Native

Native offers beautiful accommodation in nature that celebrates the best of Irish design. Founded by Didi & Simon, Native seeks to go beyond a ‘do no harm’ approach, to one with a positive environmental impact; Rewilding is at the core of our mission and identity. Native is launching in West Cork, a place seeped in history and a striking rugged landscape. It is also home to some of the most exciting food producers, artisans, and exceptional coastline. We have lots to share with you this month, so please sign up to our newsletter in bio, & follow us for local West Cork recommendations and features on Irish design, architecture, and rewilding #westcork #westcorkexplorer #westcorklife #westcorkfood #westcorkireland #westcorkislands #ballydehob #ballydehobjazzfestival #irelandtravel #visitireland #irishnature #irelandtravel #irelandcoast #mustseeireland #discoverireland #southernireland #irelandtourism #rewilding #rewildingeurope #regenerative #biodiversityconservation #cabins #cabinsinthewoods #cabininthewoods #hospitalitydesign #cabindesign #irishinteriors #irishdesign #visitwestcork #nativewestcork

Escape to our cosy Garden Suites this autumn 🍂

N A T I V E • G U E S T H O U S E Our three bedroom Guesthouse is nestled on a site full of trees, right in the centre of Ballydehob. A two minute walk to the village, guests can enjoy quiet luxury and calming surroundings, a stone’s throw from the craic

NATIVE is delighted to announce Monday Club- a bit of food and fun on Monday nights during the summer. Snacks, small plates, guest chefs, & nice wine on our new patio. See you soon ☀️

Bright and airy mornings in our Garden Suites. Hemp wool tweed, Douglas Fir, oak ply, and Irish linen. Design @s__r__l__a #ecotourism #westcork #guesthouse #interiordesign #visitireland

What’s on this May / @biofestwestcork Biofest West Cork / Listen, learn, share, discuss, question, consider - The independent community festival which celebrates biodiversity action across West Cork, through workshops and events with the people who are working for a better future / May 16th and 17th / Ballydehob and various places / Baltimore Fiddle Fair / May 7-10 / Always a fantastic festival @baltimore_fiddle_fair / Smudge It, Splash It, Draw It. Celebrate National Drawing Day / May 16th at Uillinn Arts Centre, Skibbereen / Free, 11am-2pm @uillinnwestcorkarts / The Listening Project series in Skibbereen Town Hall / Hear the sounds of Laurie Shaw and Phil Langero / May 16th / Skibbereen Town Hall / Learn about foraging with West Cork’s @immersive_foraging with lovely walks by the sea 21st and 23 May / we are lucky ducks because @bobusan72 is back cooking @camusfarmfieldkitchen and it looks incredible / Junior Brother live @connollysofleap with Ellie O’Neill on support / Guaranteed to be a brilliant gig / May 22nd and put on your dancing shoes for over 30s Flash dance 30th May / Live music @levis_corner_house_ballydehob throughout May with @leevy , Ken Paul Griffin, How I became a Wave, Jinx Lennon and Katie Gregson-MacLeod / Tickets online: / / Farmers markets in Bantry (Friday), Clonakilty (Friday) Skibbereen (Saturday) and Schull (Sunday) / Pizza’s are back at Connollys of Leap / Feels like summer has come early / Serving from Friday, Saturday and Sunday / Community Art Workshops at An Sanctior / weaving, tile painting, sea printing, basket making and forest printing / Various dates throughou May / all FREE / From 20th May pre-order your favourite baked goods from @loughhynecottage and pick them up with a delicious coffee @oneillcoffee every Wednesday

We missed World Earth and World Book Day. A little late but here are some of our favourite books on ecology and architecture that heavily influenced our project 🌎 📕 1. Both ‘A Pattern Language’ and ‘A Timeless Way of Building’ by Christopher Alexander. Nothing influenced what we did or how we did it more than Christopher Alexander. A typology and method for building spaces designed for people and planet. 2. The reason we are in West Cork is John Seymour’s Guide to Self-Sufficiency. A manual for a Mecca for those seeking alternative lifestyles and self-sufficiency, this practical guide from the 70s is a guiding star. 3. Julie Watson Low Tech Design by radical Indigenism’ (gifted by the lovely @bourouni ) and her new book on water provide endless inspiration and wonder on how the answers on how to do things most cost effectively and efficiently lie in the land and ancient peoples. 4. Ben Law’s Woodland House from our favourite Grand Designs episode- sweet and wholesome and beautiful, and his ‘Woodland Craft’ book. 5. The wonderful Estyn Evan’s ´Personality of Ireland’, the reference for all vernacular architecture and craft. A Welsh man who established the Institue of Irish studies at Queens Belfast and the Ulster Folk Museum. Also excellent is ‘Irish Folk Ways’. 6. Claudia Kinmonth’s ´Irish Vernacular Furniture’ for all those beautiful dressers, stools, and settles from Cork to Donegal. 7. Michal Pollan ´A Place of my Own’ for anyone building a cabin, or home, beautiful prose and process. 8. Illustrated Vernacular House by R.W. Brunskill for the great old photographs 9. The Natural House book, for learning about alternative sustainable natural materials 10. ‘Building a Timber Frame House’ by Ted Benson

