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.
Thoroughly enjoyed our stay! All the tips that Clive and Julie suggested were great to explore too. The best part however was staying cosy in the cabin. Loved the book selection and games provided. The breakfast hamper was delicious too! Makes you ponder on how you can live your life more sustainably, so thank you for sparking some creative ideas!
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Georgia
07 Jul 2024
We had a lovely stay in Coll cabin. Beautiful peaceful surroundings nestled in the woods. A perfect location to relax and turn off from the outside world. The cabin was beautifully presented with everything you'd need for a couple of nights away including a very well equipped kitchen. Clive was very helpful and gave clear instructions of how to use the features of the cabin. Would recommend a stay here.
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Alison
21 Jul 2024
Clive and Julie provided us with not just an opportunity to recharge, but a chance to learn and think, and completely on our own terms. A beautiful space, exactly as advertised, which I would highly recommend.
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Kenny
18 Jul 2022
a lovely stay in a well built and supplied cabin in a tranquil little wood.
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Euan
10 Aug 2023
We loved our stay at the Siskin Cabin. Clive was a wonderful host and we would come back tomorrow if we could! We would 100% recommend a stay!
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Hannah
23 Aug 2023
We stayed at the "Coll Woodland Cabin" for our anniversary. It was such a wonderful experience for my husband and myself. Cabin was faultless, very well thought through and had a lovely, cosy atmosphere. We loved sitting outside on the decking with our books and enjoyed the sound of the nature. Clive was very welcoming , showed us around and suggested lovely places for us to explore. We're looking forward to our next visit. Many thanks to Clive for our experience. Aycan & Jonny
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Aycan
02 Jun 2022
We had a really great stay. The host was very welcoming and made our check in and stay easy, stress free and very enjoyable. We are excited to come back again!
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Finley
16 Aug 2024
We had a great stay at the eco cabin. Wonderful wood fired stove and atmosphere. Easy access to Rosemarie, Inverness, Ben Wyvis, etc. Clive and Julie are great hosts!
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Ross
12 Jul 2021
Words are not enough to describe the magic and beauty of Coll Cabin. I enjoyed every minute of my stay with Clive and Julie, and felt right at home in the cabin, surrounded by such beautiful nature. The cabin is stylish, cosy, wonderfully equipped, and just perfect to connect with the beautiful Black Isle. Clive had the most incredible recommendations, and I was able to really explore and discover everything the isle has to offer. It’s a way of tourism I hadn’t experienced before, and I can highly recommend it to anyone looking to fall in love with Scotland.
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Yanou
03 Aug 2023
Our stay at the eco-lodge was so beautiful! Clive and Julie were really accommodating hosts, and were really helpful with giving us advice on adventures around the area. The setting was absolutely beautiful, situated within their woodland that was part of their permaculture project.
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Serena
24 Aug 2020
Everything was perfect. Thank you Clive!
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Stefano
17 Apr 2022
An incredible location and a beautiful, well thought out, off grid cabin. The breakfast hamper is well worth the extra too! A great place to take stock of your environmental impact and re-evaluate your daily life.
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Matthew
05 Jun 2022
We also welcome visitors by appointment, drop us an email if you are interested in visiting [email protected]