West Calder Apartments: Stunning Rural Hideaway

Apartments: Stunning Rural Hideaway

A 35 minute drive from the heart of Edinburgh, this 5 star quality graded property features relaxing open-plan spaces, a lovely big well-equipped kitchen, woods, livestock farm and a wide range of toys & games inside.

Stylish, sumptuous, contemporary, open-plan, exciting, elegant, stunning, a holiday romance. All these words have been used by guests to describe this open-flow, contemporary conversion completed in December 2004 and named after the fields it overlooks.

Spread over 2 floors and designed for flexibility, this is the perfect honeymoon hideaway, but appeals just as much to families or business people in search of luxury or utopia.

The accommodation comprises:

The two-storeyed layout is excitingly different, with the most wonderful star and angled shapes of coombed ceilings in the bedroom and bathroom upstairs accessed via a mezzanine-level gallery, whilst downstairs curved walls, and a double-height living space marry well with the original beams in the kitchen. Unusual features have been preserved from its former function as a building for rolling oats for feeding to livestock. With its Scandinavian glazed sliding doors, Velux roof-windows, solid oak floors and doors, wonderful limestone flagstones, open stairwell and ash staircase with tension wire balustrades, solid oak kitchen units and black granite worktop, it's bright, white, light and airy. Matching the granite hearth in the living-room are Juperana Bordeaux granite large windowsills reflecting within their polished depths the branches of the maple tree outside.

Layout: (please pay attention to the sleeping arrangements outlined below as they are a bit different and, though sleeping up to 6 people, will not suit everyone's requirements).

Upstairs is a large, split level bedroom with a star-shaped coombed ceiling which has 3 single luxurious divan beds. Wake up in the morning, pull back the velux blinds to right and left of you and feel close to heaven! Two of these single beds can push together and be zip-linked to form a large kingsize double bed. This gives the flexibility of using this bedroom as either a family room, or for 3 singles, or as a double bedroom. Off the upstairs bedroom is an en-suite bathroom full of light, shapes and surprises!

Also upstairs, before you enter through the door into the bedroom, is an inviting gallery area. A great spot to relax with a book, or to gaze across and out of the upper storey window or view from aloft the larger part of the stylish living area below. As well as a lounger and other incidental furniture, the space here allows for a sofa bed which can sleep an "extra person", or even two slim cuddly people: the mattress width is 124cms. A normal single is 90cms. and a conventional double is 135 cms). Please note anyone sleeping here would need to go through another "sleeping area" to reach a bathroom.

Downstairs the spacious living area has split level ceiling heights for interest; at the back is a large solid oak cupboard which, within it, hides a surprisingly discreet double bed with an extremely comfortable fully sprung mattress. One pull of the handle and this bed can come down at night and disappear out of sight again during the day with bedding largely intact and only a row of elegant daytime cupboards on show. Concealed within the cupboard doors, on either side of the pull-down bed, is hanging and shelf-space. With one swish an optional double-sided curtain can snake its way at night across the ceiling track here at the back of the living area to provide privacy to anyone in the double pull-down bed using this as a sleeping area. Visually this lower ceiling-ed area then reflects a normal bedroom except that one wall is curtained. This "bedroom" even has its own open-able window. All the light can be cut out, What we can't offer here is sound-proofing. The image to the left here ( if necessary click on it ) demonstrates how this area can be effortlessly transformed into a bedroom. Adjacent is a lovely bathroom witha choice of bath or shower.

At the front of the double-height living space, filled with light from both the original windows in the end gable and the new glazed sliding doors that open onto the small flagstoned courtyard, is the multi-fuel stove which burns coal and logs. And what could be nicer than relaxing in one of the two large leather settees, or another comfy seat, in front of a real living fire? Or dining in splendour seated around the glass dining-table which seats 6, flickering flames in the hearth close by, soft music from the CD player in the background? The effect is of gracious, spacious living. If there are more than 12 of you, or you have visitors, the kitchen table can be brought through to seatr a further 6 guests.

