Stunning contemporary Barn conversion sleeping 14 in 7 bedrooms, Colintraive

Argyll. Sleeps up to 14

This is one of Scotland’s most stylish and comfortable holiday houses. Sleeping 14 in seven bedrooms, with a sauna and private hot tub, use of a swimming pool and tennis court, and in stunning scenery, it is an absolute pleasure to stay in.

The whole downstairs is marble floored, and the house is underfloor heated throughout on both floors, so whatever time of year you visit, it is a cosy and comfy house with fantastic facilities.

The Old Barn at Ormidale took us nearly three years and half a million pounds to complete, and no expense has been spared in establishing it as arguably the most luxurious of our stable of properties. A fabulous 7 bedroom house for up to 12 adult guests or sixteen in total, with private hot tub, private sauna, shared swimming pool, use of a games cottage, tennis court, bouncy castle and twenty acres of grounds.

A travertine marble floor runs throughout the ground floor and offers a stunning contrast to the original exposed stone walls which feature in the kitchen and living area. All the main bedrooms upstairs have private wash-hand basins, superb quality beds and bedding, built in storage and hanging space and lovely woodland and mountain views. The three bathrooms feature floor to ceiling ivory tiling, natural stone floors, Jacuzzi baths, and contemporary fittings.

Underfloor heating from an environmentally sustainable ground source heat pump provides constant heating through both floors of the property, which will accommodate up to 16 guests in total, with our maximum adult occupancy usually set at 12. Separate kitchen, living, dining and TV spaces mean that parties can come together or play apart as they see fit.

The next door games cottage, scruffy and characterful in equal measure with exposed stone walls and beams, has ping pong and pool tables and a dart board, and will eat up the teenagers (of whatever age) in the party, as will the swimming pool. A child-friendly but stylish, pet friendly but contemporary holiday house, in a fabulous holiday location.

Ormidale House is rated at the top of VisitScotland’s 4 star band for excellence; the Mill House and Old Barn were described by a VisitScotland assessor as “5 star downstairs and 2.5 stars upstairs” due to the small size of the bedrooms, but they are not part of the award scheme and do not have a star rating. Both the Mill House and the Old Barn at Ormidale have been given special awards by Tripadviser and Olivers Travels for the consistency of the 5 / 5 reviews awarded by their customers.
the Old Barn beautifully combines the traditional and the contemporary. There are separate dining, sitting and TV rooms, and the kitchen is in its own space.

Old exposed stone walls meet clean white plaster and travertine tiles. Upstairs, five of the bedrooms have their own wash-hand basins, and two can be set as twin or king-size. Most have built in storage and lovely woodland views.

Living Accommodation
The kitchen / breakfast room features an original exposed stone wall, but is wonderfully light thanks to the large glass archway and door out to the private cobbled courtyard terrace. The kitchen cabinets are oak, and the granite work surface, stone Belfast sink and travertine marble floor, are complemented by Neff, Gaggia and Bosch kitchen appliances to underline the commitment to quality and to marrying genuine traditional materials to the most up-to-date facilities. There is an American-style fridge freezer, single oven, double oven, microwave, halogen hob, large toaster and coffee machine. There is seating for up to eight around the expandable island unit in French polished oak.

The kitchen gives way through an open exposed stone arch into the large sitting room with three sofas. There is a separate TV room, seating up to a dozen on beanbags and benches - which can be used to take a large single bed or pair of occasional beds if required - and a dining room, both floored in the same cream travertine marble tiles. The lovely French-oak dining room table sits surrounded by bench seating on three sides (an improvement since the photography was done...) As a result, we have successfully accommodated over 20 diners at a sitting. This is only achievable if none of them are supersized and all are good at keeping their elbows in... we set the adult maximum in the house at 12 to 14 to reflect the dining table capacity!
Bedroom Accommodation
The five king-size / twin rooms upstairs are complemented by one bunk room with full sized bunk beds, and a small double. The downstairs TV room can convert into an extra bedroom for an extra guest or two little ones to take the capacity up to 16. The five main bedrooms each have wash-hand basins, king size or super king beds, and built in wardrobes featuring shelving and hanging storage. Two of them can be set as twin or king as required. The bedrooms are smaller than those in Ormidale House, and are perhaps a little bit tighter than you would expect in four star accommodation (which is why we don t claim it.) but we have gone to at least that level in terms of investment in gorgeous bedding, goose-feather and down duvets and pillows, quality linen, etc. If bedroom space is an important consideration for your party, The Old Barn is a better bet than The Mill House. There is a
downstairs loo and shower room, and a sauna. Two other bathrooms, featuring stunning floor to ceiling travertine tiles and corner jaccuzzi baths, as well as powerful showers, are on the first floor.

