Airhouses

Airhouse has been a working farm for a long time. We made the commitment a number of years ago to become organic and find ways to work with nature in our farming practices.  We leave hedgerows uncut, and one metre space around any fields we harvest. We use a natural defered grazing system to increase biodiversity. We use a bore hole for all the water supply and have been planting  native hardwood trees across the farm over the last few years.

We have fenced off wetlands to protect them from cattle, and dug in flight ponds to aid migration.  We have sowed wild bird seed sites.  All this has produced an abundance of wildlife here at Airhouses.

 We also endeavour to preserve our heritage by looking after sites of interest on our land, including ruins, sites of archaeological significance,  farm walls and farm buildings. We have started working on a small museum highlighting the change in machines used by farmers in the last hundred including a cart, vintage tractor and dairy farming equipment. 

Fifteen Years ago we diversified from just farming into sharing our farm with others. We researched and built high quality Norweign Wooden Cabins. They are well insulated, beautiful buildings that have bedded into the hillside beautifully.  

Our aim was to give people a place they could reconnect with nature.

The Capercaillie came next and this is a extremely well insuslated house from Poland.  Then came the 2 pods , The Rowan then The Hawthorn which were built by an award winning company from Edinburgh.  This company produces pods of the highest quality, fit for purpose, energy efficient and sustainable.  

Floor to ceiling windows that look our across the farm land to the hills beyond, and raised decking areas with the same views allow guests to appreciate the natural beauty without leaving their lodge. 

 We also ensured we only built a handful of self catering properties, to enable to them to be private calm spaces and to ensure Airhouses as a whole remains a peaceful, calm oasis for peope to enjoy. 

We have bird feeders around the lodges to ensure guests can birdwatch. Guests can also see often deer, foxes, owls, buzzards, badgers and sometimes our stoat. 

At certain times of the year we offer Star Gazing Packages to enable guests to make the most of our beautiful clear skies.

We have fenced walks to allow guests to safely walk around the farmland, accessing the countryside responsibly,  meeting the animals and spotting the wildlife.  These walks are also enjoyed by the local community.

We also have a  couple of treasure trails that takes guests down to the local village. 

We have worked with LEAF to place information boards around the farm that focus on nature and farming. 

We are dedicated to helping our local community. We employ local people at Airhouses, and we champion local businesses. 

We provide links and direct ordering to a number of local shops and businesses including the vegetable shop and the butchers in Lauder. Encouraging a shop local approach. We also stock local produce in our small farm shop, and locally sourced and ready made meals. 

We actively promote Scottish businesses with monthly blogs that highlight things to do and see, and places to eat in our local community. 

Recently we have connected with The Borders Distillery to offer free tours to all our guests, and Willow Ebikes to organise Ebike hire for our guests. 

We actively encourage guests to relax, spend time on the farm meeting the animals and enjoying the walks.

We have recently formed a partnership with an Ebike company who will deliver Ebikes to the lodges so guests can explore further afield leaving no carbon footprint. 

We provide in our digital information book details of local transport from the village, either North to Edinburgh or south to Kelso or Galashiels.  

Our blogs provide lots of information on our local history and culture.

We regularly advise on local farmers markets

We encourage recycling 

We order in bulk where possible

We use bulk refills for toiletries, and cleaning materials

We have reduced the use of paper with our digital information book which gives not only local informatin but all the information you will need in your lodge such as how to use appliances, where to find etc.

All laundry is carried out in house with a pump dosage system for the washing machine.

We are commited to sustainable travel and are changing our vehicles over to electric ones. 

Our housekeeping team have 2 electric trucks

We have Electric Car charging points at every property