Home swede home! The stunning Scandinavian log cabin – at Great Ayton

WHEN winter does its worst here, you could be forgiven for thinking that you had strayed into a Scandinavian snowscape. There’s a luxury wooden cabin, lined head to toe with pine; a gently sloping roof with overhanging eaves; cowhide rugs, squidgy leather sofas, and outside, a hot tub. Pass the aquavit!

But this stunning three-storey Scandi beauty actually sits in a very different landscape, much closer to home – it’s the latest addition to a collection of luxury log cabins in the grounds of Whinstone View, at Great Ayton.

Frida – so named because it means peace in Swedish – was built in Sweden, but sisters Amanda Wray-Ward and Jackie Wray are responsible for her interior life.

They have been developing the site on which she sits into a holiday and wedding destination since they took over the family business in 1997.

Frida’s interiors are quirky and cool.

As well as the ubiquitous pine, there are wacky wallpapers and pops of vibrant and unexpected colour.

“We adore interior design so over the years have loved styling all the log cabins we have here. We just wish we had more time to do that side of things,” says Jackie.

The women describe their style as eclectic. “Anything goes. We love to recycle as much as possible and make stuff, too,” says Mandy. “Some of the furniture and accessories are from antique and junk shops and other things have been collected along the way and swapped around with bits in some of our other log cabins.”

Frida has a large, open-plan living area with dining table, Scion’s Mr Fox wallpaper, Mid-century Modern glass-topped coffee table and circular lobster artwork by North Yorkshire artist Ian Burke, who was born in Saltburn and teaches at Eton.

The free-standing kitchen is from Magnet and the kitchen units from Simply Dutch, but a bright green glass oven splashguard with round black-framed mirrors either side stop the scheme looking remotely mundane. From a distance, it looks as though an abstract owl is peering out at you.

‘Nobody Gets Out Sober’ is the warning above the door, although in clement weather, any drinking might be better done outside on the veranda, or from the watery comfort of the large hot tub.

There’s space for eating outside on a large wooden table, and visiting dogs have their own space in The Doghouse. Fittingly, the doorway out to this is lined with Osborne & Little Best in Show dog silhouette wallpaper.

“We love dogs and want people to be able to stay somewhere luxurious with their four-legged friends,” explains Jackie.

Her own favourite spot for a sundowner – G&T, since you ask – is the hammock on the upstairs veranda.

This space, with lovely views of the grounds, is shared by the two bedrooms on the first floor, while two chairs on the landing can also be converted into extra sleeping space.

The top floor houses another double room with two single beds.

The upstairs rooms are sparsely furnished, lending an air of relaxation and calm. One room is almost Zen-like with a small seated Buddha and a green forest wall-covering from Murals Direct.

A lovely blue velvet bed in the other double room is from Made.com and the spacious bathrooms have Hansgrohn rain showers.

There are signs with sayings by the laundry room and in the stairwell, and messages on cushions. “We like lots of signs and have them all over. They just make me smile,” says Jackie.

The one on the front of Frida says: “Life is Beautiful”, and a stay here might just leave you nodding in agreement with that sentiment.

Over 200 years ago, though, the land on which Whinstone View now sits was far from beautiful. It was the site of a bustling quarry where skilled men worked hard to mine whinstone. This was fashioned into the cobbles that still pave the local market towns of Stokesley and Yarm today.

Mandy and Jackie’s parents Rob and Julie first moved to Whinstone Cottage back in 1975. The property came with 14 acres of land.

In the fields in front of their house there was a disused cow byre and a few tin shelters left from the war.

After deciding to build a camping park and clubhouse, Rob worked off-shore for ten years while he built up Whinstone View on his time off, helped by family and friends. The first campers were welcomed in 1978.

After the women took over in 1997, six Scandinavian lodges and a spa were gradually added, then a wedding marquee, and finally, a wedding barn.

Frida, in all her Scandinavian finery, is just the latest addition to the Whinstone family.

• Whinstone View, Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, TS9 6QG; T: 01642 723285; W: whinstoneview.com.