Dumfries and Galloway
Harriet's Lodestar Lodge
Introduction
Harriet's Lodestar is the only Dunskey lodge with its own dock. A few steps from the patio, a private jetty runs out into the estate's Upper Loch, set with a table and chairs for morning coffee on the water, swans drifting past, and the estate boat available for a row. The lodge itself sits in mature woodland beside Dunskey's old wrought iron gates, a steep-roofed cottage the estate likens to a gingerbread house.
The name honours Harriet Tubman, who navigated by the north star, and the interiors follow the theme: dusky blue walls with starlight installations downstairs, a sunny yellow king bedroom filling the top floor, its headboard shaped like a Botticelli seashell. The second bedroom, on the ground floor with an en-suite rain shower, holds a trundle bed that converts to two singles or leaves the room free as a lounge or workspace. The bath is outside, facing the loch.
Prices & Availability
Facilities & Services
The kitchen comes fully stocked and equipped, with a dine-in table, generous fresh and frozen storage, and a starter pack of dish soap, sponges, kitchen roll and laundry detergent. There's a washing machine, smart TV and WiFi, a patio with outdoor furniture, a fire pit, and a BBQ with tools. Logs are unlimited for the length of your stay. Every booking includes a welcome hamper of bread, eggs, coffee, artisan cheese, jam and baked goods, plus laundry, linen and Dunskey's own toiletries. Guests get complimentary use of the boat on the loch, and ready-made meals can be ordered from the estate kitchen.
Location
The lodge stands in woodland beside the Upper Loch on Dunskey Estate, which covers 2,000 acres of coastal Galloway between Portpatrick and Killantringan Lighthouse on the Rhins peninsula. Portpatrick village, its harbour and pubs are about three miles away, with the estate's glen path running past a waterfall to two private bays. Stranraer, eight miles east, has the supermarkets and railway station, the Cairnryan ferries to Northern Ireland are 20 minutes away, and Glasgow is roughly two hours by car.
Good to know
Harriet's Lodestar sleeps a maximum of four, with the king room upstairs and the convertible trundle room on the ground floor, each with its own shower room. Minimum stays run to three nights year round, rising to seven over Christmas and New Year, with flexible check-in dates. Up to two pets are welcome, with a £60 deep-clean fee per stay and a dog bowl provided. The lodge sits beside open water, worth knowing with very young children in tow. The estate grounds are closed to the public, and a car is the sensible way to arrive.
What's nearby
Portpatrick is the natural first outing, a pastel-fronted harbour village with several pubs, a brewery and the start of the 212-mile Southern Upland Way, whose first clifftop stretch leads north to Killantringan Lighthouse, built in 1900 by David A Stevenson. The ruin of Dunskey Castle, a 1500s tower house, stands on the cliffs south of the village. Dunskey Golf Course sits beside the village, Logan Botanic Garden grows its southern-hemisphere collection 20 minutes down the Rhins, and the Mull of Galloway, Scotland's southernmost point, is about an hour away.
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