West Lodge
West Lodge was designed and built as the original main entrance to Milne Graden House, with its columned portico, Georgian features and impressive decorative gates. I have always loved the cosiness of this cottage and so, in the winter of 2014, when the opportunity arose to claim it for our eighth holiday home, I grabbed it!
The interiors are a true celebration of our canine friends. All our holiday cottages are dog friendly, but this time we took the opportunity to really indulge our love of dogs. We even have doggy feedback cards so we know exactly what your canine friend thought of his or her stay!
I have admired Domenica More Gordon’s work for a long time, and so here, we have taken the chance to share some of her pieces with our visitors, displaying a selection of her beautifully crafted miniatures in the bedroom. Domenica is a Scottish-based artist, who studied textiles at Central St. Martins. She is famous for her miniature dogs, which she makes using the craft of dry felting. Preparation of the fabric involves repeatedly ‘stabbing’ the unspun wool with a felting needle until the wool is ready for working. Her favourite and most precious wool comes from the island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides, where it is literally gathered by friends. She is inspired by childhood toys and, of course, her own dogs. She manages to capture a certain charm in every dog that she lovingly makes by hand in her home. I don’t know how she can bear to part with any of them. I could talk about dogs for ever, as we are a true dog-loving family. However, moving on…
We stay loyal to the country theme in all the cottages, and in every house our holiday guests try out, they will encounter a checked fabric in some colour or size. In West Lodge, we’ve used a taupe-coloured checked fabric from Chelsea Textiles in both the cosy sitting room and the bedroom. The curtains are topped with pelmets covered in a hand-embroidered fabric of butterflies and insects. (West Lodge is nestled in a quiet and secluded wood – the perfect habitat for all of these tiny creatures.) Scattered around, you’ll find comfy cushions in beautiful needlepoint, and lots of books on the subject of … yes, you guessed it, dogs!
West Lodge has a great walk, for dog and owner, along the banks of the River Tweed, and it’s here that holidaymakers can really enjoy nature and its beauty. Kingfishers, birds of prey, leaping salmon and graceful swans are just a few of the sights to be enjoyed. We hope all walkers, both with and without dogs, will love it as much as we do.
