Meet your hosts
Nick, an experienced wood-smith, and Dolly, an artist, are resourceful and inspirational, living their ideal existence at their own pace here in the woods. Nick has been a furniture designer/maker for the last 25 years. He has always dried his own wood in his woodshed and uses local hardwoods and naturally fallen trees wherever possible. He built the cabin himself, and fitted out the interior using reclaimed wood, and artefacts from Mexico such as the copper sink in the bathroom.
He uses traditional and green woodworking skills to help and teach people to create their own furniture in his fully fitted workshop.Dolly paints portraits and landscapes. She is also a cook, and cooks and facilitates on the core programs at Embercombe, a centre for environmental change and inspiration outside Exeter. She runs workshops from her studio known as The Creative Being Workshops which are central to the programs that she and Nick are developing (see Courses & Classes on the 'Activities' tab).
They used to live in Mexico, where two of their three children were born, and developed a love of the land, and of working with their hands, that planted the dream to one day have a patch of earth to call their own. Now they do, and seem determined to make the most of it! Nick is a carpentry expert and has his own green woodworking workshop in a glade in the wood. They weave trips to the wood-fired sauna and the baking of their own bread, and plenty of laughter and conversation seamlessly into their daily life. They say, "Small, Slow and Simple is the basis of everything we do," but in this they're too modest.
There are big ideas here at The Brake, and they seem to lead to huge satisfaction and contentment, miles away from all the dashing about that's far too common in the modern world. The core of The Brake is the original 1909 bungalow, which Nick & Dolly have extended and embellished, while trying to remain true to it in style. Around it an apple orchard has grown up, a pond teeming with life has been dug, and the beech trees which surround it seem to protect it from any outside interference.
Wildlife & environment
The Brake is on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Views look out towards Start Point Lighthouse and the sea. There is also a vegetable garden - help with this is always welcome!