Ecocabin was featured in the April 8 2005 issue of the Farmer's Guardian's 'CountryView' magazine. A copy of the article follows:

The House that Kate built

Farmer’s wife Kate Grubb has bulk an environmentally friendly holiday house in the heart of Shropshire. She talks to JOANNE BEDNALL about diversifying into ‘green’ tourism.
Photography: Craig Holmes

The Ecocabin is an unusual farming diversification and the brainchild of former veterinary nurse Kate Grubb.

In the heart of the Shropshire Hills, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Clun Environmentally Sensitive Area, there are few places in England that could rival the beauty of the cabin’s location.

Kate acknowledges that the Ecocabin will initially attract ‘green’ tourists but she hopes it will a have a wider appeal. “It is also for people who aren’t interested in environmental issues,” she says.

This ultimate rural retreat has electricity and hot running water, but there are no trappings of the 21st century to divert holidaymakers from total relaxation; television and a microwave oven are absent, there is no mobile reception and a wind-up radio provides the only link with the outside world.

But, like Rome, the Ecocabin was not built in a day: initial concept to completion took two years of research, planning and back-breaking work.

Kate had no previous building or interior-design experience. Along with her husband Jamie, they farm 600 ewes and 50 beef cattle on 200 acres surrounding New House Farm, near Obley, which belongs to her parents-in-law. It is here that they have built the Ecocabin.

After starting a family, Kate decided not to return to full-time work as a veterinary nurse and lecturer. Instead, she took a part-time position cleaning local holiday cottages. “I was amazed at how much electricity holidaymakers use and the amount of rubbish they produce,” says Kate.

Kate’s suggestion of building an environmentally friendly holiday home received a lukewarm reception from family and friends. “Most people laughed,” she remembers. “Jamie was less than enthusiastic but he’s a typical farmer who doesn’t embrace change.” Undeterred, Kate attended a Defra Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) workshop and received positive feedback.

“I knew we had to look at doing something different to keep in farming,” she continues. “Many of our young friends with  children are getting out.”

Bolstered by Defra’s enthusiasm, Kate obtained planning permission and was able to officially submit her expression of interest and detailed project proposal to Defra. The panel’s decision to back the venture with £29,000 (Kate matched this with savings and a loan from the ethical pro-environment Triodos Bank) was welcome - but daunting -  news.

The first job was to remove their mobile home so the brick pillars and raised concrete floor could be laid. Next, the timber frame was erected and the walls, roof and floor packed with £4,000 of Thermafleece, a 100 per cent natural insulation made from sheep’s wool. All wood was sourced from trees in north Shropshire - Douglas fir was used for the framework, larch for the cladding and ash for the floor. Solar panels and a wood pellet-burning stove have been installed to heat the water, while electricity is provided by Good Energy, an independent company supplying 100 per cent renewable energy to homes and businesses throughout the UK. Kate has ensured that the furnishings, from rag rugs to beds, have come from second-hand shops and a local furniture recycling scheme, while the bedding and towels are organic cotton. Shrewsbury-based Smile Plastics created the kitchen surfaces from recycled yoghurt pots and the artwork from melted Wellington boots. Low-energy lighting, a wormery for composting, plaster made from straw, horsehair and fine sand, and earth-born clay-based paint complete the environmentally-friendly picture.

“I wanted to show that ‘eco’ doesn’t mean cold and uncomfortable but warm and cosy,” says Kate, whose interest in environmental issues was awakened in the 1980s by the destruction of the rain-forests. Today, the Grubb family eats organic food grown in their own vegetable garden or bought from local farmers’ markets, and their young daughter, Martha, wears cotton nappies made by the Real Nappy Network.

“Once people have booked their accommodation, they are asked to provide a shopping list so I can put together a hamper of locally produced food,” explains Kate, who’s keen to promote local food, services, transport and attractions. “I’ve done my best to use as many Shropshire-based suppliers as possible in an effort to help sustain the local economy. Everything I have done has been designed to put something back into the area. Also, the Ecocabin suits me because I can fit it round my family but still work hard and earn money.”

In the Ecocabin there are a double bedroom, twin bedroom, lounge, kitchen/diner, utility and recycling / activity room. A seven-night stay (Friday to Friday) costs £400-£550, depending on the season, and short breaks (a minimum of two nights) are charged at £85 per night, exclusive of food.
For more information, call 01547 530183 or visit www.ecocabin.co.uk