, a new retreat with the vibe of a country house stay on Estonia's largest island, Saaremaa. Before I can settle into one of the deck's double-width loungers, Maria Tamander — a Swede of Estonian heritage who has lived in west London for decades — passes me a glass of natural chardonnay and leads me away. Skirting the U-shaped main house, with its tasteful white-washed lounge and dining room, we stroll towards a wooden dry sauna shaped like an armadillo by the Estonian firm Iglucraft (whose customers include David Beckham). Each of the Ood cabins comes with outdoor space to relax in A deep bass hum from the beehives follows us along the narrow boardwalk to a sunroom and deck intended for morning yoga, and onward to one of two new mirrored Ood cabins reflecting that light. The self-catering suite inside affords panoramic views from its bed, its sofa, even the loo. There's also a laundry cottage, though most guests, me included, stay in the main house, with its linen curtains, rattan furniture and soothing sage bathrooms. In her chic denim jumpsuit and angular Miu Miu shades, Tamander looks every inch the city dweller, but her laid-back soul is on this 220-acre patch of coastline, a few miles from her ancestral home. Sadly, her original home is no longer there. In 1944 the Russians marched in. At the time 100,000 people lived on Saaremaa (now it's more like 28,000) and Tamander's grandfather was among those who escaped to){kind=link}
I’m on a terrace on the west coast of the westernmost island in Estonia, watching the longest sunset I’ve ever seen. It’s a few evenings after the summer solstice and by 10.30pm the sun, a shade of neon coral, is still merely considering whether to dip behind the tall marsh grass between me and the Baltic Sea.
An extended family of Estonian artists, entrepreneurs, their cherubic children and one pointy-nosed hound are assembling around a large table dressed with wildflowers and herb-flecked salads. It’s dinner time at Pilguse (pronounced PIL-goo-say), a new retreat with the vibe of a country house stay on Estonia’s largest island, Saaremaa.
Before I can settle into one of the deck’s double-width loungers, Maria Tamander – a Swede of Estonian heritage who has lived in west London for decades – passes me a glass of natural chardonnay and leads me away. Skirting the U-shaped main house, with its tasteful white-washed lounge and dining room, we stroll towards a wooden dry sauna shaped like an armadillo by the Estonian firm Iglucraft (whose customers include David Beckham).
A deep bass hum from the beehives follows us along the narrow boardwalk to a sunroom and deck intended for morning yoga, and onward to one of two new mirrored Ood cabins reflecting that light. The self-catering suite inside affords panoramic views from its bed, its sofa, even the loo.
There’s also a laundry cottage, though most guests, me included, stay in the main house, with its linen curtains, rattan furniture and soothing sage bathrooms.