The Inchyra estate was passed over to James in 2001
and, a year later, he, Caroline and their three
children left London, where James was working as the finance
director for a record company, and moved to Scotland. In 2010, Caroline's brother Tim, his wife Belinda, and
their young children moved from Somerset to live on the estate,
too. Tim, who had previously worked for the Countryside
Alliance, became the estate manager. He is, according to Caroline,
'essential to the running of the place, often going for weeks
without leaving. He's also a dab hand with a power tool'. The
enterprising trio's energy is currently behind the renovation of
the Byre, a magnificent farm building on the estate and the setting for some of the most romantic
weddings in Scotland.
In the Fifties, James's grandfather, Frederick Hoyer
Millar, bought Inchyra, which was then described
in Country Life as,
'the most perfect small estate in Scotland'. Following a
distinguished diplomatic career that included being in charge of
the British Sector of Germany after the Second World War, and later
in the Foreign Office, he was awarded one of the last hereditary
peerages. He took the name of Inchyra for his peerage. After he
retired, he set about improving the estate, planting thousands of
trees and establishing parterre gardens, and playing host to
politicians including Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden.
Today, Inchyra is a family home with a collection of
horses, ponies and deerhounds that has grown relentlessly over the
years. But it is a far cry from the days when, as Caroline says,
'it was assumed that there would always be staff in the house to
open the front door for you, so there was no keyhole on the
outside'.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar