Branching out: The UK’s most enchanting treehouse retreats
Sleeping among the branches in a treehouse is utterly enchanting — and doesn’t mean skimping on comfort.
Note to (s)elf: I must, despite obvious similarities, resist comparing Sandi Toksvig to a woodland sprite. The trouble is, she’s so very pixie-ish. The half-pint height, the chuckling good humour, the eyes-wide enthusiasm for all things forested – once you’ve seen her Great British Woodland Restoration, it’s impossible to ignore the sylph/Sandi parallels.
Which is why, when I recently took my kids to stay at one of the country’s newest and loveliest treehouse hideaways, they saw gnomes and goblins and will-o’-the-wisps every time the dusk breeze moved a frond glimpsed from the corner of their eyes, and I kept catching an imagined glimpse of Toksvig.
Elves aside, it’s impossible not to fall at least a little under the enchantment of the woods when you spend the night among its branches. Toksvig’s new series certainly catches some of the magic of the UK’s trunkscape, but even for those who have not seen it, the idea of a treehouse stay remains redolent with memories of childhood escape, illicit adventure and cosy charm.
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And TreeDwellers (treedwellers.co.uk) doesn’t disappoint in any of those aspects. Set in a lovely copse of tall Scots pines in the middle of the Cotswolds, it consists of seven individual one- or two-bedroom retreats. Inside they’re all eco-feel, wood-and-pale-palette soft furnishings, with luxurious bathrooms and cute mini-kitchens. From the outside they’re more sci-fi habitation pod than kitschy Hansel and Gretel log cabins, with curving walls and wide-screen windows that look like spaceship cockpits. In short, they would be a blast to stay in wherever they were – but put them three metres up in the treetops, and they’re magical. In the early morning mists, the site feels like a primordial land that time forgot; as evening creeps and spreads from beneath the branches of the trees, and soft lights beckon you home to your treehouse after a long walk, it’s all more Lord of the Rings. And you will want to walk: TreeDwellers sits on the edge of Cornbury deer park and within 20 minutes’ march of a couple of classic Cotswold inns in exquisite thatch-heavy hamlets.
For the non-walkers, and those with accessibility needs, one of the treehouses is placed cleverly above a dell so that you sleep at branches-level without the need for stairs – which means the place truly works for ages nine to 99.
And if you’re nowhere near the Cotswolds? Try one of these instead…
LIVING ROOM, POWYS
Round windows, rope bridges, handmade lanterns and wood-burning stoves to heat your treehouse and its springwater shower because there’s no electricity – if hobbits had architects, this is what they’d come up with. Set amid a 280-acre sheep farm near Machynlleth, these six whimsical treehouses are only reachable via a woodland walk, spiral staircase and those wonderfully wobbly rope bridges. Inside, expect a haven of bone oak, western red cedar – and utter peace. (living-room.co)
THE TREEHOUSES AT LANRICK, PERTHSHIRE
If “Treecreeper” sounds like a horror film, relax. The five treehouses here are all named after woodland bird species – so if you don’t fancy Treecreeper, there’s always Nuthatch, Pipit, Willow Warbler or Flycatcher. All are huge, with proper kitchens and living rooms, plus decks, outside showers and super-king-size beds – and all share the peace of their location, within dreamy earshot of the River Teith, in 1,500 acres of forest. Within easy reach of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond, Lanrick is right at the start of the Highlands. (lanricktreehouses.co.uk)
RAMSIDE HALL, COUNTY DURHAM
There’s nothing very wildernessy about the treehouses at Ramside Hall: they overlook the 18th hole at a hotel, golf club and spa on the edge of Durham. On the other hand, guests get to experience a level of luxury and a sophistication of decor you would expect from a Manhattan apartment rather than a forest bothy. Sexy black leather Chesterfields, chic granite bathrooms, Scandi-look stoves and furs and pale woods – if you’re not prepared to compromise your urban aesthetic sensibilities just because you’re 20 feet in the air, this is definitely the place for you. (ramsidehallhotel.co.uk/treehouses)
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WOLF WOOD, DEVON
What, you’re telling us your childhood treehouse didn’t have a sauna in it? Well, at last you can put that right: the four treehouses at Wolf Wood are as high-end as they are high up, and come with various permutations of sunken hot tubs, waterfall rainshowers, rolltop baths and, yes, saunas. Not even the fancy facilities can distract from the views through the floor-to-ceiling folding French doors, though: you’re in 12 tranquil acres of native woodland between Dartmoor and the North Cornwall coast. (wolfwoodtreehouses.co.uk)
WEST LEXHAM, NORFOLK
If you want your wilderness with a slice of wellness on the side, West Lexham is the place for you. A “wellness retreat centre” near King’s Lynn that just happens to have half a dozen treehouses alongside its wooden cabins and bell tents, the place is a hippy heaven, with everything from Zen Belly Retreats to Chanting Stork Yoga on offer (don’t ask us). Set in 22 acres of land, the accommodations, some of which are big enough to sleep six, are pretty boho, too, with some crazy colour schemes, and there’s also a communal bathing house. (westlexham.org)
