A charmingly layered off-grid cottage in rural Wales
Updated: Oct 22
For knitwear and interior designer Kathleen Holland, this consciously off-grid cottage – sensitively restored by her brother-in-law Johnny Holland – provided a chance to layer vintage textiles and antique finds alongside chalky, lime washed walls.
In a hidden valley on the edge of Snowdonia National Park, a discreet track crosses a river before jolting through a landscape of ferns, oaks and moss-covered boulders. It emerges at an old farmhouse, nestled between moor and sea, high peaks and ancient woodland. ‘There are no telegraph poles, no hum of cars,’ says its custodian Kathleen Holland. ‘There’s only the rush of the stream, the birdsong and the bleating of sheep.’
Garth Gell was built around 1805, though likely stood on the footprint of an earlier dwelling. The barn beside predates the house by more than a century, while the dry-stone walls threading through surrounding fields and woodland are believed to be older still. Abandoned in 1948, the farmhouse lay untouched for many years until it was rediscovered by Kathleen’s in-laws. ‘During the war, my husband’s father was evacuated to a nearby village, which began our connection to the area,’ Kathleen explains. ‘He later bought a holiday home in the valley, where my mother-in-law still lives – our closest neighbour.’ It was on a wild, wet walk in 1988 that they stumbled upon what was then a ruin, occupied by sheep and knee deep in manure.
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