Killiehuntly Farmhouse

A sensory tale of a weathered, Highland stone farmhouse dating back to 1603 and the delicate, cool aesthetic of the Nordic design. Killiehuntly has fused simple beauty and wilderness in a creative guest house, a den wrapped in the solitude of the Cairngorms National Park.

Having been stripped back to its bare architectural bones, the Killiehuntly Farmhouse has never quite been so loved. Staying here is more like being with good, close friends. It is deliberately intimate, almost poetic: open farmhouse kitchen and dining, ample fireplace-snugs, well-turned books and curated designer furnishings - all framed by the old-style sash windows casting a glorious pictorial drama of nature in every direction.

Pictish culture plays the charismatic Scot while the wondrously creative Nordic plays the design card - both celebrate an unflinching love of nature and the Highlands - a concept rooted in the raw Scottish wilderness.

This designer farmhouse is a contemporary lair of creativity just a few hours from Inverness in Kingussie, offering a very different Highland fling.

Evenings at Killiehuntly Farmhouse are a quiet affair, many preferring to enjoy the sound of flickering flames in the fireplace or admire the silence of the landscape outside on a dusk walk.

The library offers an interesting array of books which you can take to your room.

The rooms are models of pared-back simplicity, with subdued hues of raincloud greys, sage green and anthracite making a chic and minimalist aesthetic. Depending on the room you choose, you might have a four poster bed or a smart wooden carved headboard. 

Softness comes from the layers of linens on the bed, sheepskin throws and hessian rugs. For privacy for your clan, consider Geordie’s cottage – a charming stone house suitable for five guests, just a short walk from the farmhouse.

Communal dining is at the heart of Killiehuntly Farmhouse Hotel, sitting either around the large oak kitchen table or at the long dining table in the library - still with a view into what the cook is up to. 

Breakfast - tasty loaves of bread, an egg menu and local cheeses bring on the day at the farmhouse - with a simply "what do you fancy" approach to daytime grazing.

Otherwise, upon returning to the house, the cook lets you in on what's on the table for tonight - all from the surrounds of the Scottish Highlands - think excellent game, beef and freshwater salmon and trout hitting all the gastro buttons.  This intimate affair is perfect for grasping the essence of this country retreat in a casual familiar fashion.

Set within the remote western pocket of the vast Cairngorms National Park, close to the Highland village of Kingussie in Badenoch, Inverness-shire. Killiehuntly Farmhouse Hotel is about a 45-min drive from Inverness, south of Aviemore. A great basecamp from which to explore the wilderness of the Spey Valley, Cairngorms and the Monadhliath Mountains.

Hosts

"Scottish and as local as can be" is how Anne describes her hosts at Killiehuntly, "all of our team have a close affinity to the estate, from the rangers who follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, to the in-house hosts and cook - they know this landscape like the back of their hands". 

Anne selected a team that beam with warm traditional Scottish hospitality and share her respect for nature and her love for this untouched wilderness.