Call of the Wild at Killiehuntly Hotel, Scotland

Driving up the thin gravel roads leading to Killiehuntly, one is pulled into a wilderness that is at once both calming and intimidating, where leafy hillsides are copiously sprinkled with purple heather shrubs, desolate moorlands are studded with granite tors, and the stillness of thousand-year-old lakes is only altered by the flowing of their affluents or the herds of galloping reindeer nearby.

A haunting silence prevails; this is the side of Scotland where the voice of nature of “The Poems of Ossian” resonates loudest.Tucked away amid the grounds of the Cairngorms National Park, Killiehuntly Farmhouse - member of White Line Hotels - is set to open its doors in spring 2016. Built on the remnants of a 1603 estate, the renovation project is born of the lifelong passion for Scotland of Anders Povlsen and Anne Storm Pedersen, the couple behind the Danish retail powerhouse Bestseller. The property itself is part of a collection of hideaways for travellers who want to venture into the North and dare the rough side of the elements.

Under the supervision of Groves Raines Architects — an Edinburgh-based practice dedicated to the conservation of historic buildings — Killiehuntly underwent a complete overhaul while keeping its architectural bones and abundant historical references, as well as the cultural legacy of its latest heiress, an eccentric lady known as Mrs. Sandison intact. Anne Storm Pedersen alongside Swiss designer Ruth Kramer curated the property’s interiors pouring contemporary Scandinavian design and made-to-measure Scottish crafts into 4 handmade bedrooms, a family cottage and a private hayloft. Inspired by the subdued interiors of Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi and the introspective narrative of visual artist Trine Søndergaard (her “Golden Age” and "Interiors" series can be seen hanging soberly all around the house), the result is a soothing colour palette mixed with the seductive ambiance of a refined mountain shelter. Within this Scandi-Scot blend, the straw Orkney chairs and sheepskin throws coexist gracefully with a contemporary repertoire of Danish design brands such as Skultuna and Hay.

The moment you enter, you realise that Killiehuntly’s most striking feature however, is its unusually familiar atmosphere. Like-minded travellers with a taste for the understated comforts of a design destination are sure to land here on their quest for peacefulness: the intention of the owners was to create a house-hotel where guests can take pleasure from the simple things of the rural cycle and from amiable encounters around a well-consumed communal table or the charmingly passé cast-iron kitchen. Meanwhile, the incredible outdoors offers plenty of activities between hiking tracks, ice-cold ponds and open-air lookouts for spotting wildlife with local rangers: on a clear night, guests might even have the good fortune to marvel at the northern lights as they make the skies awash with technicolor.