Life’s better near Biggar

This beautiful family home is a peaceful rural retreat in the Scottish Borders. This is an area often overlooked by travellers rushing north or south but there is plenty to see and do. Biggar is a charming market town and despite being mid-way between Glasgow and Edinburgh it has some of Scotland’s finest border countryside. Braefield is at the heart of an eight-acre smallholding that provides – in season – many of the ingredients served to guests. The surrounding fields are frequented by roe deer and hare, while buzzards patrol the skies.

Originally a simple cottage, the building has been so comprehensively extended it has the comfort and simplicity of a newly-built property, with underfloor heating in parts and wifi throughout. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, a real home from home.

There are just two guest bedrooms here, both en-suite. Beds are twins and of the highest quality – one guest reported appreciatively it was like sleeping on marshmallow – while toiletries are bespoke artisanal products. One bedroom is downstairs with a ‘rain cloud’ power shower and a deep cast-iron rolltop bath, while the upstairs bedroom has a ‘rain cloud’ power shower: you have to try these to realise just how wonderful they are. Bathrobes and hair dryers are naturally provided. And while Braefield is very much a working family home the guest accommodation is quiet and secluded.

All the guest rooms are well-equipped with their own televisions, radios and Lavazza Mio coffee machines as well as tea-making facilities and locally-sourced biscuits. Downstairs there is also a charming garden room in which guests can relax. The farmhouse is beautifully set in a rolling landscape: there are walks in every direction and plenty of sheltered places to soak up sweeping views of the Clyde and Tweed valleys and meet the local wildlife (or at least a few sheep).

Braefield suggests

Bring a fishing rod. Braefield is a a stone’s throw away from some of the best fishing on the River Clyde.