Our Story
As a family, we stayed in the cottage - usually during August - from around 1998. Back then, the track was grassed and had a huge boulder that you had to be careful not to hit with the sump of the car! The property was surrounded by enormous Sitka spruce fir trees, some reaching nearly 40 metres in height. Needless to say, the cottage barely saw any sun and everything was constantly damp. But it was secluded and incredibly beautiful!
We were fortunate to be able to purchase Birkhill in December 2021, after many years of asking. This was only a few weeks after Storm Arwen had removed a swathe of trees and destabilised many more. We moved here at the beginning of April 2022.
Back then, the main cottage and the 'Hilton' (now Glenisla View) were the only buildings here. So, we moved lock, stock and barrel from our fruit farm in Herefordshire.
The early days
As the trees had been left unstable by the storm damage, and because it was classed as a forestry block, we had to obtain an emergency felling licence to remove the remaining trees.
We set about making the cottage our own but it must have taken about a year for it to completely dry out inside, having not been lived in for many years.
The next plan was to apply for an extension to the cottage. This was obtained, built and finished in April 2024. We now had a super insulated house to live in.
We breathed a huge sigh of relief when the builders left, and we had the house to ourselves again.
Peace reigned again!
The 'Hilton' Renovation
The Hilton was so nicknamed by the previous owners mum, who dubbed it such, due to it being a very far cry from the luxury of the London Hilton.
We lived in it for a year whilst the extension was being built, as it was the only place that had a toilet, bath and shower. When the temperature dropped to minus 8, and snow lay on the ground, it was not the warmest place to sleep. We discovered when renovating it, that there was absolutley no insulation between the plaster board and the granite walls.
The decision was made to turn it into a holiday let and add a room onto the rear to take maximum advantage of the amazing view! Groundworks started at the end of November 2025 in the first snows of the winter. The building started to take shape at the beginning of April 2026 and we finished at the end of July 2026.
We are pretty pleased with the result and we are sure you will be too!