Only an hour from Edinburgh airport, but feels like you've entered another world.
Bump up the farm track past the old watermill and woodland, to find this little haven nestled at the edge of the Broughton Heights. No street lights, stars shining from every direction, complete silence apart from birds and sheep.
Use as a base to explore the area, or just sit and enjoy the view.
12 miles from Glentress mountain bike centre. 24 miles from central Edinburgh.
Insta dot com / kirkurdgardens
The space
Thoughtfully designed, this spacious, two storey eco-house boasts a massive open-plan living/dining area, four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Upstairs (which has the main, front door entrance):
Open-plan, double-height living space with three sofas, surround sound stereo, projector, wood burner and Yamaha electric piano.
Kitchen and dining area are off the same space. Kitchen has a gas hob and electric oven, large upright fridge-freezer, microwave, dishwasher, toaster, kettle, crockery, utensils - all the essentials.
A large window in the dining area slides open to connect you with the outdoors on warm days. Use the outdoor furniture to relax outside with food/drink - or just to enjoy watching the poplar trees sway in the breeze.
There's a lovely, small bedroom with an adult sized bunkbed upstairs. Obviously this is ideal for children, but it's also suitable for two adults.
Off the entrance hall is the utility room and a spacious shower room/toilet.
Downstairs:
Stairs go down to a book-lined hallway, three double bedrooms and a bathroom with cast iron bath and modern shower. Two of the bedrooms can be configured with either double bed or twin single beds. Please let us know how you would like the beds setup as soon as possible. The third bedroom has French windows into a small flower garden.
The house was designed to be environmentally friendly and comfortable to live in. The large double glazed windows let in loads of natural light and give great views of the hills and fields that surround us. Primary heating is from an air-sourced heatpump and much of our electricity is provided by solar panels. There's also a wood burning stove in the living room - and I provide instructions, fire lighters, and the first basket of wood (more wood can be purchased if needed).
The house won two awards for the designer, Tom Morton
- Scottish Borders Council, New Housing in the Countryside, 2000
- Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, Creative and
innovative use of native timber, 2001
Guest access
You have exclusive access to the house during your stay, but there are some rooms that are private and are not available to you.
You can park next to the house.
There is wifi in the house, and despite living in a rural area, we have superfast fibre broadband to the premises (FTTP).
The house is situated in 6 acres of woodland, which you are welcome to use. At the bottom of the woodland is a pond - and there's a boat for the adventurous.
There are two further homes on the property, as well as a walled garden and some outbuildings. Chickens and sheep also live here.
Other things to note
The house is reached by a farm track off the A72. The track is not suitable for vehicles with very low suspensions (such as some sports cars).
We will leave a first breakfast for you, so no need to bring milk, butter, bread or jam.
This is our family home. It is professionally cleaned before each guest, but you should expect a "lived in" feel - very different to a hotel.
Check out is by 11am unless otherwise arranged. Please leave the house tidy and just leave the key in the keybox. Please write feedback or messages in the guestbook!
There is no television, but we do have internet, DVD/CD player, and a projector.
Registration number
SLL000087
