Meet Caroline and Scott, owners of The Bide, a sustainable, architect-designed retreat complete with wood-fired hot tub, lovingly hand-built on a friendly working farm in a Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
What first inspired you to create The Bide as a retreat?
We wanted to design and build a space that would offer our guests a haven from the busy London life we experienced. The cabin is free from clutter and has a touch of understated luxury. We wanted people to be able to turn up with a bag for the weekend, safe in the knowledge that all the fundamentals were taken care of.
Have you always been in hospitality? If not, what else did / do you do?
We both have backgrounds in design, Scott is an architect and I worked in furniture buying. Both our careers have centred around creating a product or service for an end user, which we feel has some correlation with the hospitality industry.
What’s the best thing about being the owner of The Bide?
Hearing from our guests how much they’ve enjoyed their time at the Bide, we mostly have couples to stay, who are celebrating special anniversaries, it is nice to think they are creating memories. Also, we love staying at the cabin ourselves if there’s a free night in the calendar, it still feels special to us!
What’s your favourite feature of the retreat?
It must be the large picture window; you can really get lost in the view, watching the flocks of birds pirouetting through the sky.
What do you love about the local area?
The many walks on our doorstep, a walk to the spectacular Bulbarrow Hill which overlooks 5 counties. Or the charming village of Milton Abbas with its quaint cob and thatched houses.
What’s next for The Bide?
We are in the midst of designing a new cabin, which will sit 100m from the existing cabin. It’ll be a treehouse style design, on stilts with views overlooking the coppice! It’ll be in the same contemporary eco style as the Bide but with a fun, new colour palette. We’re also expecting a baby, so feel like our lives might become a bit like a Grand Designs episode!
If you couldn’t stay at your place, where would your ideal holiday be?
We love to travel to new countries and experience different cultures, we had a very special trip to Kerala in India some years ago, so perhaps exploring a different state would be nice.
Sum up The Bide in three words.
Peaceful, Contemporary, Sustainable
If you were visiting, how would you spend a day at The Bide?
We would ramble across the Jubilee trail to Steepton Bill farm shop to stock up on delicious local provisions for the weekend, stopping for a pint at the Hambro Arms along the way. Returning to the cabin and heating up the wood fired hot-tub for a relaxing soak. Watching an old film from the projector and having a deep sleep in the super king bed.
Find out more about The Bide via their Host Unusual listing below!
