It is a rare taste of a celebrity chef's homelife. The estate agent's preamble says the cottage "doesn't boast a cheffy' kitchen, but it does have an Aga - best friend to all superior cooks".

Members of the public are getting a glimpse inside the Fife family home of Nick Nairn as it goes on the market for £435,000, with the chef holding an open day to show off the property to prospective buyers.

The cottage, near Leven, is being sold to fund the Nairn family's new project, a farm near his cooking school in Stirlingshire.

A former Victorian gardener's cottage at the back of a private estate, the home sits in 1.5 acres of leafy grounds with the aroma of "winter berries, a herb garden and summer fruit" included in the price tag, along with a tennis court and a section of stream.

Nairn said yesterday that it is a scene he will miss. The 50-year-old and his family - wife Holly, daughter Daisy, five, and son Callum, four - have enjoyed the cottage but could not realistically keep it on alongside their property close to Lake of Menteith.

"We have a house beside the school and we've got the farm now and to have three houses we felt was a bit too much.

"I wouldn't say this was a bolthole but we saw it as somewhere we could just go away and be ourselves."

Like most celebrity chefs, Nairn knows the power of publicity and, along with the photoshoot, he opted to have an open-house event in a bid to drum up interest in the property.

"Normally I wouldn't invite a load of journalists and photographers," he said, but the "current economic climate" dictated the move.

It came as one report claimed that estate agents across Scotland have record levels of houses because of the credit crunch.

There was said to be more than 13,000 homes on the market across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Highlands and Tayside but up to 50% fewer transactions in some places.

Nairn thought for a moment his own shrewd sales event had fallen flat when the chef was left alone with no sign of the usually curious media on Saturday.

The chef explained: "I was told it was Saturday so had the place spotless with the coffee ready and nobody turned up."

He needn't have worried as the inquisitive guests from the press arrived on cue yesterday.

Seller Savills said: "With a growing family of animal-mad children, Nick has recently bought a farm and hence he is selling the Fife retreat."

The cottage was originally the home for the gardener of the Durie Estate, which once stretched right down to the shores of the Forth.

"Somewhat enlarged and upgraded since the gardeners' time, it now has three reception rooms, conservatory, cloakroom, four bedrooms and two bathrooms," the estate agent said.

Durie Garden Cottage provides "year-long interest, starting with a spectacular display of spring bulbs, culminating in autumn with stunning foliage and winter berries".

There is also a herb and vegetable garden with fruit trees and a small office between the cottage and garage.

Above the three-car garage is a modern studio flat, complete with wood burning stove, separate kitchen and shower room, also included for the money.

Cameron Ewer of Savills said: "Savills are delighted to have been entrusted by Nick Nairn with the sale of this very special and much-loved property."