Our stay at Stuckdarach house, on the banks of Loch Lomond

[Disclosure: We stayed at Stuckdarach in exchange for this post. Thanks for supporting!]

I give you fair warning: there’s going to be a LOT of gushing in this post –– which will probably come as no surprise to those of you who happened to see my Instagram Stories last week from Stuckdarach House, by Loch Lomond, where we spent two nights staying in what I can only describe as my dream house. But I’ll get to that. First, here’s the important bit: 

Stuckdarach is a luxury lodge which can sleep up to 12 people, with 5 double bedrooms in the main house, and another one located in a self-catering apartment directly opposite it. It has its own private walled garden, which comes complete with hot tub, and it’s on the Tarbet Estate, just a stone’s throw from Loch Lomond. 

Here’s what it looks like from the front: 

And from the back (more on this later):

My favourite part, however, was the side, where each of the rooms/areas of the house are linked together by this fabulous corridor:

(Max was quite impressed with this, too…)

As you can probably tell, Stuckdarach is an older property: it was built in 1820, and was originally the estate office and stables for the Stuckgowan estate. (Two of the other properties on the estate are also available to rent, and when I tell you Stuckdarch is the smallest of the three, you’re going to want to go and look at the other two immediately. Don’t worry, I’ll wait…)

Unfortunately, by the time the current owners bought it, the cottage was almost completely ruined, so although the outer walls you can see above are original to the building, the interiors had to be completely rebuilt. I think they’ve done an amazing job of creating a luxurious, modern home, while still retaining the character of the older building, and I loved all the little nods to the house’s past that you see as you wander around it: for instance, the dining room –– which used to be the stable –– has pictures of horses on the walls, plus a few little horse statuettes dotted around, and it still has the high ceiling and hay loft area that it would’ve needed as a stable. 

(Also, can you imagine how much I felt like the Lady of the Manor eating at this 12-seater dining table? I really wanted to insist that we all sat at opposite ends, like we were in Downton Abbey or something, but, funnily enough, no one else was up for that…)

(Speaking of the dining room, though, although this is a self-catering home, if you don’t want to cook for all those people –– bearing in mind that Stuckdarach is designed for much larger parties than ours was –– they can arrange a private chef for you. Fancy.)

Right next to the dining room, and also previously part of the old stables, was one of my favorite features: the boot room, with its own attached bathroom…

This is located directly opposite the front door, which made it really useful, especially given the exceptionally rainy spring we’ve been having this year. Mostly, though, it’s just a really cool thing to have in your house, and I coveted it immensely. I’m probably never going to get over not having one of my own. No, really…

Although the house looks like it has two stories at most when viewed from the front, it’s actually built over 4 levels, which means that even if it was filled to capacity, there’s still plenty of privacy, should you need it. There are two living areas: here’s the main living room, which is just off that fabulous glass corridor…

This has a wood-burning fire, an entertainment system which includes an XBox and TV, plus tons of DVDs and games. At the other end of the house, meanwhile, and down a flight of stairs, was the family room, which has another TV, and lots of books, including a shelf filled with kids’ books and soft toys, which Max loved: 

This room leads down from the kitchen, which is predictably glamorous: 

The best thing about the kitchen? It had two of everything. Two ovens. Two microwaves. Two kettles and toasters. There was even two fridges –– one huge, double-doored fridge freezer, and another, smaller under-counter one. This has obviously been done with the large parties the house is designed for in mind (Imagine how annoying it would be having to wait for 12 people to all make their toast in the morning?), but I’m not going to lie, I’ve come away from this experience convinced that all houses should have two of everything. They just should.

(I’ve also come away from the experience convinced I need a kitchen island, and coloured glass on the walls, but that’s a whole other story…)

As well as having stairs leading down to the family room (which has a bedroom and bathroom connected to it), the kitchen also has stairs leading to the two upper floors, which contain yet more bedrooms and bathrooms:

There are five bedrooms in total, plus an equal number of bathrooms, and each room has its own name, plus some subtle theming: we were in ‘Thistle’, which had a pictures of thistles dotted around it, while ‘Heather’ had a spring of heather in a vase. I really loved these little touches, which show how much thought and attention to detail has gone into the place. I haven’t photographed every single bedroom here because, let’s face it, this post is long enough as it is, but suffice it to say that there’s more than enough room: and if you do need some more, there’s also that self-contained apartment I mentioned, in the old boathouse opposite:

This has a small livingroom, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, and it shares the grounds with the main house. Speaking of which, check out the walled garden…

It’s an acre in size, and is fully enclosed, so you have complete privacy. There are a few different seating areas around it, ranging from a huge outdoor table large enough to accommodate everyone in the house, to smaller benches. Because the weather was so cold and rainy during our visit we didn’t manage to spend as much time out here as we’d have liked to: we did, however, make full use of the hot-tub, which Max reports was his favourite thing about the entire stay. (Don’t worry, we turned the temperature down so it was safe for him, and only let him stay in for a few minutes…)

I think it might have been my favourite part too, actually. No, wait: it was EVERYTHING. Everything about this house was my favourite:

Everything I loved about this house, in no particular order:

*  The boot room. I mean, it’s a room JUST FOR BOOTS, guys. Can you EVEN?

*  The beautiful glass corridor that links each area of the house: such a great way to modernize what was previously a ruin. 

*  The fresh flowers in the kitchen, living room, and family room.

*  The bowls of complimentary fruit, sweets, and other treats. 

*  The most comfortable pillows I’ve ever slept on.

*  Duvets that felt like wrapping yourself up in a giant cloud.

*  Arran ‘After the Rain’ hand wash, shower gel and shampoo. This smelt so good that I’m 100% buying some so I can feel like I’m back at Stuckdarach every time I use it.

All of which is to say nothing of the location, which is right on the banks of beautiful Loch Lomond: don’t worry, though, I’ll have plenty to say about that in my next post –– in the meantime, though, if you’d like to stay at Stuckdarach, or one of the other properties, you can visit the Stuckgowan Estates website here.