Top 5 Unusual Retreats

If you’re sick of the the average B&B fayre, want a bed rather than a blow-up mattress, and camping simply isn’t your bag, take a look at these unusual getaways. From balancing barns to houses leading straight onto dunes, we’ve got the pick of the bunch right here.

1. The Dune House
Imagine staying in a house with panoramic views, being able to walk directly into the dunes and enjoy panoramic views over the sea. It’s available to book from January 2011 and can be found just to the south of the picturesque village of Thorpeness in Suffolk. It’s an idyllic spot on the very edge of the sea, nestled among rolling dunes.

2. Mustard Pot Cottage
Set in its own large garden the Mustard Pot is a curiosity not to be missed, with an octagonal shaped sitting room and bedroom above. What with direct access to the nearby Felbrigg estate, this holiday rental simple oozes with charm.

3. The Treehouse
Nothing induces childhood memories like a treehouse. A luxury treehouse, set in the conservation village of Halse, Somerset, is something else entirely….when it also includes  a hot tub in its confines, who can resist?

4. The Pigsty and the Pineapple
The Landmark Trust has a whole host of unusual accommodation lined up for those who like their lodgings with a side of surreal. The Pigsty, North Yorkshire, is a grand building used to house pigs in the 1880s…but adorned with classical columns and cosily decorated, this is a worthy sty indeed. The Pineapple, in Dunmore, Central Scotland, is an elaborate summerhouse of two storeys, built for the 4th Earl of Dunmore. Though classical and orthodox at ground level, it grows slowly into something entirely vegetable; conventional architraves put out shoots and end as prickly leaves of stone. It is an eccentric work, of undoubted genius, built of the very finest masonry.
5. The unbelievable Balancing Barn
The Balancing Barn is the creation of acclaimed Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, and stands on the edge of a tranquil nature reserve a few miles inland from the Suffolk coast, near the historic towns of Walberswick and Aldeburgh. Clad in elegant silver tiles, the house dramatically cantilevers over the landscape, providing views from its huge panoramic windows over woods, ponds and meadows.

In September Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres hold the London Night Hike,  and are offering whoever raises the most sponsorship for the event a free weekend or weekday stay in the Balancing Barn. The Night Hike this year launches in Glasgow Find out more here.

Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres receives unrestricted and regular support from charity lottery People’s Postcode Lottery. Support raised totals almost £1.5 million to date!