by The trip south through County Cork became more beautiful with every round. From Gougane Barra, where a tiny chapel is sitting on the edge of the lake, the street winds through the old rebel land into deep forests, in which Foxgloves bloom along the mountain. Bantry House – A great property with a view of a beautiful bay – marked our way towards Ballydehob, West Cork’s Boho -dorf north of the Mizen Head Peninsula.
It is an appropriate impressive backdrop for natives, a new off-grid-Öko-Guesthouse, just a stone’s throw from the village. The goal of Didi Ronan (who previously worked in public order and in the music industry) and husband Simon (who heads the sustainable landscape architect Studio Srla) was to create a positive influence on the environment and the local community somewhere.
Previously, a dilapidated farmhouse, the chic B&B with three bedrooms, also in the beautiful gardens, also celebrates Ireland’s craft. From the municipal living room with its art books and ancient card to the wooden garden sauna, every element is carefully considered. The bedrooms bend into a modern meets investigular aesthetics with steamed tones and tactile textures. Our opens to a private terrace, and hundreds of Vintage National Geographic Magazines – which were collected by Didi’s grandmother – are artistic in an artistic symmetry on a tailor -made bookshelf.
During dinner, the couple share their vision with a delicate crab risotto with fresh farm green (dinner that were booked in advance). Triggered by a flash of Clarity, Simon had in the design of high-end eco-resorts in the Maldives, the real costs for tourism for indigenous country and ecology, and was bore of a new kind of hospitality. “Could a hotel not only kick it easily, but also give something back to the country?” They wondered.
Sustainability is baked into the entire project, from build to what they do with their profits. Instead of a conventional plaster, Didi opted for hemp – a more natural alternative – while Simon ensured that every existing material was reused, from the original foundations to the retaining walls. Three new cabins that open this summer aim to be the “gold standard in sustainable architecture”, which consists of local wood, hemp and wood wool fiber. A newly restored barn is opened as a creative center for workshops, natural wine tastings and collaborations with foragers and craftsmen.
The most impressive, however, is that 20% of the native of the natives directly to their 75 hectare turning point nearby nearby-a living laboratory for local tree planting, invasive species removal and ecological training. The guests are encouraged to visit – and the next day we drive along winter streets and walk over fields, your dog Peig, which progresses through Bittsen and Briars to learn more. “First you eliminate invasive species. Then you get what you have, protect you from overgrading and then plants native trees to help you,” says Simon.
At the comb, the country opens up to a sea route and scattered islands. Roaringwater Bay is below the US lies; Behind it, the skeletal remains of an old house clings to the earth. Didi points to a piece of young trees. “The problem is huge – biological diversity, climate – but the solution is simple: trees, wetlands, space.”
The goal behind the natives was to create a positive impact on the environment and the local community somewhere
We continue towards an artificial lake where dragonflies float and Moorhens scurry through the reeds. There we meet Sam Keane, a coast guard and artist who operates immersive coastal tours, book guests, unlock the forces of the sea and demonstrate the taste and the mighty healing properties of algae and others in ocean plants.
Inborn is just a short walk from the heart of Ballydehob, a village with just a few hundred, but with many pubs, and later on that day I hike through the pretty streets and take a different kind of energy: human, socially, alive. It is a place where the overseer, not in size, but in spirit. The Wednesday market is on the street in Levis Corner House. Levis is the heart of a flourishing community and is a pub, a concert location in which live appearances behind the old shop counter and essentially organize an inviting village living room.
There is also a lively art scene here. The late Potter Christa Reichel and Nora Golden helped in the 1970s to found the local craft movement, which were still shaped in places such as the working artist studios in the Main Street and in the local ceramics, textiles and craft grocery stores between colorful pub fronts and gable end murals.
It is a village that is difficult to go, but the next day I started to explore the area further. A 12-arch-Viaduct from the old railway line is on the mouth of the city. Pastel transactions go along the hill. The 17th century butter road leads from Ballydehob to Schulll, a bright village of Little Harbor. I stop and follow a hiking trail through green alleys and calm country roads, a soft landscape route that was turned over by hedges and seaside vaccinations that once spoiled to bring the western cork butter onto the market.
From here Mizen Head, a rejuvenating peninsula on which the past is never far away, begins. A neolithic portal grave is accessible, near the roadside with a view of the bay. I follow a path to three castle head. Fields switch to a wide tip of the jagged coast, steep tufty Hills, which climb and fall with the Atlantic in tandem. The hike gradually climbs, then steeply,
Sustainability is only part of the story – regeneration is the next step
Didi Ronan
And the ruins of three weathered towers, the 15th remains of a defensive castle on a limestone ridge, see themselves in sight. From a distance they almost seem to have grown out of the rock themselves, with a view of an Indigo bay that comes in a lavish green valley. Back in the car, the street sinks and climbs towards Mizen Head Signal Station, the southwesternmost point of the mainland Ireland. The pedestrian bridge to the Fastnet signal station over sheer cliffs, a solid span over the Atlantic, filmic filmic scale.
That evening, back in Ballydehob, I discover Chestnut, a restaurant, which was awarded a Michelin star, in which former pub walls organized a dining room under the direction of chef Rob Krawczyk. His tasting menu captures the season with clear flavors: preserved, frozen and grown. Everything is flawless and corresponds to the narrative that I have uncovered in this progressive, ecologically -minded, quiet radical corner of West Cork. As Didi put it, “sustainability is only part of the story – regeneration is the next step.”
The trip was made available by Native. Double room from 200 € one night B&B (minimum evening). Exclusive setting of the Guest house, sleep Six, from € 650 per night and garden sauna experience 75 €. Huts, two sleeping, from € 350. You can find more inspiration in Ireland.com
