Argyll Mill - Nine Bedroom Villa, Sleeps 14

The Mill has recently been restored, and was christened by its first guests as “The Wow Factory”. With rooms on four levels, it will accommodate up to maximum of 18 adults and up to 22 (including 4 young children) guests in total, in real style.

The main feature is the open plan (80m2) ground floor reception area which opens up from a fabulous kitchen, through the dining area with vaulted ceiling, into a generous living/lounging area with open fireplace. The dining and lounge areas feature the original exposed stone wall and light floods through a large glass archway incorporating the main house entrance into the courtyard.

All the reception areas on ground and mezzanine levels are tiled in a natural riven slate that goes beautifully with the old stone walls and new white plaster walls, with underfloor heating throughout the house provided by an environmentally sustainable ground source heat pump. The stone fireplace features the saw bench from the original mill as the mantelpiece. Some of the bedrooms have quite quirky layouts and they are generally smaller than the bedrooms in the other properties within the estate. However, they all have the same quality of goose-down feather pillow and duvet, the same gorgeous linen and the same quality mattresses.

A river runs through the grounds. The facilities include a shared tennis court (although this can be privatised for certain hours in the day). Two other properties are located within the estate but both are entirely independent so your group will have privacy.

Features:

The large stylish contemporary kitchen area features a granite work surface throughout, twin stainless steel sinks and two dishwashers, two electric ovens, a large American style fridge freezer, and gadgets galore.  There’s a kitchen table for eight – expandable to sit a comfortable 12 – and a breakfast bar for up to six.  The separate utility room features washing machine and drier, an additional large fridge and freezer, and extra storage.  As well as the stunning main open plan reception area, the ground floor also features a utility room, a loo, and a separate TV room-cum-play room with 42 inch flat screen LCD TV with full Sky plus package; this room has its own access to the garden and to a sandstone terrace facing the river. An additional South-facing sitting room on the mezzanine floor gives access through a pair of french doors onto another terrace with garden furniture and to the private rear garden, river and woods. Guests also have access to a separate games cottage with snooker, darts and table tennis, shared with Argyll Barn.

There are nine bedrooms altogether, each offering double or twin accommodation.  The bedroom layout makes the most of the available space to maximize the number of guests we can accommodate. As well as five ordinary doubles, there are two bunk rooms, a family room sleeping up to five people, and one room that can be set as a twin, a super king, or a triple. While none of the rooms are enormous, four of them have either additional bunks or fold-away beds to increase the overall capacity to 22 including children. The six main bedrooms all have stylish contemporary wash-hand basins. Four bedrooms feature raised platform beds with storage underneath. There are three stunning bathrooms, with wall to wall travertine marble walls and slate floors, two of which feature jacuzzi baths, and a  separate sauna.

Set amidst the 20 acres of woodland, and enjoying lovely views across the glen and up the mountain, the gardens are mainly laid to lawn and terrace with hydrangeas, rhododendron and azalea, as well as reputedly the tallest Grecian fir in Scotland. Our own woods feature numerous tree species and adjoin thousands of acres of forestry commission land through which guests are welcome to wander. One of our terraces features a Grade A listed sundial. A tributary of the river Ruel runs through the gardens, from the Lochen that supplies our private water supply. There is a lovely waterfall walk within the garden, and a rope-assisted climb down to a pool for outdoor bathing. It’s a fabulous location for kids.

Location:

Although just an hour and a half from Glasgow, the house sits in some of the loveliest scenery in Scotland. The Kyles of Bute are renowned with both walkers and sailors as among the most stunning bits of coast in Scotland. Whatever the weather in Argyll, usually remarkably mild, this is great country for site seeing, with every corner revealing a new variation on the theme of mountain, loch, valley, sky, woodland, sea, rock, and beach. The Cowal peninsula is a fabulous base for an active holiday with marvellous wildlife, numerous gardens, other tourist attractions to visit, and a variety of sporting activities.

