Me And My Home: Town and country

Alice Hart-Davis meets one half of a Glasgow hairdressing duo to the stars

Anne Ferguson is managing director of top Glasgow hairdressers Taylor Ferguson, which is patronised by celebrities from Darius to Lulu

Anne Ferguson is managing director of top Glasgow hairdressers Taylor Ferguson, which is patronised by celebrities from Darius to Lulu

The salon is right in the centre of Glasgow. It has been there for 28 years and we have always lived in houses that were reasonably nearby, but six years ago, we moved to this house, which is five minutes outside the city. My husband Taylor has become something of a celebrity in his own right. We do a lot of press and TV work; he is very well-recognised and we decided we'd like a bit more privacy

It's very peaceful here. There are five acres of grounds, then open fields and horses grazing all around. We are in the salon and busy six days a week, so it is wonderful to escape back here. It's not such a nice place in the winter when it's bleak and dark, but in the summer it's paradise. When the gates shut behind you, you can just put your shoulders down and relax.

We have six bedrooms, though there are just the two of us here now that our son, Taylor Junior, is married, but lots of family and friends come and stay for weekends. It's a house that needs to be full of people - it's happiest when there are people in it.

When we came here, it was a chintzy, country-type house. I wanted to create a townhouse in the country. I started with plain ivory walls, white ceilings and a lavender carpet throughout the house, then built everything else around that. I've spent the past five years finding the right piece of furniture for the right place in the house, and all my friends joke that once I've done everything, that's when I'd usually be thinking of moving on. We have moved house about every five years before now, but I've no plans to move at the moment.

There's a bar-gallery on the ground floor. That's a really welcoming part of the house. When we have parties, you can guarantee that everyone will gather there. There aren't many seats, but people sit all over the steps. There's a Ralph Lauren ice bucket which gets filled with bottles of champagne for parties - it's the only drink I drink, so really, I'm looking after myself! There's a stove, and pictures on the walls of Taylor's celebrity clients. There have been a lot of them over the years. It's amazing how interested people are in them.

The kitchen is bright and airy, painted an aquamarine colour to give it a Mediterranean feel. We like to have people round, but because we're busy and have to work long hours - as do lots of our friends - we tend usually to have a quick steak salad around the kitchen table.

If we're having a bigger dinner party it will be on a Saturday evening. I have Wednesday off, so I'll set the table then, and try and prepare things on Friday night as we work on Saturdays. People often say to us: "You should have someone in," but I actually like to do it myself. I don't enjoy cooking, but Taylor does, so I just get all the rotten kitchen jobs and he does the fancy stuff. I love doing the table and the finishing and presentation.

Sometimes we'll have supper in the day-room, which is just across the hall from the kitchen. There's a living room as well, and a den with the television and green leather couches. That's a winter room. If we're on our own, we'll tend to be in there all winter. There's a gas fire and we can cuddle round it and watch television in our dressing gowns.

There are two conservatories attached to the house, one with the exercise pool, which has the jets that you swim against, a Jacuzzi and a gym. I must confess I don't use it often at all. I don't have a weight problem though I should be a bigger size for the amount of food I eat. But Taylor uses the pool, and faithfully works out in the gym four times a week. He's very good.

We built another conservatory on to the south side of the house last summer. It's south-facing so it's a really nice bright place to be for eight months of the year. I love to be in the brightness. That's another place we can eat our dinner, and we have two sun loungers in there, side by side. We can sit there together on Sunday and go through all of the papers.

Most nights, I find there is some bit of work to be done for the next day, and I do that at a desk in our bedroom while Taylor is cooking; after dinner we'll catch up on the papers or maybe watch a bit of television. We do go out a lot - at least three times a week. That's the lovely thing about hairdressing. You become part of your clients' social life and go to lots of business openings and parties or out for dinner. But I love all that. I'm a real people person and would be lost without it.

Taylor Ferguson, 106 Bath Street, Glasgow: 0141 331 1728