‘I spent my early years in her neighbourhood, and amongst her servants and tenants I do know that she was detested with probably the most heartfelt cordiality.’
So wrote Scotland’s nationwide poet, Robert Burns, of Mrs Mary Oswald, one of many authentic house owners of Cavens Property close to Dumfries within the 18th Century.
Fortunately, the bard would certainly provide a lot kinder phrases in regards to the present proprietors, Angus and Jane Fordyce, who’ve run Cavens as a boutique nation home resort since 1999. Certainly, so hospitable are they as hosts that many visitors have turn out to be regulars.
Georgian splendour: Cavens is a boutique nation home resort tucked away on the Solway Firth
The Mail on Sunday’s Keeba Critchlow says at Cavens you ‘really feel as if you happen to’re staying with pals,’. Pictured is likely one of the cosy reception rooms
The whitewashed Georgian haven, tucked away on the Solway Firth, exudes nation consolation and area. Two ethereal reception rooms function generously stuffed sofas and open fireplaces, and on heat days the adjoining terrace is a quiet spot from which take within the sweep of lawns and mature bushes.
All the things at Cavens is geared in the direction of peace and rest, and also you’ll really feel as if you happen to’re staying with pals. Rooms are immaculately embellished and both ‘nation’, which overlook the gardens, or ‘property’, that are impressively giant and considerably extra grand.
Friends ebook on a dinner, mattress and breakfast foundation and stays of a couple of night time are inspired to correctly unwind from the stresses of contemporary life.
Dinner is a three-course set menu, which adjustments day by day utilizing scrumptious native produce and is solely cooked by Angus to showcase their pure flavours. Anticipate scorching smoked salmon on a mattress of leaves from the backyard with hollandaise and a poached egg; rib-eye steak with roasted rosemary potatoes and greens; and native cheese or lemon creme brulee to comply with.
Cavens is a pure base for exploring Dumfries and Galloway, says Keeba. Pictured is the River Nith in Dumfries
The Solway Firth (above) is only a 30-minute stroll from the home. This stunning nook of Scotland is dubbed the nation’s best-kept secret
Be sure that to accompany your meal with one of many spectacular number of wines out there – the listing far exceeds what you’d count on for such a small institution, and the 18th Century wine cellar itself is nicely value a go to.
After night time’s relaxation in one of many six giant bedrooms, a full Scottish cooked breakfast, that includes haggis (naturally), is the star of the breakfast menu. Various choices embody domestically made granola and porridge, in addition to the same old baked items.
With roe deer and crimson squirrels among the many common guests to the gardens and the Solway Firth only a 30-minute stroll from the home, there isn’t a must journey far to expertise this stunning nook of Scotland, dubbed the nation’s best-kept secret.
But Cavens can be a pure base for exploring Dumfries and Galloway. Twitchers will benefit from the choices of RSPB Mersehead and WWT Caerlaverock, whereas the creative hub of Kirkcudbright is lower than an hour away.
Barely additional afield is Dumfries Home, a rustic mansion boasting an unrivalled assortment of Chippendale furnishings which the Prince of Wales saved for the nation in 2007.
A go to to the realm wouldn’t be full with out paying tribute to Robert Burns, who spent his final years in Dumfries in a sandstone home now open to the general public (by appointment solely).