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 fantastic time at Clive and Julie’s! They were so sincere, kind, and welcoming. They took the time to point out amazing local wildlife and gave us great information about the unique space they have built together. They were extremely responsive and went above and beyond to make sure we had a wonderful stay, providing us with maps and guides for the Isle of Skye, which we drove to as part of our trip to the highlands. They offered to take us on a tour of the property but unfortunately we ran out of time. The cabin was very comfortable and thoughtfully designed. The bucket shower was a big highlight for us 🙂 Overall, this was an inspiring visit to a very special place.
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Katie
18 Aug 2023
Nous avons passé un excellent séjour au cœur d’un bois dans un logement très joli et fonctionnel où tout a été très bien pensé. La région est magnifique et c’était un vrai plus de profiter d’un lieu aussi atypique avec des hôtes aussi charmants.
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Caroline
02 Aug 2023
This was an unforgettable stay and we loved every minute especially having a tour of the site and an insight into permaculture. The eco hut is comfortable and well designed and there were so many little touches that made us feel welcome and at home.
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Georgia
24 Aug 2021
Thank you Clive and Julie for a lovely, peaceful stay. Very helpful hosts in a beautiful location. Clive went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect for us. Definitely recommend!
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Lucy
28 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
A little hidden gem on the Black Isle We loved every second of it The place is little but cozy and comforting . The best part is the fresh air and old style sustainable way of living It’s a must try if you visit this part of Scotland Close to Inverness and lots of small villages on the island make it a great place Clive was very kind to give us some information about how they built the place and about permaculture and it was amaaaaazing
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Andrada
24 Jul 2023
We stayed at the cabin for 3 nights and it was a wonderful escape from a busy city life. Relatively frequent bus service and just 15 minutes walk from the bus stop made this vacation possible for us even without a car, which is very rare for distant and peaceful places like this. There are multiple beautiful walks available right around the cabin, including an old castle ruins. Clive and Julie were extremely helpful and always responded to our messages within minutes. The only thing we missed during our stay was the fridge. We love to cook and stayed in for all our meals, so the small cooler was a little tight for us, but we knew about it in advance, planned our shopping and all of the products that were placed in the cooler stayed fresh. If you want some fridge space - check out their other cabin, we were just sligtly unlucky, as it was already booked for our dates. Overall it was an amazing experience, knowing that your stay helps the environment and the planet.
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Alexandra
26 Aug 2024
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
We hebben een fantastisch verblijf gehad, vooral de eco cabin heeft ons positief verrast door de ruime opzet en leuke locatie. Door het top ontvangst en duidelijke uitleg was het helemaal top!
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Maarten
28 Jul 2024
Clive was so welcoming, friendly and approachable. We felt comfortable the minute we arrived and even though the handbook was packed full of useful information he was happy to give us helpful advice on the best places to eat and their favourite walks. We arranged to have a walk around the forest gardens with Clive and it was inspiring to hear all about their project. So many nice walks in the area, an evening walk down to Redcastle is a must, straight from the cabin down to some amazing views. A beautiful spot, we highly recommend it.
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Stephen
07 May 2024
This is a lovely quirky cabin in beautiful, peaceful surroundings. Great for a restful few days with plenty of wildlife on your doorstep and walks you can do without having to drive to a trailhead. Clive was very welcoming and gave us good local tips on how to get the best out of the area.
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Claire
04 Jul 2024
We also welcome visitors by appointment, drop us an email if you are interested in visiting [email protected]