A house that welcomed people
Long before anyone paid to stay, The Oaks was simply a home that kept its doors open.
We have hosted people from Afghanistan, the Congo, Gaza, Albania and Rwanda, and founded the Congenital Anaemia Network, a charity for families living with rare congenital anaemias. That habit of welcome is what everything else grew from.
The treehouse was an accident
It was built as a weatherproof gathering place. Our guests decided it was somewhere to sleep.
After one too many soggy marquees we built a treehouse for garden parties and filled it with handmade props and a little magic. Visiting friends and patients kept asking to stay the night, so we applied for planning permission, opened for bookings, and word travelled faster than we expected.
Then we kept going
Faun’s Hideaway came next, then Beaver’s Den, each built around a story rather than a floor plan.
Beams with a history
Ancient timbers salvaged from the church where C.S. Lewis is buried.
A little enchantment
Talking mirrors, hidden carvings and props made by hand.
Bees and honey
Our Bee & Honey Atelier, with tastings from our own hives.
Bat walks at dusk
Twilight walks through the Shotover woodlands.
Standing for something
In glamping, it is hard to know what you are booking.
Very few glamping names actually tell you anything. Cedar Hollow is meant to be one of the few: a mark of the high end. That is why Mallinson’s joined the family, and why we keep looking for properties that deserve the name.
The story of Mallinson’s
Our Dorset woodland was shaped by one craftsman over two decades.
Guy Mallinson trained at Parnham House and the Royal College of Art, ran a Fulham workshop of sixteen cabinetmakers, and helped build the Stirling Prize winning LABAN with Herzog & de Meuron. In Dorset he turned to green woodworking, taught it on BBC Two’s Mastercrafts, and grew Crafty Camping out of students asking to stay the night. The overnight stays were the guests’ idea here too.
Then came the treehouses: the Woodsman’s, Dazzle and Pinwheel, with three RIBA awards between them. Guy agreed the sale to Cedar Hollow in 2026 and hands over at the end of the year, describing us, kindly, as “a kindred spirit”.
Every stay does something
Bookings, honey and bonbons all feed the Congenital Anaemia Network.
We keep one weekend a month free for patients and their families, at no cost to them. If that could be you or someone you know, we would love to hear from you.
Come and stay
Six woodland retreats across Oxfordshire and Dorset, from a two-person hideaway to a treehouse built for a gathering.