Ecological Living, Learning and Accommodation in the Highlands
Welcome to Black Isle Permaculture & Arts (BIPA), 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, creative residencies and volunteering opportunities focused on regenerative living.
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 pond and bog garden, a kitchen garden growing vegetables, salads, herbs, fruit, polycultures of wild flowers for insects and pollinators, and some free range hens. 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.
OUR ACCOMMODATION
We invite you to stay in one of our unique woodland eco cabins. 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 eco friendly 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, a bucket shower and compost toilet, and a tranquil outdoor deck looking over the woods and fields.
Coll Cabin is our slightly larger space, also sleeping two in a comfortable double bed, with a bucket shower and compost toilet in the bathroom, but with a larger living space, woodburner and also a desk/workspace area if you are looking for a relaxing and creative space.
The location is absolutely a one of a kind experience. On one hand we came to recharge our batteries and rest, which was perfect at this location. The cabin is at a very quiet location and has a very idyllic look and feel to it. On the other we explored the nearby city of Inverness and other sights. Our host Clive was kind enough to leave instructions on things to do around the towns and city: walks, sights, restaurants, ... We had a wonderful time and definitely recommend this place to others.
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Annabel
15 Jul 2023
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
Such a beautiful cabin, with thoughtful touches. Perfect place to explore from, our use as a cosy cabin to hide away and relax. The woodburner keeps you lovely and toasty. Close to Inverness, we used as a stop off on our NC 500 trip. Clive was so accommodating and helped us out. We cannot recommend enough!
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Faye
27 Oct 2020
What a lovely little cottage to escape to. Beautiful and clean with a lovely space to rest.
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Retha
11 Sep 2020
Fantastic stay! So relaxing and plenty to do near by. Clive was a perfect host and kept in touch to check we had everything we needed. Thoroughly recommend this beautiful cabin.
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Vicky
05 Jun 2021
Der Aufenthalt in der kleinen Hütte im Wald war super, um ein paar Tage abzuschalten. Einfach mal nichts machen und die Ruhe genießen konnte man dort sehr leicht. Mein Highlight war der kleine Kamin für den bereits Feuerholz bereitliegt, wenn man eincheckt. Insgesamt ein super tolles Airbnb.
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Eva
10 Aug 2023
Absolutely stunning location in the woods. There’s just something really special about waking up to the sound of sheep and a forest view. Clive and Julie are lovely hosts and have made us feel very welcomed. Highöy recommend staying at the cabin!
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Lara-Marie
29 May 2022
Beautifull place, very relaxing and nice people
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Noortje
31 Aug 2022
Perfect for a peaceful and remote get away where you feel at one with your surroundings. Everything was exactly as detailed and to an impressive standard. You truly feel like the place you are staying has had a lot of care and thoughtfulness put into it. The host was extremely welcoming and helpful. Would definitely consider returning.
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Mark
22 Jul 2023
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 had a very lovely stay at Siskin woodland eco-cabin, which was/is exactly how described and quite idyllic. We dealt mainly with Clive during our stay and he was very friendly and approachable. He also answered lots of questions that we had, about the cabin and about where he & Julie live and the ethos behind their place. We also met Julie very briefly and she too was very approachable and friendly. In short, the couple are lovely and inspirational people and what they have done to their home and gardens, in terms of ‘gardening’, ecology, and protecting this precious planet, is amazing. Their home and grounds are beautiful, the wider Black Isle & Highlands surroundings are spectacular, and the cabin itself is incredible. Clive & Julie clearly spent lots of time planning its construction and carrying out their plan. It is immaculate and we were extremely comfortable, but it also provided a wonderful and different experience. We loved the 'naturalness' of it all and particularly enjoyed the bucket shower. During our stay, we chose to buy the breakfast hamper from Clive & Julie and weren’t disappointed with its contents: Organic, healthy, breakfast cereal, wonderful home-made bread, and milk and margarine to meet our vegan dietary acquirements. They also encouraged us to pick raspberries from their garden, which we added to our breakfast with great pleasure! To conclude, we had a lovely time and our only ‘negative’ is that we didn’t choose to stay for longer on that particular element of our Scotland holiday. We very much hope to visit again in due course.
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Keith
01 Aug 2021
A great experience staying in Clive's eco hut! comfortable bed and very cozy! they have designed the hut so well. Very inspiring and allowed us to be more mindful about our impact on the environment and take new ideas home with us. Would absolutely recommend 😊
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Natalie
05 Aug 2023
We’ve been a LAND (Learning Action Network Demonstration) Centre since 2018, a welcoming place where 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.
We sometimes host volunteers through the seasons as part of the WWOOF scheme, if you are interested in volunteering please see our profile on the WWOOF UK site.
We also welcome visitors by appointment, and hold occasional open days and workshops, follow us on Facebook or Instagram to keep up to date.
Please contact us at [email protected] for more info or to find out more about a slow and sustainable Permaculture inspired holiday! You can also find us on sustainable holiday planner Holiable.com. Look out for details of events on our Facebook page @BIPASCOTLAND.