It’s been four years since we delivered a beautiful Plankbridge Guest House hut to Laverstock Farm in West Dorset. Here, our Head of Creative Hannah experiences the charm and tranquility for herself – and finds something straight out of the pages of a Thomas Hardy novel…
Nothing is guaranteed to slow the pace after a busy working week quite like arriving at a Laverstock Farm hut on a balmy summer’s evening, knowing you have the weekend rolling out in front of you. A stone’s throw from the Jurassic Coast and nearby Bridport and Lyme Regis, Fern Hill Cabin (a Guest House) is one of three equally charming and tranquil huts, including Everdene and Herdwick (both off-grid), that make up this very special cluster of guest hideaways.
Over the years I’ve been lucky to stay in quite a few Plankbridge shepherd’s huts and, as always, the first thing I did – as soon as I’d admired the welcome gift of Laverstock eggs, fresh from the hens kept just below the paddock – was to get the fire pit going. Having invited my parents, Richard and Jane, to join us for supper (Richard also proving himself to be a dab hand with the lighting), we soon had the sausages sizzling, along with onions and courgettes I’d picked from my Bath allotment earlier that day. Eating alfresco, overlooking the rolling golden Dorset hills as the sun went down, with a woodfired Kirami hot tub pre-lit before we’d arrived and only the hoot of an owl and the gentle grazing of friendly sheep for company, it really did feel like we’d turned up a little corner of paradise.
Of course, the charm of Fern Hill Cabin doesn’t stop with the outside – the inside is just as idyllic too, with soft linen covered in flowers and bees on the comfortable king-size bed and a pile of towels neatly folded on top. We slept for ten hours straight: the sign of a very restful weekend.
After a hearty breakfast of Laverstock eggs, we explored the working farm to find hens, ducks, sheep and goats, and the sweetest little honesty shop where you can buy goat food as well as local honey and jam. The rest of the weekend was spent in much the same gently relaxing way – culminating with me nodding off in the afternoon under the shade of a tree while reading the aptly named The Yorkshire Shepherdess. The very definition of slow, simple living and the perfect way to experience summer in a Plankbridge hut.
- Book your stay at Laverstock Farm here
- Explore two off-grid Plankbridge huts Herdwick Hut and Everdene Hut at Laverstock Farm