NATIVE Garden Sauna by @s__r__l__a

Making and learning all things butter @thelostvalleydairy Cork used to be home the world’s most important butter exchange, exporting to markets as far as India and Spain. Butter was made in small dairies all over West Cork, and transported from to the City via butter roads in firkins (branded butter casks issued by the Exchange). At the Cork City Butter Exchange, the quality would be inspected and graded-one of the first and most rigorous food quality certification processes in Europe. Here at the Lost Valley Dairy, Mike and Darcy showed us how to make traditional Irish butter, leaving fresh milk to sour overnight, then skimming the cream, separating the fatty goodness from the buttermilk. We then churned for a very long time (we must have annoyed the fairies), and it took so long that we decided to make fresh cheese with the leftover clabber. We then washed our beautiful yellow butter in fresh cold water and used a wooden spoon (no paddles here!) to squeeze out the leftover buttermilk. Finally the butter was salted, mould, wrapped, then unwrapped and promptly devoured. Delicious. Irish butter mirrors the landscape that produced it, hence the variation in colour depending on the season, see picture 10. Thanks you @thelostvalleydairy for a delicious day @zoeardiff @rebecca_roche 😊🍀💫

Thank you @katefinnigan__ for including us in the @fthtsi piece next to all our favourite and most admired places. #cabin #wildatlanticway #sustainablearchitecture

As we embark on the next stage of development of NATIVE, allow us to re-introduce ourselves and our project. We are Didi and Simon and we have spent the last 5 years building NATIVE. We started as a two-man team and are now supported by many talented people. We have worked on every aspect of the project; from architecture, interiors, design, operations, food, service. Thank you to everyone in Ballydehob who has supported us, and to every guest who has booked, stayed, messaged us or even just liked our posts- we couldn’t have done it without you! We are grateful to have lots of new people following and are excited to soon share our plans for 2026. #ecotourism #travel #interiordesign #slowtravel #visitireland

What’s on this March / Patricks Day Tues 17th, West Cork towns and villages will all host their own parades. Catch a tractor run and have a pint. The Skibbereen parade 3pm / Join a Gallery Talk @uillinnwestcorkarts with artists Barbara Diener, @sophiegough4 and Áine Ryan about exhibition Persistence of Trace on Saturday 14 March at 2pm. Free / @blairscove is re-opening this weekend for its 45th season, head over for some old world dinning with seafood buffet and dessert trolley / @ballydehobtradfestival takes place across the village from March 27-29. From concerts to session trails to album launches and ceili’s and everything in between, Ballydehob is the place to be. / @clonartsandminds - a festival celebrating creative minds / March 27-29. / A whole month of great live music and craic @levis_corner_house_ballydehob / The West Cork Choral Singers perform The Voyage, music inspired by the sea on Sunday 22nd March at 7.30pm in St.Brendan’s Church, Bantry @westcorkmusic / @babade_baltimore is back open for Turkish-inspired small plates and excellent wine / @camilla_cooks - has launched in West Cork for all your private cheffing needs be it a party, lunch or retreat. / Head to @ar_n_ait Skibbereen for Craft coffee, art, vinyl & wine and live music. Don’t miss Disco Ciúin this Sat 14th March €10 / @theskibbfarmersmarket is back open for its 10th anniversary! Pop by for the best crêpe @_la_creperie_ sauna oils @littlered_skincare kombucha @clovis_ferguson and award-winning cheese @thelostvalleydairy / Focus on your wellness with @the.nature.wave herbalism and yoga every Thursday morning in @ansanctoir / West Cork Drama Festival in Rossmore, just outside Clonakilty. 7 nights of amateur theatre from Sun 15th to Sat 21st March / Spend an afternoon on Sherkin Island on Sunday 29 March. Enjoy a Geology Walking Tour “Deep Time: A Geology & Astronomy Event” / Epic toasties are back @ceapairi_the_gourmet_grill every Sat in BallyD- pre-order available / Comedy, intimate gigs, and free parties @connollysofleap / its Mother’s Day 15th March, time for a Native voucher, or get a tattoo? @artichoketattoostudio