At home with John Goonan and Carol Ann Bossom

AS YOU enter the first-floor sitting-room in John Goonan and Carol Ann Bossom's Edinburgh home, even before you notice the gorgeous wallpapers or the bespoke limestone fireplace, your eye is drawn to the view. The sitting-room in Larchfield, at 32 Barnton Avenue West, enjoys a vista over the Royal Burgess golf course. Perhaps it goes without saying that John is a keen golfer, but even without a passion for the game, this green panorama would provide a stunning backdrop.

"The nice thing about this view is that it's permanent," says John. "No-one's ever going to build on the golf course."

Good views are a feature throughout this large, stylish five-bedroom home. From the driveway, Larchfield does not appear to be nearly as spacious as it feels inside – one of the first things that struck John and Carol Ann when they first viewed the property in 2007.

"We kept wandering from room to room, wondering how there were so many in this house," John recalls. As well as the upper-level sitting-room, which opens onto a terrace, there is also a second sitting-cum-family room on the ground floor, which leads into a gym – a flexible space as it would make a great playroom for children, or a grown-ups' garden room, as the windows along one wall overlook the rear garden. John even had plans to install a deck on the roof here.

New dcor aside, what this interior lacked three years ago was the sense of connection between spaces that works so well today. Downstairs, double glazed doors allow views to the kitchen from the hallway. The kitchen used to be tucked behind the staircase. Meanwhile, the glazed doors leading into the sitting-room above pour light back down the central staircase, creating an unexpectedly bright core to the house.

John and Carol Ann were taking on a substantial project when they bought Larchfield. "We always like putting our stamp on a place," John says. The couple did so in their last home – a ground and garden level conversion on Inverleith Place in Edinburgh – and a few of the ideas that worked well there have re-emerged here, such as the limestone fireplace in the sitting-room, which John designed.

He acknowledges that throughout his 20 or so years of buying and renovating properties, one project has influenced the next. It might be a specific design feature or finish, like the oak-effect Karndean flooring used on the ground level. Or it might be a colour, such as the orange accents in the master bedroom, or the lime green Tektura wallpaper in the hallway and upstairs landing, where the hue provides a vibrant backdrop for the artworks and striking Murano glassware.

This house also required a lot of fundamental upgrading. A new central heating system was installed, along with a new kitchen and utility room, while the three en-suite bathrooms and the ground floor cloakroom were transformed. The only space that hasn't been completely changed, other than with new carpeting and a lick of paint, is John's office on the ground floor, as he needed to work from here straight away.

"I always like having a month's overlap between properties," he says. "Ideally, you want to get a few spaces finished before you move in, and then work through everything else room by room."

John, who owns care homes, took on the role of project manager here, and it is a challenge he clearly relishes. He enjoys finding something a bit different, like the Black Forest granite used for the worktops, splash-backs, and island in the kitchen. John sourced the finish from Edinburgh Granite and Marble and the unusual, free-flowing pattern of the granite adds a distinctive edge to the contemporary units from DM Design, with black glass cladding the island base.

The shower room on the first floor is another knockout space, and here John worked with his brother, Brian Goonan who, with his wife Becki Linley, co-directs the Edinburgh-based interior specification, design and refurbishment company Trendenza. An existing cupboard was stripped out to extend the space, creating a much larger walk-in shower area, but the real highlight here is the tiling from the Planet range by Alfa Ceramiche, which is inset with Strass Swarovski crystal beads, both in the shower area itself and above the equally striking glass basin.

John credits the influence of design-led hotels and restaurants, whether in a slick hotel en suite or a bold wallpaper or lighting concept. "When you eat out at places like Dakota or Malmaison you pick up ideas and try and think of ways to incorporate them," he explains. "The important thing is getting your colours right, but the hardest thing is trying to make every room feel a bit different while still keeping a flow through the house."

John also turned to Trendenza when sourcing some of the wallcoverings, including the two finishes used in the first floor sitting-room. The light which floods this space allowed the couple to go deeper with the palette, and the Bois Crocodile wallpaper by Elitis – which looks like crocodile skin – adds a luxurious touch in chocolate brown. This is offset by the hessian-like Zanzibar wallpaper, again by Elitis, used on the other walls, creating interesting textural combinations.

The mood of this sitting-room is elegant, with furniture from Shapes adding a softer, more traditional edge, one that continues into the built-in bar area with its brown leather stools, cherry wood counter and display cabinet. In fact, there was already a bar here when the couple bought the house, and although they had intended to strip it out, the feature proved so popular with guests that they decided to revamp it instead.

By contrast, the sitting-cum-family-room is entirely contemporary, from its monochrome palette to the streamlined pieces from Dwell. The black feature wall, clad in Elitis Natives paper, again looks like animal skin, and acts as a backdrop for the giant Plasma screen TV, making this a great cinema room.

So how do you follow this? And, more to the point perhaps, how do you leave behind that view? John and Carol Ann might never have been tempted away had the penthouse in the neighbouring development not been available – with the same orientation and open vista. As John says, they didn't want to leave this leafy cul-de-sac, but they don't need a five-bedroom house, and Larchfield will make a great family home.

As it happens, they have bought the penthouse lock, stock and barrel, including the furniture, meaning that whoever likes the look of this property has the option of doing the same. "We always want to leave a house looking better than when we found it," John reflects, and with Larchfield there is no doubt this is the case. k

Offers in the region of 1,100,000 should be made to Strutt & Parker (0131-226 2500, www.struttandparker.com)