At Knockraich Farm near Fintry, diversification is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, for owners Katy and Robert Rodger, their latest business adventure almost brings them full circle. When I first met Katy and her daughters Helena Johnston and Catherine Stirling, they had just launched their own fabric design, ‘Our Farmyard’, inspired by Helena’s boys, Graham (6), Callum (4) and Euan (3), and Catherine’s two girls, Emma (6) and Beth (3).

Helena and Catherine joined the business with Katy – Katy Rodger Making Interiors – in 2002 and the busi-ness was thriving. In 2006, I visited the family again after they had converted a calf shed into the now very pretty Courtyard Café and giftware boutique. Fast forward to 2009 and the family have not been resting on their laurels. What I hadn’t realised previously was that 20 years ago, Katy was an accomplished ice cream maker. So much so, that since the Courtyard Café has opened not a day has gone by without a customer asking why Katy’s ice cream isn’t on the menu.

The family lounge in the main farmhouse

‘When I initially made ice cream it was at a time when it was fashionable for women to be in business and I received a number of awards,’ Katy recalls with a smile. ‘It was called Katy Rodger’s Dairy Ice Cream and I think that it was because it associated with a real person. If it had been given a more general name, I don’t think it would have been as successful. Interiors were always my first love but I never thought I’d be able to make a business out of it. At the time, making ice cream was quite a solitary occupation so when someone asked to buy the business, after a bit of badgering I said yes. It was the right thing to do at the time and I concentrated on interiors instead. I don’t think I had realised how popular it had been until we opened the coffee shop. I hadn’t planned to start making ice cream again, however it just kept niggling away at me as did the requests for it.’

Three years later, Katy Rodger’s Dairy Ice Cream is back in business, along with a purpose built creamery to process the milk direct from the farm. However, what sets this business apart from its competitors is style. Everything at Knockraich Farm has it in bucket loads. Despite five small children having the run of the land, despite it being a full-on working dairy farm with 60 Friesian cattle, despite a busy soft furnishings business on site, it may be a cliché but this place oozes country chic. Perhaps the interiors showroom is to blame – two levels of room sets in minute detail: everything from wallpaper to accessories to furniture. Or maybe it’s the sympathetic conversions of the buildings themselves.

Catherine Stirling, Katy Rodger and Helena Johnston in the doorway to the creamery

The creamery shop is simply stunning and it’s no wonder that Katy’s niece Catherine MacGregor is launching her photographic gallery in the mezzanine area above – it’s a quirky but fantastic exhibition space. With the addition of the creamery, Katy has also managed to reclaim some of her own home back. Her huge customised fridge is no longer being used for coffee shop supplies and her conservatory with amazing views over the valley and dark opulent lounge with its real fire is no longer a holding area for extra bales of fabric and curtains. Although Katy and Helena deny that their personal living spaces are as stylish as the public areas of the farm, there’s no question they all have impeccable taste and a flair for design.

‘We do have very busy lifestyles, but this farm is all about the children, and with grandchildren around it can get very hectic,’ says Katy. ‘They live in everyone’s houses! They’re usually back in my kitchen mid morning for a second breakfast with their granddad after having their first breakfast in their own homes. We have tried to fit in the businesses around our families, and hopefully the children will grow up and remember this part of their lives as a good part.’ As the diversification process has grown, everyone’s roles have become more defined.

Katy now concentrates on interiors and ice cream making. Catherine runs the coffee shop and does all of the baking. ‘Helena does the paperwork for everyone,’ says Katy. ‘We all think the same way and it is great with the variety of work that we do that we can all help each other out. The business has only been able to progress in the way that it has due to the way that we work together. ‘Ultimately I’d like to ensure that everything on the menu in the coffee shop has come from the farm or is locally sourced. My daughter-inlaw is already making jams and chutneys for us, and once the creamery is running smoothly we’ll start making cheese and yoghurt as well. Also, there is still one small building on the farm that hasn’t been renovated yet…..’ Looking at what Katy and her daughters have achieved so far, their next aim doesn’t seem too ambitious

fieldfacts

The Courtyard Café & Creamery and Katy Rodger Making Interiors, Knockraich Farm, Fintry, Stirlingshire, tel: 01360 860 202, www.makinginteriors.com