The Bushman’s Cottage

“This place feels like it remembers you, even if you’ve never been.”

I recently stayed at The Bushman’s Cottage, a restored mill worker’s home tucked in the karri forests of Quinninup, WA. I came looking for stillness, but what I found was something deeper. A place that doesn’t just offer quiet, it insists on it.

The cottage is simple. Timber walls, a wraparound verandah, an outdoor bath under the stars. There’s no TV, no distraction—just the sound of trees moving and the creak of old floorboards. Inside, the shelves are lined with books and old games, a nod to slowness in every detail.

I spent the days walking the forest tracks and the evenings soaking in silence, watching light shift across the clearing. Even the air felt different—cooler, slower. It’s a home that’s been stripped back to the essentials, and in doing so, somehow gives more.

This isn’t just a weekend stay. It’s a reminder. That comfort doesn’t need clutter. That rest can be intentional. That there’s something sacred about a place that lets you be no one for a while.

It’s more than a cottage. It’s stillness. Shelter. And a quiet kind of return.