New Luxury Art Lodges in North Devon by Pete Caswell

The impetus for the new lodges came from the ever expanding and successful art business. We needed more space to show case the larger Pete Caswell paintings of the beautiful places from around the world. The combination of lodges and art display spaces fitted a niche in the market and was the new buzzword in the art market. Making art more accessible and more appreciative to the audience is the current vogue. By bringing the art display into the familiar surroundings of a holiday space makes the art easier to appreciate. You can sit in comfort in privacy and enjoy the art while you enjoy your holiday, over time and throughout the day.

More Information on the luxury lodges www.petecaswell.co.uk/wp2/the-art-gallery-lodges/

The brief for the rooms was to design a lodge which felt like a hotel suite but with the added luxury of a small kitchen area to prepare breakfast, lunches and snacks. In keeping with the paintings they were to have a contemporary, luxurious feel and cutting edge design, so only the best materials were to be chosen. Marble in the bathroom with ceramic oak floors. Walnut floor to the lounge and kitchen area. Pink Persian Marble and viened golden quartz Travertine were to adorn some of the kitchens with walnut cabinets. The roofs of the buildings are hand crafted zinc, with cedar walls and aluminium windows.

Outside the decks are Yellow Balau, used on many yachts, with stainless steel rails and fittings. A rigged sail overhead conjures up the feelings of sailing with the hardwood decking and polished stainless fittings. From your deck you can survey the hay meadow and orchard trees in there various stages of the season. Beyond and only just peaking through the trees are two SSSI areas of woodland and flowers with the Biosphere of the Dunes just beyond about 3/4 mile away. Its a great place to spot birds.

All this luxury was to be dropped into the middle of one of the hay meadows surrounding the art studio. Initially I really liked the idea of the Lodges sitting starkly in the middle of the hay field but part way through the project we realised they needed to feel a little more enclosed and cosy, To blend the lodges into their surroundings we planted beach hedges and varieties of eucalyptus trees and Italian Cyprus trees to add some depth and glamour. In the Meadow we have added some orchard apple trees to add to the extensive heritage orchard already planted.

I have had this project in mind for many years a combination of all that I love in travel. I wanted to combine the outdoor feeling you get wandering in the fields with the comfort and convenience of a home and the sexiness of a hotel room.

I wanted a cross between a holiday house and a hotel room. Holiday houses are great value and spacious but they are sometimes too much like your own home and don’t feel different enough to your own daily life.

I love hotels, they make for a special break but the daily room service interruptions and corridor noise made me think of building a big hotel room with a small kitchen area for snacks and breakfast and just drop it into one of our hay fields.

This way you can have breakfast and coffee when ever you feel like it and there are no noisy corridors or room service to interrupt those precious mornings.

Hope I have made something which you will all enjoy to stay in and inspire you to have more fun and happiness in life.