19th Century Millers Cottage With Stunning Views, Beautifully Renovated., Evanton

Highland. Sleeps up to 10

Ideal for family Vacations/Staycations, with lots of room to spread out and relax indoors and out in the safe garden. Nearest neighbours are 300 metres away. Equipped for Working From Home!

Contactless self-check-in is standard.

Proud to say we now have a new heat pump system and utilise 100% renewable energy for electricity, heating and hot water.

We have been Homeaway/VRBO hosts for several years, in Scotland and in London, and have now added this family home to our 5-star-rated listings. It is a beautiful 19th century miller's cottage, standing in its own large garden with stunning views over Cromarty Firth. In our family for over 50 years. Recently renovated interior with 4 double bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, fully equipped large kitchen and dining area, separate laundry room/larder, very large sitting room with open fireplace, TV room with double sofa bed. 500 metres from our other 5 star rental cottage. Ideal for family groups visiting the Highlands of Scotland.

For people needing/wanting to Work From Home, there is good fibre-optic WiFi with boosters covering workstations across the house; a printer/fax/scanner/copier; a floating 32 inch computer monitor/TV; document shredder; dedicated spaces with desks/tables (we have regularly operated 3 workstations in parallel in the house); ergonomic desk chair.

The cottage stands in its own large garden, with open fields in front and a small wood and lake behind, about 1 km from Evanton village. It has stunning views in front down over the Cromarty Firth, and behind up to Fyrish Hill with its famous monument. Deer, stoats, pheasants, woodpeckers are among regular visitors in the garden (check out our Instagram feed for more photos: @balavoulin_cottage). The Black Rock Gorge, filmed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is just a 10 minute walk.

Sleeping arrangements: The cottage is ideally suited for large family groups, and sleeps up to maximum 10 guests (adults or children included). It has two large bedrooms on the ground floor (one with a super-king size bed, one with two single beds that can be moved together), a full bathroom with separate shower and bath, and a second bathroom with large shower. Upstairs there are two further bedrooms with king-size beds, a bathroom with bath and toilet, and a TV room area with a double sofa bed. All bed linen and towels are provided, as are soap, shampoo, bath/shower gel, hair-dryer, toilet paper, etc.

The large kitchen and dining area is fully equipped for 10 guests, with crockery, cutlery, dishwasher, tea and coffee, etc. Off the kitchen is a laundry room with separate clothes washer and dryer. The main kitchen window looks onto the back garden, where you can often watch deer and pheasants while eating your breakfast. Basic dry cooking stores provided: tea/coffee/salt/pepper/spices/pasta/rice, etc.

The large sitting room runs the whole length of the cottage, with a beautiful old stone open fireplace at one end. A glass door leads out onto the front lawn, where you can enjoy the long summer evenings.

The cottage has all the amenities you would expect: washing machine and separate clothes dryer, hair-dryer, iron and ironing board, TV, fibre internet & WiFi, printer, kitchen equipment (espresso machine, filter coffee machine, Kenwood blender, dishwasher, etc.). There are also full cleaning and disinfecting supplies for guest use.

(Normally guests would also find a selection of outdoor clothes for their use in the porch: waterproof coats, walking shoes and boots. - However we regret that due to COVID we have had to suspend the coats, though walking shoes and boots are available again.)

Little Visitors – Please do note and excuse
Balavoulin is a rural cottage and surrounded by beautiful flower gardens so on occasion, and despite our best efforts, a stray bug, spider, or other nature-loving creature may wander inside, especially if a door is left open.

There are two security cameras OUTSIDE the house monitoring access routes. These will normally be deactivated when guests are in residence. There are NO security cameras inside the house or monitoring any guest activity indoors.

The cottage is 25 minutes drive North of Inverness. Guests really need their own vehicle as the cottage is situated 1.5 kms uphill walk outside the centre of Evanton village and the nearest shops, and local bus stop.

The nearest airport is Inverness (INV), which is served by EasyJet and British Airways flights from London, and one daily KLM flight from Amsterdam. The nearest mainline rail station is Inverness, with overnight sleeper trains from London Euston Station. Hire cars are available at both locations. It is a 35-40 minute drive from the airport/station to the cottage.

Edinburgh (EDI) airport, which has many more flights, is a beautiful 3 1/2 hours drive up through the Cairngorms. Aberdeen (ABZ) airport is 3 hours (but on a much less pleasant road).

Please note that the price quote you receive through VRBO includes a base price for 2 guests and an additional per night fee for each additional guest. It also includes a one-off cleaning fee and the Service Fee that VRBO charges you in addition to the fee that they charge the host.

Located in Dingwall, this vacation home is in a rural area and on a river. Dingwall Museum and Strathpeffer Pump Room are cultural highlights, and some of the area's attractions include Wildwoodz Paintball and Lasertag Park and Black Isle Wildlife Park. Be sure to check out the area's animals with activities such as game walks and birdwatching.