The Old Barn can be taken in conjunction with The Garden Cottage just across the courtyard - two quite large bedrooms, a shower room, and two box/ bunk rooms, all on the ground floor. It is literally a few meters away, and means that we are a more attractive prospect for those parties including guests with either limited mobility, or with a desire for a bit more peace and privacy. The Garden Cottage was chosen as their bridal / honeymoon suite by the last couple to get married at Ormidale, so it isn t exactly the shabbiest bit of the estate.
Surely as well equipped an estate for holiday makers as you will find in Scotland - Indoor Heated Swimming Pool, individual hot tubs and saunas for each house, Football Pitch, Tennis Court, Games Cottage with Pool, Ping Pong and Darts, Large Bouncy Castle, Sunken Trampoline, and thousands of acres of forest to explore.

We have done our best to ensure that the facilities on the estate mirror those of much bigger, much more expensive properties. Swimming pool, hot tubs, tennis court, football pitch, bouncy castle, trampoline, sandpit, play areas, river, waterfall, Lochan, 17,000 tress to climb, quiet terraces by the river, wee fairy glades in the woods - to use the words of an early guest, "Ormidale is heavenly haven for adults, kids and dogs."

We provide a dozen bikes of various sizes, and have twelve bags of golf clubs. Croquet sets, tennis rackets, badminton kit all available. Twenty board games. Our scruffy little games cottage features table tennis and darts on one floor and a pool table on the other.

Guest have full use of our own 22 acres to explore and relax in. We are also very lucky that there is no boundary between our grounds and the thousands of acres of forestry commission land behind us. So you can roam in the gloaming, or at dawn, direct from the house, to your heart s desire.
The gardens themselves are considered pretty impressive by people who know about these things. At the same time as the Scottish architect Robert Lorimer started on the house at the end of the nineteenth century, the gardens and grounds were laid out and landscaped by Thomas Mawson of Kendal, a major figure in Victorian Landscape gardening. Set amidst the acres of woodland, and enjoying lovely views across the glen and up the mountain, the formal gardens he designed are mainly laid to lawn and terrace with hydrangeas, rhodedendron 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, down from the Lochen that supplies Ormidale s private water supply. There is a lovely waterfall walk within the garden, and a rope-assisted climb down to a pool for outdoor bathing. The walk up to the Lochen itself is a wee climb, but really worth
it. It s a fabulous location for kids.

We ve added a sunken trampoline, croquet set and football goals to what nature has provided as a playground, and we ve installed three midge machines to keep the other type of annoying wee bu$$ers at bay!!

Each of the three houses has its own private terrace and enjoys the use of a private bit of lawned garden, with the tennis court, football pitch, woods, river, and front field all shared. The main house has the biggest lawn, and the Mill house has a lovely garden dropping down to the river. The Old Barn has a less generous private lawned area by comparison but still has space for adults to sit out and enjoy sunshine and for children to play
we have a full size commercial bouncy castle sitting outside the games cottage near the swimming pool. And there are a thousand trees to climb.


This vacation home is located in Colintraive. Luckenbooth Gallery and Bute Museum are cultural highlights, and some of the area's landmarks include Dunans Castle and New Castle Lachlan. Benmore Botanic Garden and Ardencraig Gardens are also worth visiting.

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