Sep 2017 New Staff Cottage

We wanted to provide a private space for visiting staff so decided to convert the old garage into a private cottage. This would provide the opportunity to bring in international staff to provide expertise at the retreat and retire every evening to their own private space to unwind and recharge their batteries. We love the idea of the retreat community where the staff act more like friends and guides, interacting with guests as one for the whole week, but everyone needs a little private space at the end of the day. We recognised early on that investing in the comfort and happiness of our staff is just as essential as that of our guests. So the private cottage for staff started to evolve. First its old roof was replaced with a brand new thermally insulated traditional roof then two new bedrooms were added with double French windows looking out to the mountain views of the west. Finally a fully equipped open plan kitchen and living space with sofa bed were built with a large accompanying bathroom. The new cottage is one of the first buildings that comes into view on approach to the retreat and has transformed the derelict look of the old garage into a fabulous a cosy living space that can accommodate 2-3 staff and potentially a family when not run as a retreat.