Surround yourself with the warmth and scent of pure wood: as soon as you walk in the scent is unmistakeable. Leave the world of 9-5 completely behind and escape to a luxurious Scottish getaway in the woodlands that’s accessible yet remote. An intricate balance between modernity and traditional: the luxuries of nature along with the modern world are what you will find here.
What happens during the festive season?
It’s the time to truly relax and switch off. As our guest, you’ll be invited on a bespoke guided history & wildlife tour and you’ll arrive to find our by now signature offering of sourdough stollen and our speciality pâte sablée fruit tart selection. For Christmas, you’ll be invited to fell your own Christmas tree, plant a replacement and return to your accommodation to spend the afternoon decorating your tree (decorations provided) whilst sipping a drink by the wood burning stove. For New Year, you’ll have the opportunity to plant a tree too.
Stay in our schenbothies
Our Schenbothies are intricately designed and constructed entirely from timber, with large triple glazing to let in the warmth and light. Self-catering accommodation for up to two people: perfect for solo travellers, a cosy romantic getaway, two friends, or some downtime for a parent and teenager. And of course, for designers interested in a eco-conscious build with Scottish materials at its heart.
What to expect?
You’ll find a beautifully tiled bathroom with a rainhead shower, WC and underfloor heating.
In the kitchen area there is a SMEG induction hob, Bosch Serie 8 compact combi oven with steam function, and standard undercounter fridge with freezer compartment. And plenty of quality utensils including a Microplane grater, vegetable peeler, OXO potato masher, toaster, pots & pans, cutlery & crockery, bottle opener, and thermal jug cafetiere and insulated teapot (to keep your drinks warm on the balcony). And one of the kitchens has vintage Woodsware crockery (but we couldn’t possibly tell you which one . . ). There is a table and chairs outside that can be easily taken inside.
Sleeping is in the gallery with a twin or superking mattress reached using the ladder - bedlinen and towels provided, and luxurious duvets made from recycled plastic bottles.
The Schenbothies are in essence an ecolodge or Tiny House with a bright, light contemporary open space for you to relax. Open the large sliding doors to the south-facing balcony outside to hear the birdsong right above your head amongst the trees, watch out for red squirrels & roe deer, and sit back in the evening by the firepit. And you’ll wake up to a delicious locally-sourced welcome pack of sourdough bread, local honey and locally-roasted coffee.
What’s the design?
A Scandi-Scots design inspired by Scottish timber: the interior is birch ply and the floors are spalted Scottish beech. Inside you may find an Arne Jacobsen series 3300 chair designed for Copenhagen Airport in 1956 - this time reupholstered in Harris Tweed or furniture by a young upcoming Scots cabinetmaker.
Finished with Scottish artisan furnishings including Amy Britton tweeds, Skyeskyns sheepskin, and local & organic Siabann skincare products for a truly luxurious getaway. And of course a Danish Morsø woodburning stove with zer-miles hardwood logs from the estate.
Built using a fabric-first approach, which emphasizes the quality of build materials to reduce the need for building energy usage, the walls are insulated to today’s residential building warrant standards with a U value of 0.2W/(m2K). This makes the bothies cosier than the average UK home, which in turn ensures your stay has a lower impact on the environment. The walls have an extra membrane than is usual in building: a moisture-open air-tightness layer which dramatically reduces draughts and stops heat escaping. When building we used a thermal camera to identify heat loss sots so we could improve. We also used all kinds of materials such as ProClima Tescon corner tape and all membranes are moisture open to help breathability of the build. Triple glazing further reduces heat loss. Whatever time of year this insulation works wonders: cool in the summer and warm in winter. The main source of heat is a woodburning stove where your first load of estate hardwood logs will keep you warm for many hours due to the heat-retention properties of the build.
switch off and unplug
Wake up to a lazy breakfast or hire an all-terrain TREK bicycle and try out our woodland, tarmac and hill routes (all GPS’d by our team). We have plenty of traffic-free routes for those who haven’t cycled in a while to a Markus Stitz hill Clackmannanshire loop and everything in between.
Or with the woodburning stove on, put your feet up and read that book or finish that work assignment (two PhDs to date) by the large triple-glazed south-facing window. Excellent WiFi. Peace is what you will have here without interruptions: and you’ll have the headspace and the physical space to fully relax.
What can I add onto my stay?
In the winter, follow a trial of red ribbons in the woodlands leading to a hot-food picnic by a lit firepit - this is a very special experience and in summer too with a picnic. Just ask us for other ideas or more information.
Children and dogs
Well-behaved dogs are permitted at each of our Schenbothies. A dog fee is payable which includes a bed, bowls, locally-made treats and compostable poo bags. We request that dogs are kept on a lead when walking around the estate. To keep your dog near while sitting outside at your Schenbothy you’ll find a 5m leash. No wonder we’re in the top 20 dog-friendly places to stay in the UK as published in The Guardian.
Children over the age of 12 years of age are very welcome. This is a great place for some parent and child away-time.
It’s all in the name
Our bothies are known as Schenbothies as they are located in the medieval barony of Schenbothy (first documented in 1359), from which today’s Estate of Brucefield originated. The coat of arms of Robert Stewart of Schenbothy from 1574 can still be seen at Brucefield. And the bothies are named using the Scots terms for animals on the estate: Tod for fox, Brock for badger, and Mertrick for pine marten.
recyle, biodegradable products & public transport
We use microfibre cloths with biodegradable, mineral-based cleaning products made in Scotland. Our waste is split into recyclable products eg paper, metal, plastic and food waste hot composted. Our washing-up sponges are washed and ready for use again. We use non-bleached recycled toilet and kitchen paper. We’re thrilled when guests can help us eg when a professional window cleaner came to stay he could show us how to properly use a squeegee . . . Our firelighters are amalgamated waste wood.
Arriving by bike? That’s great - either arrive by train to Alloa and take a taxi to us or cycle the 30 mins to us along the mostly traffic-free Sustrans NCN764 track. All guests arriving by public transport receive a complementary tree planting experience. Our farthest public transport-travelling guests have come from The Netherlands! We also have had several travelling from Brighton, London and Glasgow.
Accessibility
All Schenbothies require the use of a 2m ladder to reach the sleeping gallery. Our Schenbothies are located in a quiet, peaceful woodland setting: the only sounds generally that you will hear are birds and rustling leaves. There is a short walk on forest track to each Schenbothy of approx 20m to 80m. Each Schenbothy is surrounded by trees so each is secluded and they are 40m apart from each other.
