Gorgeous Highland country cottage

This traditional Highland cottage is spacious and light but also cosy. Original features include a huge 18th century stone fireplace and slate floors, alongside modern comforts such as a wood burning stove, newly fitted kitchen, shower room and king size bed (+cot/single z bed on request). The cottage is set in a private garden with views of fields and trees. Private parking. A fantastic base to discover beautiful walks and Highland landmarks; Strathpeffer village 1 mile, Inverness 18 miles. The Cottage is a true rural Highland getaway. The living room, dining area and kitchen form an impressive open plan space. All the modern comforts combine with original features dating back to the 18th century. Lots of windows, carefully selected lighting and high ceilings make the space bright and airy but also encourage that cosy feel when you want to make a nice meal, put the fire on and snuggle down with a good book or TV programme. In the newly fitted kitchen, dine at the antique mapping table; you'll certainly never feel short of room here! Or, sit in the kitchen window seat with a glass of wine and admire the garden and gigantic beech trees. The Cottage has one double bedroom. The kingsize bed has a very comfortable mattress. There is a chest of drawers, a chair, plenty of wall hooks with hangers and a lush carpet. The room has plenty of light with two windows and full length curtains. We provide all linen and towels for your stay. We can add a travel cot and/or single z-bed on request. The bathroom is a really unique space. It has a new electric shower and wash basin, heated towel rail, toilet and washing machine. The back porch has several coat hooks and a place to put your shoes on in comfort. It leads out to a back garden and seating area. There is modern electric heating and double glazing throughout, as well as the wood burning stove (we supply two baskets of logs and kindling for each stay). The cottage has WiFi and a 32 inch internet TV. The approach to The Cottage is up a small, peaceful private road. This turns into the driveway of The Old Manse, covered by flowers in spring and lined by impressive beech trees. The Cottage is quickly on your right, up it's own small private driveway. By the front door is a grass lawn, garden rockery with a bench and drystone wall. To the side and around the back of The Cottage is a larger grassed area of lawn, surrounded by trees. A gravel path leads to the backdoor. The back garden overlooks a small area of mixed woodland and a grazing paddock. The back garden also has views of The Old Manse, walled garden and surrounding fields and hills. There is a bbq and outside seating area at the back. You can walk directly from the back garden, over a stile and through our fields to enjoy many walking routes away from main roads. The Cottage garden gets plenty of Scottish sunshine. There is a shed you can use for locking up bicycles if you wish to. Kids - We will happily provide a travelcot bed for one baby/toddler. We also have a highchair/box of toys/most things child related if you need them, just ask! If you'd like to feed the chickens you are also welcome, we can give you some grain. The cottage has a driveway and private garden for guests. There is a stile going over into the back fields, which leads to a footpath for walking into the village or surrounding tracks, hills and forests. I am always available through Airbnb messaging. Our caretaker, Steph, is on call during your stay. She lives locally. Her details are in the welcome folder which you will find on your arrival. The Cottage sits in the beautiful and spacious grounds of our home, The Old Manse (a former vicarage to a church, built in 1792). We have 5 acres of garden and fields. Both houses have so much history to tell! The Cottage has a private garden and driveway and is independent of the main house next door. The cottage is located one mile out of Strathpeffer village. You can walk directly over our fields at the back of the cottage, to join tracks and footpaths that take you all the way in to Strathpeffer village. Strathpeffer is a unique Highland village. It was built by the Victorians as a Spa resort due to the discovery of healing spa waters. The big old hotels still exist and you can a museum and the old railway station. The original Pavilion and gardens are still a famous live music and theatre venue. The village centre has several cafes, a small shop, a delicatessen/bakery, chemist, restaurant and hairdresser. The delicatessen makes delicious homemade pizza to eat in or takeaway and also has a lovely selection of gins and wine. In the summer on a Tuesday night, the local pipe band plays in the village square, with Highland dancers and many people come to watch. Strathpeffer has many wonderful walking and cycling routes, all with beautiful views to the West mountains, over to the Cromarty Firth and Ben Wyvis (our very own Munro mountain). Discover the Cat's Back and the ancient Knockfarrel bronze age fort past a stone maze, the Peffery Way (old steam train track) to Dingwall, Kinellan Loch, Rogie Falls and all the trails behind Contin, also famous for mountain biking. All of these you can reach from the back door of the cottage if you wish but we do advise having a car to make the most of the whole area. The Cottage is in a rural area within a small cluster of rural homes. We do have neighbours over the hedge, however you can't see them and they can't see you. We have chickens, cats and a dog; all very friendly! Sheep and occasionally Highland cows also live in the fields next to The Cottage. Our family home is next to the cottage but you have complete privacy with your own front and back doors, fenced garden and private driveway for your car. For bigger supermarkets and fuel we have Dingwall 4 miles away. We are 18 miles from Inverness, on the road out to Ullapool and the West Coast, also known as the Route 500. Strathpeffer village is one mile by road or on foot. It's a beautiful walk, along a river, through woods, past a cricket and shinty ground and the spectacular ancient Castle Leod, still home to the Chief of the Clan MacKenzie, built in 1622. Fans of the Outlander series, this is the real deal! Here are some transport tips. This really is a great base location for exploring many amazing places!: By car: 1 mile (2 minutes) into Strathpeffer village. 4 miles (5 minutes) into Dingwall town (fuel, supermarkets, museum, cafes and restaurants). 10 miles (15 minutes) to Beauly, pretty old town. 18 miles (25 minutes) to Inverness city. 24 miles (35 minutes) to Inverness airport, on the outskirts of Inverness on easy roads. 40 miles (50 minutes) to Ullapool. Within 30 minutes by car you are on the Black Isle beaches of Rosemarkie, Fortrose lighthouse and Cromarty (all famous for dolphin watching). Within 40 minutes you can be at Loch Ness, Nairn beach, or beautiful Dornoch with huge sandy beaches and the Glenmorangie whiskey distillery. Edinburgh and Glasgow are 3.5 hours away. Public transport: A bus (number 27) runs hourly past the end of the lane (300m from the cottage), into the village, to Dingwall or to Inverness (with links here to the airport bus and Edinburgh/Glasgow/London buses). Dingwall has a train station with direct trains to Inverness (taking about 20 minutes). Inverness train station and bus station has many links to the rest of the UK daily. The third bed is a travel cot suitable for up to a 2 year old, or we can provide a single z-bed for a 3rd child or adult on request. We don't accept pets, sorry. Our free range chickens and cats may appear in the garden from time to time to say hello! We also have a very family friendly dog in the main house and driveway area. Check out is 10am. Our free Wifi connection is typical of a Highland rural area so it can be a little slow sometimes and on occasion it may drop out for a couple of minutes. We apologise in advance if it affects you. We provide a generous baskets of firewood with each booking, for two evening fires. More firewood is available locally to purchase in Dingwall at Frank Nicol, the fuel garages and supermarkets.