Pictures: Cupar Burgh Chambers gets a new lease of life with holiday lets

Cupar Burgh Chambers was a formally disused building placed on the buildings at risk register. With the restoration now complete it will serve as a holiday apartment bringing people from across the world to Cupar.

The fundraising for the building, owned by Fife Council, began in 2010, and the turnaround in the property is incredible from when the project first began.

Fife Historic Buildings Trust is due to take over the management of the building in order to conserve its future in the town.

The Trust worked with a huge team of specialists in the restoration of the building, led by Cupar-based Arc Architects working with Hardies quantity surveyors, as well as a handful of old-fashioned dying trades such as stonemasons, blacksmiths, stained glass technicians, clock restorers and many other specialist restorers.

Fife Historic Buildings Trust already owns and manages two successful holiday lets at Kinghorn Town Hall and John McDouall Stuart View in Dysart, so it is an ‘old hand’ at the renovation game to some extent.

The team has worked very hard to restore the property and keep as many of the historic Georgian features as was possible.

Nationally respected Scottish furniture historian David Jones was instrumental in not only passing on a substantial wealth of knowledge, but he also sourced a lot of the furniture now used in the apartment.

“We had wanted to honour the Georgian period in which this property had been built in,” said the Trust.

“David was instrumental in getting so many lovely pieces together.”

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What guests can now expect from this unique and high-class holiday apartment is two bedrooms both of which have en-suite facilities on the second floor of the building.

On the first floor there is a spectacular living/dining room with kitchen and a large bay window which provides unparallelled views across Crossgate.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help and support of many funding sources for the project, including Historic Environment Scotland, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Fife Council via the Cupar CARS/THI scheme.

Earlier this year, Fife Historic Buildings Trust welcomed Historic Environment Scotland and Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism & External Affairs 
to view the completed project.

It was at this visit that Historic Environment Scotland announced a £10 million investment into Scottish Communities, as part of their eighth round of Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).

Cupar Burgh Chambers is available to book directly either by email or online as well as through a number of reputable booking sites and agencies. The apartment also appears on Visit Scotland.