Swim, soak and switch off at an off-grid cabin in the Scottish Borders

The tiny off-grid cabin, built of repurposed oak, sits beside a private lochan with a separate cedar sauna, a cold outdoor shower, a sunken hot tub and a jetty fitted with two hammocks and paddleboards. It felt more like Finland or Sweden than a sheep and deer farm in the Scottish Borders; two swans even bugled my arrival, and I felt a little embarrassed that all of it was mine.

Tiny Home Borders is tucked into rippling foothills 10 miles east of Hawick. Owners David and Claire Mactaggart opened a second two-person cabin last August after the first, built from an old bale trailer, debuted in 2022. I spent the first evening moving from sauna to a cold plunge in the lochan, to a burbling hot tub, fired up the outdoor wood oven for pizza, warmed by the cabin’s log burner and finished the night stargazing through its telescope.

Everything is as eco as possible, with hemp insulation, solar panels and batteries, reclaimed wood from the farm — and no wifi — and the couple plan a third cabin in another glen.

Scotland, Scottish Borders

off-grid cabin, scottish borders, tiny home, lochan, cedar sauna, hot tub, cold plunge, solar panels, hemp insulation, reclaimed wood