The equally voluminous and airy kitchen downstairs has lots of interesting features. Granite worktops, oak units and, thanks to the underfloor heating throughout the downstairs, warm-to-the-feet limestone flags. Overlooking you from a floored ledge up above is Mr. Fox eyeing up his cockerel lunch (a separate sculpture), his jaunty stance artistically captured in metal! Also high up are the old beams and centuries old pulley wheels. The kitchen is exceptionally well equipped, sharing all the features common to all our properties as described on our FAQ Page, additionally offering a wall-mounted third TV. And for those impromptu alfresco meals the kitchen table and chairs in the corner are light enough to carry outside through the glazed patio doors and onto the cobbled patio area which belongs exclusively to Orlege.

Separate from the kitchen is a utility room with sink, washing machine and tumble-drier. And a supply of wellie boots for exploring the farm.

About the location (West Lothian, West Calder)

Features

Terms

After the initial 15% is paid to confirm the booking, a further 50% of the balance is due immediately.

The remainder is due 5 weeks prior to arrival.

Please note that, unless otherwise advised, fuel and electricity is an extra, charged at cost, as per measurable usage, payable at the end of the stay.

Dogs by arrangement: a fee of £20 per dog per stay is charged.

Arrival time is after 16:00 and departure by 10:00, unless otherwise agreed.

Cancellation
To notify any cancellation in writing and pay any monies due: 50% up to 8 weeks' prior to the arrival date, 100% after that.

If the accommodation is re-let at the full rate, a full refund, less the 15% plus £200 will be made.

If a new booking for the property is secured at a lesser rate a partial refund will be made.

If not re-let then no refund will be made.

To safeguard against cancellation charges & other unforeseen eventualities we strongly recommend Cancellation Insurance.

Weekly bookings preferred, running from Saturday to Saturday but last minute short break enquiries welcome at good discounted rates. Ask. Short breaks more in advance are set at more realistic rentals.

This clause has been added on 19 June 2020 in the light of Government restrictions imposed by the Covid situation
If the Government were to re-introduce restrictions that all self-catering cottages must be closed to recreational guests we would be obliged to give you a full refund of any monies paid because we would not be able to offer you the service you had paid for. So the total loss would be ours. However, if the Govt were to impose a limit, for example, on how many different households could share the accommodation, that's different. When we take a booking, one person signs the booking form as responsible for the contract between us, and that contract does not require me to know who you, as the person responsible for the booking, are inviting as your guests. So for example, suppose the Govt were suddenly to announce that no more than 4 households were to stay together and you had invited 5 different families and had booked Craigengar Lodge, you would either have to consider re-organising who your guests were to be or cancel the booking on our normal terms basis as displayed above. And if you were, for example, to reduce the original number of your guests staying. If the number was over 12, we would give you an extra guest refund of £50 if already paid. on any extra guests that you drop over the 12 number, but we would not be able to offer any refund on your up to 12 rental figure paid. The thought behind all this is that if you were to cancel for a "numbers / no. of household" reason, we could find myself foregoing much-needed income when I could have accepted an alternative booking from another party with an acceptable make-up, say 3 families with 4 children each, who would not have exceeded the number of households allowed. On my booking form, I only need to know the numbers of guests, broken down into adults and children ( the last, just for my own interest and to know if cots are required.) And the number of any pets as there is a small dog fee. For Track and Trace reasons I may need to be given contact details just prior to arrival or durng your stay of everyone staying or visiting.
For clarity: Should the guests' personal circumstances alter and prevent them using our accommodation we cannot issue a refund as long as we are allowed to remain open. Likewise if we are allowed by the Government to remain open but restrictions have been imposed, for example, on a guest travelling to our accommodation, eg. due to their own area localised lockdowns / border or quarantine requirements being imposed, no refunds can be issued unless the owners can achieve an alternative booking when our cancellation policy outlined in Term 3.1. would be relevant.
The other thing to consider when booking, is safe distancing. With Craigengar's 5 bedrooms (six if you count the gallery as a bedroom ) and 6 bathrooms, there would be enough space between beds for the 2-metre rule currently existing in the summer of 2020 and there can be 14 separate beds which include 2 kingsize and singles that can be zip linked into superkings ( 12 proper beds and 2 sofa beds). We can provide a couple of air beds. Your only problem might be sitting around the dining tables but in addition to the long dining table ( which can be split into 2 tables ) seating 8, there are 2 other tables seating 4 each which can be used. And the kitchen might only allow 2 cooks or perhaps 3 if the 2-metre rule is still applying.