Anyone who has ever spent time with a toddler in nature knows all too well about treasure hunting; household shelves, coat pockets and backpacks stuffed with sea glass and feathers to add to an ever-growing collection that is too precious to let go of. There’s something so soothingly primal about gathering such trinkets. What once would have been fashioned into a tool or windchime now sits in our homes as nostalgic reminders of good days and better times. Shells foraged from childhood holidays stack in memory jars, flowers pressed and preserved in frames and come December, glittered pinecones are pulled from the loft to hang from Christmas tree branches.
Across our portfolio, genius craftmanship has seen tumbled trees turned into grand dining tables, repurposed sea relics into pieces of art and hand-carved oak windows serving as gateways from one time into another. This month we celebrate the scavengers amongst us; those who can breathe life into even the rustiest bathtub in the reclamation yard.
Winterfell
Nestled between the majestic mountains and forested hills of the Lake District, Winterfell is a former hunting lodge turned luxury self-catering country hideaway that evokes an ambience of Narnia-esque magic. Walls hung with black and white photography and 19th century deeds scribbled on parchment sit alongside Rococo beds antlers, and sheepskin in a home where preservation reigns. Spill out into its walled gardens to pluck apples from the fruit trees for a truly scavenging family escape, where fragrant sugar-crusted pies are the bounty.
Charity
Charity is riddled with family heirlooms; a piecemeal of wall displays made from found tools, homespun Welsh blankets, vintage kitchenalia, and cookbooks written by the owner's mother, Lindsay Bareham. Be it holistic country retreat, artists' studio or secret mountain hideaway you're seeking, what's guaranteed at this luxury self-catering country house in the Black Mountains is an authentic farmhouse experience, but with a contemporary flair. You’ll find it hard to find anything new here, except where it counts (here's looking at you, hot tub and cinema barn).
Charlotte's Folly
Telling a tale of craftmanship and nostalgia, Charlotte's Folly is a terracotta trinket that embodies storybook architecture at its finest; a time-travelling family retreat that could have been lifted from folklore. But the permanent floral installation that makes a statement at the head of the dinner table is just the beginning. At this luxury self-catering cottage nestled in 200 acres of Shropshire woodlands, antique curios await around every bend. Think clawfoot tubs, velveteen headboards, and pea green beams in this life-sized gingerbread house that could be lifted from any Hollywood art director’s dream.
Ellesmera Mill
A bewitching blend of grace and rusticity, Ellesmera Mill is a place where old-world beauty abounds. Wrapped up in wildflowers and big shady trees, this 400-year-old millhouse in Devon is a contemporary lesson in luxury, but with a heavily foraged edge. On missions to scour the globe for scavenged goodies, the owner is no stranger to treasure hunting; trips to Morrocco with designer Siobhan Hayles, scouting for rugs and furnishings to sit alongside family heirlooms, became a thing of the norm. Here, the coffee table is fashioned from a 200-year-old reclamation yard door, the lampshades are wrapped in vintage Indian saris, and every item has a story to tell.
Raffia
Raffia is scavenging incarnate, a property that was worth just £10 in the 1950's when its then residents spent their childhoods "building camps, having endless wars, and watching the fishing boats go out in the evening". Cocooned by Monterey pines and overlooking the open sea, this self-catering beach house has its roots in WWII as an army hut on Whitsand Bay, housing Admirals and teachers alike. Later dismantled and lowered onto the cliff at Polperro, it was eventually modernised with steel frame foundations, eco-rafters, a sedum roof, and clad in Canadian cedar. With all its materials sent down on a zip wire, no less, this is a luxury Cornish home truly scavenged from one place to another.
Browse the entire collection of luxury self-catering homes in Britain and Ireland.
