Thursday 25 November 2010

Luxury cottage launched in time for Christmas and New Year in Scotland


Luxury Briar Steading reflecting Loch Earn 
At last we can announce Briar Steading our luxury holiday cottage with the best views south over Loch Earn in the village of Lochearnhead.  You have to experience it to believe it. The interior furnishings are based around  mixed shades of blonde to dark wood with soft furnishings in a range of cream, taupe, tan, brown and black. These complement the warm tan hues of the seam of rock that we uncovered behind the house. They also work well with the local stone that has been used in the hearth around the wood burning stove. The same stone was used for the garden walls and front of the house as it was to renovate Briar and Little Briar Cottages within the three acre gardens.  The rock face behind the house is made more impressive by water cascading down it from the hills.  In fact a geologist will probably be able to read time lines into the layers of slate and stone with intermittent calcite and quartz. A visiting Cree Indian once told us that volcanic rock and quartz is usually in evidence around gold.  We know that gold has been found around this region for centuries but alas not in our garden so far!

Stunning views of Loch Earn from the lounge
We have organised the last of the stone walls in the garden to be finished within  2 weeks. This means that we can take bookings for Christmas and New Year. I would not mind staying over the festive period myself come to think. The views are second to none thanks to the full glass patio doors in the lounge and the bedrooms and Loch Earn is just 70 metres away. Guests will be able to wake up to an ever changing picture looking out to the loch from the bedrooms.  Both bedrooms have their own en-suite facilities so couples, friends and families will be able to have their own space. The King bedroom is at the East gable and the twin room at the West with the open living space separating them. The master room has an ensuite with a Mira shower over the steel bath and the twin room has a large walk in wet room area both with gloss marble effect wall and floor tiles.

Fully Fitted Linear Cream Kitchen
The kitchen is fully fitted with a 70/30 fridge freezer, a washer dryer and  a dishwasher. The open plan living area is spacious and warm as it faces south and is well insulated. The wood burning stove is a bonus feature for winter. The living area measures 26ft from the patio doors to the kitchen at the back. In fact the whole cottage is c110sq.m.  Prices will range from £500 in the low season to £950 for a week in the high season.  Briar Steading is available for 4 people during Christmas ( you could be the first to book!) with a Christmas tree and a food hamper at £800 for 7 nights and around New Year including free tickets to the village Hogmanay party with a live band also at £800 for 7 nights.  Please call Kim or Fraser Tel 01567  830 443 OR 07876 122 505 and see more  information and photos on our website http://www.stayatbriar.co.uk/ .

Wood-burning Stove in  Briar Steading Holiday Lounge





Monday 1 November 2010

The Briar Witch Project, Lochearnhead at Halloween

  
Cross eyed pumpkin trying to be taken seriously
  
Shy Pumpkin Girl
Perhaps Halloween at Briar Cottages self catering in Lochearnhead, Scotland should have been eerie and creepy.  After all, the setting is perfect. There are no street lights and it is very dark at night unless the moon is out. There are real bats in the area. The stags rutting over the last few weeks in Achraw Hill behind the cottages sounded a bit like ghosts and goblins in a haunted mountain. 
Pumpkin loving the sunlight instead of moonlight


More Tommy Cooper than Frankensteins monster

Fraser was put in charge of the Briar Witch project. All he had to do was set up some frightening masks and evil pumpkin heads. Somehow he managed to make them all look very cute or comical, a bit like Casper the friendly ghost. I love the cross eyed pumpkin.  We lit a few fireworks on the night of the 30th October 2010. This also happened to be Fraser's birthday. They were set up on the slipway in our garden on Loch Earn. 

New luxury Briar Steading, Autumn
We viewed them from the patio of our luxury new build cottage Briar Steading, in front of the full length patio doors and windows.  The views from there are exceptional.  The fireworks were a great success against the black loch and sky. The only things that were glowing were the pumpkin heads placed on top of the 2ft high garden lights. They looked as though they were floating in mid air over  Loch Earn. What fun. Another memorable weekend at Briar Cottages in Scotland. Pumpkins are effective and easy to carve but for me, you can't beat the childhood smell of a Halloween carved turnip, neep or tumshie with a burning candle inside.


Squashy pumpkin more frightened than frightening





Garden gnome plays Briar witch