near West Calder Apartments: Farmhouse Cottage

Apartments: Farmhouse Cottage

A 35 minute drive from the heart of Edinburgh and located on a livestock farm, this is the cottage for those happy to be at the heart of a farm. Creatively transformed in 1998 from dereliction into a wonderful home, it is white, light, spacious, inviting and warm with its multi-fuel stove and oil-fired central heating.

Graded 4 STAR by Visit Scotland, this is just one of 4 properties on this farm in the Pentland Hills, for which the farming owners regularly scoop national awards with their customer care. They live locally, just over the road.

Set back from the road with a small front garden, this detached cottage nestles right beside farm buildings and a field. Curiously enough this has proved to be somewhat of an attraction rather than a negative, especially to youngsters who love to meet the cows and calves housed inside over the winter, or look with envy at the array of working agricultural machinery housed so close to their home.

The property now has entrance gates (not shown in the photo). This means that it can be totally enclosed if you have small children or pets.

The accommodation comprises:

Two storey with an upstairs family bedroom but also ground floor accommodation, a double and single bedroom, equally suitable for the able-bodied, but also for disabled wheelchair users or those with mobility problems. The accommodation also works well for 2 small families or 2 couples sharing as the layout and distance from some of the bedrooms offer some privacy.

Entry is through a roomy porch / utility room. Large enough for all your fishing or golf gear, bicycles, or car-roof rack, it's just as ideal as a temporary home for your dog for just a few hours as it can be shut off from the rest of the house.

To the left is an open plan lofty living / dining area with a granite-topped island unit dividing this area from the fully integrated, red alder kitchen. A focal point at the far end of the living area is the multi-fuel stove for those who love the ambience of a real fire in addition to the oil-fired central heating.

To the right are a double bedroom with ensuite shower & w.c., and a small single bedroom. Opposite is a wheel-in shower-room. This bathroom with power shower, bath, W.C, basin and rail grabs is ideal for a wheelchair-bound guest. The floor is non-slip.

Please note that the double bed shown in the far away bedroom has now been upgraded and instead there is a splendid kingsize oak bed in this double--height bedroom.

Wide stairs lead up to a small gallery, above the kitchen and overlooking the living area. Beyond, behind the door, is a spacious dormer / attic with two single beds and one double. A child's paradise with plenty of floor space to play on. And you can pop into an adjacent room with toilet and handbasin to spare nocturnal trips downstairs!

The huge selection of toys, books and games for rainy days or relaxing evenings is something guests really highlight as a huge bonus to their stay.

Cots and highchairs are available on request, as is a wheeled shower chair for those in need. A stairgate is available for the base of the stairs.

The nearest public transport is 6 miles away in West Calder so you do need your own car. Parking adjacent to the property, so unloading is quick and easy. This is a wonderful base for radiating out all over central Scotland and there is so much to explore actively or passively!

Features

Terms

After the initial 15% is paid to confirm the booking, a further 50% of the balance is due immediately.

The remainder is due 5 weeks prior to arrival.

Please note that unless otherwise advised, fuel and electricity is an extra, charged at cost, as per measurable usage, and payable at the end of the stay.

Dogs by arrangement: a fee of £20 per dog per stay charged as an extra.

The weekly price quoted for this cottage is based on up to 6 people. If a seventh person an extra £50 fee is charged.

Arrival time is after 16:00 and departure by 10:00, unless otherwise agreed.

Cancellation
To notify any cancellation in writing and pay any monies due: 50% up to 8 weeks' prior to the arrival date, 100% after that.

If the accommodation is re-let at the full rate, a full refund, less the 15% plus £200 will be made.

If a new booking for the property is secured at a lesser rate a partial refund will be made.

If not re-let then no refund will be made.

Weekly bookings preferred, running from Saturday to Saturday, but last minute short break enquiries welcome at good discounted rates. Ask. Short breaks, well in advance, are set at more realistic rentals.

This clause has been added on 19 June 2020 in the light of Government restrictions imposed by the Covid situation
If the Government were to re-introduce restrictions that all self-catering cottages must be closed to recreational guests we would be obliged to give you a full refund of any monies paid because we would not be able to offer you the service you had paid for. So the total loss would be ours. However, if the Govt were to impose a limit, for example, on how many different households could share the accommodation, that's different. When we take a booking, one person signs the booking form as responsible for the contract between us, and that contract does not require me to know who you, as the person responsible for the booking, are inviting as your guests. So for example, suppose the Govt were suddenly to announce that no more than 4 households were to stay together and you had invited 5 different families and had booked Craigengar Lodge, you would either have to consider re-organising who your guests were to be or cancel the booking on our normal terms basis as displayed above. And if you were, for example, to reduce the original number of your guests staying. If the number was over 12, we would give you an extra guest refund of £50 if already paid. on any extra guests that you drop over the 12 number, but we would not be able to offer any refund on your up to 12 rental figure paid. The thought behind all this is that if you were to cancel for a "numbers / no. of household" reason, we could find myself foregoing much-needed income when I could have accepted an alternative booking from another party with an acceptable make-up, say 3 families with 4 children each, who would not have exceeded the number of households allowed. On my booking form, I only need to know the numbers of guests, broken down into adults and children ( the last, just for my own interest and to know if cots are required.) And the number of any pets as there is a small dog fee. For Track and Trace reasons I may need to be given contact details just prior to arrival or durng your stay of everyone staying or visiting.
For clarity: Should the guests' personal circumstances alter and prevent them using our accommodation we cannot issue a refund as long as we are allowed to remain open. Likewise if we are allowed by the Government to remain open but restrictions have been imposed, for example, on a guest travelling to our accommodation, eg. due to their own area localised lockdowns / border or quarantine requirements being imposed, no refunds can be issued unless the owners can achieve an alternative booking when our cancellation policy outlined in Term 3.1. would be relevant.
The other thing to consider when booking, is safe distancing. With Craigengar's 5 bedrooms (six if you count the gallery as a bedroom ) and 6 bathrooms, there would be enough space between beds for the 2-metre rule currently existing in the summer of 2020 and there can be 14 separate beds which include 2 kingsize and singles that can be zip linked into superkings ( 12 proper beds and 2 sofa beds). We can provide a couple of air beds. Your only problem might be sitting around the dining tables but in addition to the long dining table ( which can be split into 2 tables ) seating 8, there are 2 other tables seating 4 each which can be used. And the kitchen might only allow 2 cooks or perhaps 3 if the 2-metre rule is still applying.