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When Hugo Macdonald and James Stevens, founders of the Edinburgh-based gallery Bard, mentioned that they were going to host a house party for Ostara—the pagan festival honoring the Spring Equinox—I cleared my schedule. My excitement doubled when I learned it would be at Boath House, the Greek revival villa in the Scottish Highlands owned by partners Steve Mayne and Jonny Gent of Sessions Art Club fame.
The purpose of the 24-hour gathering was to bid farewell to winter and usher in the warmth of spring with fire, food, and festivities. “The more virtual our lives become, the more appealing it feels to reconnect with nature, weather, seasonal shifts, and thresholds,” says Macdonald of the event’s design. “It feels invigorating to honor old celebrations with primal concerns, such as the return of light and warmth. Connections to each other and to ideas that are older than the internet are life-affirming and enlivening.”
The event took place this past Saturday—a rare sunny day after a streak of rainy weather. As though the gods themselves had received the invitation asking for “spring fling” dress, clear blue skies shone as my friend and I loaded up her Jeep to make the three-hour drive north. And as we pulled down the drive to Boath House, we were transported into a scene from a period drama.
The four Ionic columns of the manor house hid a set of croquet mallets and wellies, and with a flourish, Ali Hunter—Boath House’s charming host—threw open the door, letting us know we were late (we were) and filling our hands with cocktails and cake. Bathed in the scent of a burning fire and palo santo, it was like stepping into a friend’s fabulous home, not a hotel. (I would later learn from Jonny Gent that he deliberately wanted the space to feel like “an abandoned house after a painter had fled the scene,” complete with “the smell of candles, brushes, oil, and cotton rags.”)
After dropping our bags, we stepped into the art-filled living room filled with the 20 or so other guests, which included designers, architects, artists, and craftspeople from Scotland and beyond. All the while, three dogs ran underfoot. “I purposefully didn’t over-design Boath or try to somehow ‘decorate’—it was about emptying the house and painting it very simply,” says Gent. “The Residency program contributes hugely to the feel of the house. People come and stay and leave behind their energy and art and beauty.”
Kicking off the evening’s events in the living room, Stevens and Macdonald gathered us around the roaring fireplace to share a little history around Ostara. According to Macdonald, the holiday has origins as early as the 8th century, when it was first mentioned by the English monk and author, Venerable Bede. “Ostara re-emerged in the Brothers Grimm fairytale as a German spring goddess on a sleigh pulled by hares,” he says. “Tracing Ostara’s precise origins might be tricky, but there’s no denying that celebrations around the return of light and warmth after winter are a universal human urge.”
Trading my Manolos for Blundstones, I followed Scottish storyteller Eileen Budd outside to throw my winter woes into the bonfire. With a tradition of storytelling in her family that stretches back 400 years, Budd previously worked for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and now travels far and wide sharing Scottish folk culture, myths, and legends. Not one to mess around with time-tested tradition, I carefully followed her instructions to fold my paper nine times for luck before tossing it in.
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Back in the dining room, we found our seats among two long tables to enjoy the Ostara feast prepared by chefs Philip Mcenaney and Katie Austin. Much of what we ate was grown in the historic walled garden set on Boath’s grounds. There were savory egg custards, rabbit terrine with pickled carrots, and lobster and barley. Roast chicken was served family style, and we ended the meal with Scotch pancakes and petit fours.
After dinner, we moved through the drawing room to listen to more of Budd’s tales of mystical and mythical creatures from Scotland’s folk traditions. When she was finished, guests filled with wonder, and many refreshments, started peeling off to bed. The next day would bring early start times, with one group poised for wild swimming and the other for the wood-fired sauna. I joined the former.
In the morning, we awoke for an 8 a.m. departure to Moray Firth. Our group walked across the beach and upon finding the opportune place for wading, braved the iciest water I have ever stepped foot in. Designer Ilse Crawford led the way. It took all of my courage to dunk my head under and then flee. In robes on the shore, we watched in awe as Penny Martin, Editor-in-Chief of The Gentlewoman, continued to swim around for several minutes.
Back at Boath, the group drifted into the dining room for a delicious breakfast. Each place setting held the take-home gift of a ceramic egg cup crafted by Dunkeld ceramicist Cara Guthrie. Conversation babbled, and there was the feeling of friends who had known each other for much longer than we had.
That magic could be attributed to the very nature of a Highland house party, a Scottish tradition that the Bard founders are on a mission to resurrect. “There’s a different kind of rhythm and potential to meet people meaningfully when you see them over 24 hours in a few situations and different clothes,” says Macdonald. “There is greater capacity to continue conversations than the urgency of a single meal.” For Gent, the event was a no-brainer. “It came about firstly because of my love of Hugo and James and like all things, for me, it starts with the people. I adore their eye and quest for poetry which mirrors my obsession with romance,” he says.
At midday, we packed up to head home. As I carried my bag to the car, I did feel like something had lifted. Whether it was endorphins from the cold water swim, or the winter woes I had burned away over the bonfire, I wouldn’t be able to say. The villa disappeared in the rearview mirror and I couldn’t quite believe all that had occurred in less than 24 hours. It felt like reality had been temporarily suspended.
In a final moment of mysticism, Hugo would tell me later that he spent the afternoon chasing after his dog Dougal who had taken off after a rare hare on the grounds. Whether that should be chalked up to an encounter with local wildlife or a visit from the Ostara goddess herself, I can’t be sure. That answer lives at Boath House.