The house has grounds of 23 acres, and sits about a mile above the head of Loch Riddon, enjoying complete privacy and lovely views down the glen to the river Ruel. The Island of Bute itself is as little as 15 minutes away from the house – accessed via a ferry from Colintraive – and was a “must visit” destination long before Stella McCartney got married there or former racing driver Johnnie Dumfries moved into Mount Stuart House as the new Marquess of Bute.

Inverary with its famous Jail and Castle, seat of Clan Campbell for the last few hundred years, is only 45 minutes away, as is Loch Lomond. Dunoon is another tourist destination in its own right, and it is just under half an hour away. You can get to Glen Coe in an hour and a half; to Stirling, Oban or Fort William in under two. Loch Ness and Edinburgh are easy enough day trips – reachable in less than 2 and a half hours.

As well as general site-seeing and trips to the Island of Bute, Inverary and further afield, there are a host of other activities you can undertake around Glenaruel. It’s fabulous walking country and you will be provided with twelve mountain bikes for those who want to explore on two wheels rather than four. There are some really excellent routes direct from the house, involving all sorts of terrain and levels of strain!

There’s a lovely 9 hole pay and play course ten minutes away above Tighnabruaich. There are five bags of golf clubs for the house and they probably won’t be too fussed about the usual rules regarding golf shoes provided you don’t arrive in jeans and carve the course up. The same applies to the almost equally spectacular nine hole course at Blairmore & Strone, half an hour away. Cowal Golf Club at Dunoon and Inellan are the 18 hole courses in the area that welcome visitors.

For fishing, there are too many options to go into here, but you can spend anything from £9 per day to over £1,000 for river fishing in the area. You can fish for trout in the nearby stream for nothing or in the Lochen at the head of the river. Mackerel on a line in a boat on the Kyles is a right of passage for hundreds of West of Scotland kids every year. They swim in shoals all around these waters and there’s no permit payable.

It’s a fabulous part of the world for water-sports of all sorts. Horse-riding, climbing, canoeing, caving, archery, quad biking, paint-balling, and clay pigeon shooting are also all available either on site or in the area. 

There is a wee shop selling all the basics at the camp-site in the Glendaruel valley, about a mile’s walk away, beside the historic Kilmodan standing stones. You get a slightly bigger choice in the Spar at Tighnabruich five miles away. Dunoon is 16 miles away and is a thriving market / harbour town with award-winning bakeries, cafes and butchers, as well as a big Co-Op and a big Somerfield supermarket.

Scotland is not really well served by pubs in general; this area is definitely an exception. The Glendaruel Hotel is a lovely wee pub, a two mile drive away, and serves good pub grub. The Colintraive Hotel and Tighnabruich Hotel are each a tad busier and a tad more ambitious in terms of menu. Chatters in Dunoon is highly recommended, and the Whistlefield and Coylet Inns on Loch Eck are also worth a visit. Less than half an hour away from the house is a wonderful restaurant on Loch Fyne, overlooking the old Castle Lachlan. The Benmore Gardens tea room is not half bad, either, and the Otterferry Inn and Loch Fyne Oyster Bar have good reputations (on which, it might be said, they trade slightly). All in all, though, there are few areas of Scotland where you can enjoy such a variety of excellent, reasonably priced menus.

Terms & Conditions:

Security deposit?
£50 per person (£100 per person for Stag do's and Hen do's). This is paid prior to arrival and will be refunded in full after departure subject to damage inspection.

Arrival time?
4 p.m. or earlier by arrangement.

Departure time?
10.30 a.m. or later by arrangement.

Energy costs included?
Included in the rental price.

Linen & towels included?
All linen and bath towels are included in the rental price.

Pets welcome?
Pets allowed.

Changeover day?
Friday

End of stay cleaning included?
Included. Please leave the property in the state that you found it.

Smoking Allowed?
No smoking in the property.

Other Ts and Cs?
Please note that use of the hot tub comes at an additional charge of £100 for a weekend booking, and £150 for a week long booking.

Minimum stay?
7 nights approximately Christmas and New Year and mid-July to mid-August (short stays over Summer are on request). 2 nights during all other periods.
Pets - allowed
Smoking - not allowed