regis. The Queen Anne cocktail cabinets and bookcases were purchased from antique stores in Edinburgh.

I have a real passion for industrial furniture.

I designed my own side table in the dining room and TV cabinets and commissioned a talented metal fabricator in Fort William to build them. He also made the fabulous coat rack in the hallway. The industrial trolley cart table is 150 years old and came from an antiques dealer in Liverpool. I also bought some genuine Louis XVI antique armchairs, which we had re-upholstered with Indian fabrics.

The cinema room boasts genuine re-upholstered 1930s theatre seats.

We also bought a vintage projector from New York for decoration. The central 24-teardrop chandelier in the dining room came from Barcelona, as did the cluster chandeliers for the hallway at the back of the house. We commissioned the 13ft dining table from Denmark.

In the master bedroom, the bed sits on a nine-inch raised platform to allow full appreciation of the views.

At its foot is a French chaise purchased from Paris. The main feature in the games room is the Viper pool table with a slate top.

It is hard to find a property that possesses such beauty.

Now its makeover is complete, Point Clair is a wonderful holiday retreat.

pointclair.com