AWAY DAYS

Need to recharge and reboot? Book a weekend in one of these quaint or quirky retreats

1

The Little Cottage, Cornwall The second home of architect Alex Michaelis can be rented out by regular holidaymakers. Its name is ironic: the property’s super Modernist white design is more Los Angeles villa than country cottage, and it sleeps up to 11 people. The building has a grass-planted roof, and its silhouette echoes Cornish Art Deco vernacular style: no wonder that The Little Cottage is now listed on Holiday Architecture, the go-to website for architecturally top-notch rentals (from £825 for three nights; holidayarchitecture.com).

2

The Woodman’s Treehouse, Dorset Crafty Camping – a woodwork and eco-glamping site in the West Country – is the location of this treehouse for grown-ups, handmade by owner and cabinetmaker Guy Mallinson. The two-person retreat sits on stilts around an untouched oak tree and offers an outdoor shower and wood-fired pizza oven. After a spell in the sauna yurt, or an evening playing board games by the fire in the communal tent, book a slot in a wood-bending workshop with Mallinson himself, who has starred on BBC’S Mastercrafts series (from £310 per night; mallinson.co.uk).

3

No 38 The Park, Cheltenham Part of The Lucky Onion – a group of cosy-but-chic Cotswolds hotels, restaurants and country pubs – this 13-bedroom converted Regency townhouse in Gloucestershire’s spa town makes the perfect weekend retreat. Excellent extras – such as Bose ipod docks, an honesty bar serving local cider and Champagne and luxurious in-room spa treatments using organic 100 Acres products – are on offer (doubles from £120; theluckyonion.com).

4

The Birdhouse, Shropshire The Landmark Trust, which rescues historically or architecturally interesting buildings from deterioration and lets them out to the public, has a new, superbly positioned one-bedroom property on its books. Commissioned in the 1790s to enhance a natural ravine in the estate of wealthy industrialist and architect James Wyatt, the micro-pavilion is built in the Greek Revival style and has a loggia overlooking the valley (four nights from £280; landmarktrust.org.uk).