Take your holiday hideaway to new heights, with this luxurious nest sure to ease you into relaxation.
Nestled amid the trees of native Irish woodland, set on Fernwood Farm just outside Clifden in Connemara, is the Stilt House, the latest addition to Anne and Simon Ashe’s clachan of luxury eco hideaways. I arrive at night. It’s cold, it’s dark, it’s raining. I park at the edge of the woods. Hidden from view, I know the Stilt House is at the end of the winding (and thankfully, short) trail through the woods ahead of me.
Half an hour later, I’m cosied up on that rarest of things: a cool yet comfortable armchair. In front of me a window – floor to ceiling and spanning one side of the living room to the other – I have my very own real-time forest movie. The same cinematic window features are echoed in the bedroom. The bed is sublime. I fall asleep to the sounds of wind in the trees and rain on the roof, feeling cocooned and safe.
At the centre of the house is a circular wooden wall, around which is wrapped the living, kitchen, hall and sleeping spaces. As you move from space to space, the wall invites you to trail a hand along it, giving the feeling of drifting rather than walking. Underfoot, cork tiles lend another layer of tactility and a delicious feeling of connection with nature. The minimal aesthetic – its spareness, its clean lines, its textures, its shapes are so pleasing – all right angles or continuous curves, and nothing in between. It’s not just a physical space, it’s a headspace.
The next day, I wake to a glorious morning, and head out to wander through the woods. Twisted trees and gnarly roots throng the pathways which lead to a lakeside sauna in one direction, a rope bridge in another, and a salt lake and bog lands beyond. The air smells of earth and rain. The light changes constantly and with it, the delicious colours and textures of nature all around me change too. There is a peace and serenity to be found here – a rootedness to the earth. I make a mental note to reread Wendell Berry’s The Peace of Wild Things, and a promise to return to this long-legged house often.
