Welcome to The Warren Forest Garden and Eco Cabins, Clive and Julie’s ecological household, garden and woodland on the beautiful Black Isle, 13km north of Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. As well as being our home, we offer eco friendly accommodation and creative residencies. Our focus is Permaculture, gardening with nature, arts, crafts, creativity and living lightly on the planet..
The household and gardens here are being nurtured using design and techniques to create a balanced ecosystem for people, plants and animals while also adapting to the unfolding climate and ecological crisis. We have a mosaic of meadows, forest gardens, mixed woodland, wildlife ponds and bog garden, a kitchen garden growing vegetables, salads, herbs, fruit, polycultures of wild flowers for insects and pollinators, all on 2.5 acres (1 hectare). Organic and no dig methods create healthy soil and closed loop systems ensure nothing is wasted, for example composting, wormeries, mulching, reusing/upcycling materials, and wood processing for firewood and construction.
We’ve been a part of the network of Permaculture LAND (Learning Action Network Demonstration) Centre, under the name Black Isle Permaculture & Arts, since 2018. A LAND centre is a place where guests and visitors can see how the ethics, principles, nature connection and design processes which make up ‘Permaculture’ have been applied to the physical site and how we try to live more lightly on the planet here.
OUR ACCOMMODATION
We invite you to stay in one of our cosy and comfortable woodland eco cabins, which we self built as we wanted to make them unique, sustainable and somewhere that we would love to stay ourselves! Combining environmentally friendly features, artistic touches and rustic charm, the Green Tourism Gold rated cabins are ideal for eco conscious travellers who want to experience simple living! We have two self contained cabins sited in our small woodland, called Siskin and Coll Cabin. The names are derived from the place and nature around them. Siskin is a small bird which is common around the woods. Coll is Hazel in the Ogham ancient medieval tree alphabet, and in Celtic mythology Hazel is associated with wisdom, creativity and knowledge.
SISKIN CABIN
Siskin Cabin sleeps two in a double bed, and is a compact, cosy space with a woodburner, dining/seating area, cooking facilties in a small kitchenette, a bathroom with bucket shower and compost toilet, and a tranquil outdoor deck looking over the woods and fields. Siskin cabin opened in August 2020.
Coll Cabin is our slightly larger space, and was completed in March 2022. It also sleeps two in a comfortable double bed, with a bucket shower and compost toilet in the bathroom. This cabin has a larger living space and kitchen with fridge and cooker, a woodburner and also a desk/workspace area if you are looking for a relaxing and creative space.
Nous avons passé un excellent séjour dans l’éco-cabine de Clive. Je recommande !
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Louis
26 Aug 2024
Clive was extremely accommodating. I’d recommend purchasing the farm basket as his produce was delicious. He was also kind, friendly and funny. The Eco cabin was beautiful—woke up at dawn one day and walked around to hear the birds calling. So peaceful.
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Kathleen
14 Aug 2024
Clive and Julie were fantastic hosts, you can tell this place has been a labour of love and is a passion. It is a great experience and very eye opening to what your consumption actually is. It’s super cosy and comfortable, and you feel instantly at home there. You’re surrounded by serene woods and a you’re a short walk from a beautiful bay.
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Lawrie
12 May 2024
Nice experience for staying off-grid. Clive and Julie are nice people willing to tell everything about their permaculture experience. The cabin was lovely and it had everything we needed. Thanks for the experience and looking forward to book this again!
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Marc
03 Jul 2022
quite, remote and very peaceful exactly what we needed to recharge after a very active week
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Alex
04 Aug 2024
nous avons apprécié la formule proposée par Clive.
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Marc
23 Aug 2024
what a dream! clive’s place shows how easy it is to live a greener life, and still have the comforts one is used to. loved the wood burning stove & the deck out front for morning tea! proactive hosts, friendly, and responsive. would definitely stay again
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Grace
15 Sep 2024
Have already recommended to friends and family. I love how peaceful the area is. We missed out on doing activities and exploring The Black Isle as I booked this weekend for a reality get-away - and very last minute too! We hope to return in the near future and do all the exploring we can. Clive was a wonderful host, explained everything in detail, recommended outings and things to do around the area on our arrival. Would love to have a wee tour around the garden next time, and hopefully meet Julie. The Breakfast Hamper was definitely one of my favourite things - if I could choose 2 things to eat for the rest of my life, it would be the homemade Rye Sourdough and Jam!
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Alexandra
21 Apr 2024
Skøn bolig, ren, æstetisk, smuk og inspirerende.
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Merete
31 Jul 2023
Me and my husband had an amazing stay over the New Year (4 nights) and it was exactly what we were looking for - cozy eco-friendly cabin in beautiful and peaceful surroundings. Clive was very accommodating, helpful and overall with friendly but professional approach. The place itself was clean, had everything we needed for our stay and it was in a location which was easy to find. The location is also good for people who want the peace and calm of nature but stay in a close vicinity of a town - as in this case Inverness was only about a 10-15 minute drive away and you will have shops/restaurants nearby. If you're looking for a short or even a long getaway in the Scottish Highlands I would highly recommend booking this cabin! And if you're into sustainability, you would find this place very inspiring. Loved our stay and sustainability chats with Clive 🙂 !
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Tori
02 Jan 2024
A dreamy stay at the Coll Cabin. Just what we needed for a wee Easter getaway. The cabin was really special. Everything was well thought out and all the woodwork was handcrafted to fit perfectly into the cabin. The eco-conscious system was what stood out, Clive and Julie really know what they are doing and it really made the place one of a kind. I recommend the breakfast hamper as it was perfect size for a 2 day stay, and do not worry about the cabin being cold as the wood burner will make the place really toasty. Would also highly recommend the cabin for an artist residency, the foldable couch/desk (yes you are not dreaming) would be a great space to think, work and look at nature. Easy access, great walks and not far from Rosemarkie beach for a wee swim and sauna. I’m sure I will be back. Thank you Clive and Julie for making such a special place.
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Elina
31 Mar 2024
The cabins are warm and very comfortable . There is everything there for a very cosy week.
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Jenny
07 Aug 2024
We also welcome visitors by appointment, drop us an email if you are interested in visiting [email protected]