The Background to White Stones Eco Studio Retreats

Bookings From July 2018. Opening September 2018.

The background behind the eco development

Several years ago and in need of a new studio space, David Nicholls, local Portland artist and owner of White Stones Cafe Gallery, came up with the idea of building a new studio with holiday rental accommodation. He consulted a friend and architect Niall Gault about the idea. David's brief was that the arts studio and holiday accommodation should be quite versatile and be as Eco friendly as the site would allow. After many meetings and ideas the design for planning was submitted.

Planning permission was granted near the end of 2016 and with the help of Niall Gault and another friend, Rachel Barton of Barton Consultancy Ltd, David applied for rural development funding via Dorset Leader to help get the project off the ground. After much hard work the funding application was accepted and David was amazed to hear that it was awarded the highest amount of funding support for the Dorset region!