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 pond 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 unique 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 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.
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
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
We had an extremely cosy stay in the Siskin cabin. Clive and Julie were wonderful and we wish we could have their bread for breakfast every morning! Thank you both so much.
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Jip
08 Apr 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
After some urban days, we arrived at Kilcoy, where we were welcomed by Clive, Julie and their beautiful cabin. It had all you needed, nicely surrounded by trees. Being aware of your water usage and getting around by public transport might seem like an obstacle, but has its charm and, for us, proved to be a very pleasant way of spending our days here. Having to choose between staying around the cabin and its adjacent "woodlands" and garden, or going to one of the various trips to natural scenery is hard - but that's a good thing.
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Sam
14 Jul 2022
A great location in the highlands but also a wonderful spot to just stop and think about the world. I came away thinking about my impact on the world. Highly recommended.
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Graeme
02 Dec 2023
From the time of our booking until the morning of our departure, Clive and Julie provided us with warm, top hospitality and did everything in their power to make our trip to the Black Isle a memorable one. This stay was totally unique in offering a glimpse into sustainable methods of living, while still providing the traveller with a high level of comfort. (Seriously, the bed alone is worth a go.) We were particularly impressed by their shower system, cute wee kitchen set-up, yummy homemade breakfast hamper. Not to mention, the efforts made to ensuring everything in the cabin is eco/sustainable, down to soft-furnishings. As hosts ourselves, we're kinda switched on to the details and this space just works so well. Clive and Julie even made themselves available to show us around their gorgeous permaculture garden and answer many of our questions about how they make it all happen. Hired a car for three days and made it to Ullapool, Findhorn, a few local towns and lovely nature sites including Ben Wyvis. (Well worth the climb, if you're up for a hike!) We'll be sending friends and family in our footsteps - too good not to. A beautiful weekend for any couple, solo traveller or pair of friends, we cannot thank Clive and Julie enough for sharing their ecocabin expereince with us.
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Pete
10 Aug 2020
Beautiful eco cabin in a beautiful part of Scotland!
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Carolyn
18 Aug 2022
My friend and I had a couple of lovely days in the cabin. It’s a cosy little place supplying you with everything you need in ways that takes care of the earth. The location in the forest is magical, and we had an interesting tour of the permaculture forest garden. The hosts were super welcoming and helpful with everything - there’s nothing to put a finger on, and we really just recommend everyone to have a stay at the Coll Cabin.
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Emma
21 May 2024
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
Clive and Julie’s cabin is a luxurious mini-adventure in private woods on the Black Isle. The cabin is truly eco-conscious including a bucket shower which I wasn’t expecting to be quite so good! We used the efficient little stove too which kept us very warm as the cabin was well insulated. The cabin is a re-imagination of a world where we can still enjoy life’s little luxuries in a way that doesn’t cost the earth. I loved to listen to the birdsong in the morning - we had a sweet wren on the tree outside singing it’s lovely tune. We also enjoyed the choice of books and games. So much thought went into the cabins amenities. There was every utensil you might need to make a good meal and we cooked up a storm using the stove as an extra hob. Clive was a lovely host. He showed us to our cabin and the rest of the time felt very private. When I had made a mistake with my booking he was quick to respond and accommodating which we are so grateful for!
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Charlotte
14 Apr 2024
Sehr herzlicher Empfang und angenehmer Aufenthalt inklusive Führung durch den Garten. Wir können nur empfehlen sich ein paar Tage Auszeit zu nehmen und in diesem grünen, wunderschönen Paradies im Sinne der Permakultur zur Ruhe zu kommen. Clive ist unfassbar freundlich und das selbst gebackene Brot war super lecker. Danke vielmals!
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Philipp
24 May 2024
We also welcome visitors by appointment, drop us an email if you are interested in visiting [email protected]
