Built in the 1840s, this historic cottage has housed labourers, craftsmen and families...and can now be your perfect holiday home!
Tig Cottage is a beautiful place for you to retreat, relax, reset and revive yourself! At Tig Cottage you can sit surrounded by trees, listening to birdsong and the burbling Water of Tig, a small river that flows through a gorge at the bottom of the cottage garden, just taking time for you.
And when you've relaxed enough, Tig Cottage is the perfect base to explore the mysterious rugged coastline, rolling hills and historic homes and castles of Ayrshire and the Scottish Southern Uplands. It's within driving distance of major tourist locations, including the Galloway National Forest, Wigtown, Newton Stewart, Dumfries, Edinburgh, Glasgow and even a day trip to Belfast via the ferry at Cairnryan, only 20 minutes away.
At night, you can experience the true majesty of the galaxy under our Dark Skies, with plenty of stargazing opportunities.
When you arrive, you'll park on our off road driveway, and enter the cottage using your own code in the keypad, so you never need worry about carrying house keys. Open our secure green door and step inside!
The calm hallway, with it's colourful lightshade and rug, welcomes you. There's space to hang your bag, coat or even your pet's dog lead, and store any muddy boots to your right, before venturing further in.
To your left is the cozy living room. Decorated in a clean, eclectic, modern style, you can make yourself comfortable on the colourful velvet or leather sofas. Patio doors lead to the garden, which is visited by rabbits and various birds during the day, and becomes a playground for owls and endangered pipistrelle bats at night.
The living room has windows on the side wall, front wall and the patio doors on the back wall, meaning that from every angle, trees can be seen through the window. Listen carefully when you're in the living room, and you may be able to hear the burbling of the Water of Tig as it flows through the garden on it's way to join the River Stinchar before heading out to sea.
Although the cottage has automatic central heating, there is a modern, easy to use woodburner in the room for cozy Scottish evenings.
If you need to catch up on your favourite TV shows, or want to enjoy a movie with a wee dram of whisky, there is a Samsung Smart TV, loaded with all the modern apps, ready for you to log in to.
Artwork in this room includes a rare print by Nicholas Mogely, a limited edition print by Oliver Ryan, an original painting by Alan McNally of nearby Ailsa Craig, and a poster sized cover of Herge's TinTin and the Black Island.
From the hallway, you can also go to the right and enter the calm, casual dining room. The solid wood table and it's four chairs provide a comfortable space for family dining or can easily become a romantic space for a late evening meal cooked at home in the fully equipped kitchen.
There is also a velvet armchair by the window that's perfect for curling up with a book (we've a library of clothbound classics for you to peruse). The traditional woodburner in this room has been here for over 50 years, and is now for decorative use only.
There's also a CD player on the windowsill that can connect to your phone or tablet via bluetooth or auxiliary lead, so that you can play your favourite music.
From the dining room you can step into the refurbished, modern, fully equipped kitchen. The induction hob, electric oven, toaster, kettle and microwave are all easy to use. And since nothing says "holiday" like a relaxing coffee in the morning, there is a Nespresso coffee machine just waiting to perk up your day.
The kitchen has tableware, crockery, a variety of cups and glasses (including wine glasses) as well as pots and pans all tidied away in drawers and cupboards. We've supplied cleaning equipment too, all kept next to the sink.
Tig Cottage is pet friendly, so under the sink you'll find a "doggy disaster" kit, containing specialist cleaning supplies for any little accidents your furry friend might have, as well as dog bowls.
Off the kitchen is the utility room, with a washing machine (there is not a dryer, but the machine spins well), and a full sized fridge freezer, as well as the back door out to the decked seating area and the garden.
From the utility room, you can step into the clean, simple bathroom, with it's toilet, bath, sink and electric shower.
If you go up the stairs from the hallway, you'll reach the first floor where you'll find the two bedrooms.
To the left is the master bedroom. This warm green room has a sloping ceiling and velux windows to the front and back, so it feels like you are nesting in the trees. The divan double bed has a hotel quality 5000 pocket spring intelligent wool mattress that can keep you comfortable and cool, and four Mela pillows that allow sink in softness whilst still giving you all the support you need. The mustard bedding matches the mustard bedside lamps on the mustard yellow bedside cabinets on either side of the bed.
Clothes storage is spilt across a wall hanger for any special clothes that need to be hung up, and an Ercol side unit for storage of any items that can remain in your suitcase. In the top drawer of the unit is a BaByliss hairdryer, and there's a full length mirror on the wall next to the door.
Over the bed is a beautiful fine art print of a parrot by Vanessa Foley. Part of a pair, it's companion can be found in the twin room across the landing.
The twin room, also painted in the same warm green, contains two single beds, each with the same high quality mattress and bedding as the master bed. A shared handmade long table provides bedside storage, with two lamps, one for each bed. On the wall above the table is the matching fine art print of a multicoloured parrot by Vanessa Foley.
Two velux windows fit snugly in the sloping ceiling, providing a view out towards the trees (from the front) or the hills and sky (from the back).
At night, from both bedrooms, the river can be heard, lulling you to a peaceful, deep sleep.
Tig Cottage has it's own garden with a raised decking area with colourful metal garden furniture comprising two chairs , a bench and table (cushions for the bench and chair are kept in the utility room). The decked area has steps down into the grassed area of the garden, with the gorge down to the river, the view across to Heronsford Bridge, and a mix of trees, plants and flowering plants.
No matter what time you are out in the garden, the river's gentle flow creates a restful and bucolic atmosphere. During the day, sheep can be heard from the fields across the river, along with a variety of birdsongs. At night, because Tig Cottage rests under a Dark Sky area, you can sit and gaze at constellations that normally can't be seen due to light pollution. Endangered pipistrelle bats treat the skies above the cottage as their own playground, swooping and diving through the air, whilst owls hunt for their supper in the nearby woods.
Sounds wonderful, right? Don't miss out. Booking now ensures you get your perfect stay.
Please be aware that a small river runs through a gorge at the bottom of the garden. You can hear it burbling from inside the cottage at night - it’s a beautiful, relaxing sound and one of the things that makes Tig Cottage so special.
There are steps that go part of the way down the gorge - these are steep and can be slippery. We recommend that they aren’t used by children and use by anyone is at your own risk.
Tig Cottage is dog friendly but the garden is not fully enclosed or secured to prevent escape. There are a variety of wild plants and trees and animals that visit the garden - we would suggest only letting supervised dogs or dogs on leads use the garden.
