Valley Views Cottage is a quirky, art-filled retreat tucked away in a secret valley in the Macleay Valley, around 45 minutes from town. Enjoy modern comforts, total privacy, and a large fully fenced garden with dogs welcome. Explore bush walks and a private mountain hike on the property with breathtaking valley views, plus nearby waterholes and a pristine creek just a short 500m walk away — perfect for swimming, exploring, and unwinding in nature.
The space
Valley Views Cottage is a cosy yet spacious, stand-alone cottage set on a 200-acre rural property in the Macleay Valley.
The cottage sits within its own secluded, fully fenced ¼-acre garden, offering total privacy and making it ideal for guests travelling with dogs. The owners’ residence is located over 100 metres away and completely out of sight.
The cottage has a warm, creative feel and is filled with handmade art, paintings, sculptures and rustic details, many created from materials sourced on the property. The cottage was originally hand-built by previous owners using local stone and rough-cut timber, it has a unique, character-filled atmosphere that reflects the surrounding wilderness.
Outdoor living
Outside, enjoy a private deck overlooking the surrounding countryside, complete with outdoor dining, a gas BBQ, fire-pit and fire-bowl for winter evenings. There are plenty of places to sit and relax, including a garden hammock — perfect for lazy afternoons, reading, or an afternoon nap after a swim or walk.
Guests are welcome to enjoy lawn games such as croquet or Finska, practice yoga in the outdoor studio space, or simply take in the views.
With minimal light pollution, nights at Valley Views are wonderfully dark, offering exceptional stargazing and clear views of star-filled skies on clear evenings.
Mornings are often magical, with mist rising through the valley — best enjoyed with a cuppa on the deck, front porch or by the creek.
Bedrooms & living areas
The cottage comfortably sleeps two couples, with two large bedrooms featuring a king and queen bed dressed in luxurious, high-quality linen, extra blankets, and plenty of pillows. The main bedroom includes a wardrobe and comfortable chairs positioned by the window for quiet moments of relaxation.
The lounge and dining area is tastefully decorated and features a 55” flat-screen TV with satellite channels and Netflix, comfortable seating, a large dining table, and a wood burner for chilly evenings. Firewood and kindling are provided and ready to use.
There is a 6 seater dining table in the lounge / diner.
Kitchen & amenities
The kitchen is spacious and well-equipped with quality appliances including an oven, electric cooktop, microwave, dishwasher, and coffee machine. A breakfast table seats four and looks out toward Double Head Mountain. Guests have everything needed for short or long stays, including quality cookware, crockery and cutlery, plus an additional fridge and freezer for longer visits.
A generous selection of teas, espresso and instant coffee is provided, along with pantry essentials. When available, guests may also enjoy seasonal vegetables and eggs from the garden at no extra charge.
Bathing, laundry & workcation
The cottage features a large indoor bath, with an additional shower located in the outdoor laundry room, which also includes a washing machine.
Valley Views Cottage is also well suited to a workcation, with fast 275 Mbps+ unlimited Wi-Fi, suitable for video calls, streaming and remote work — all while surrounded by nature.
Nature & experiences
Guests are welcome to explore the full 200 acres, including defined walking tracks and bushland. A 500-metre walk leads to a pristine creek with swimming holes, while a private mountain hike on the property rewards fit walkers with breathtaking valley views and a rock shelter at the summit. Wildlife sightings are common and may include wallabies, pademelons, bandicoots, prolific birdlife and, occasionally, platypus.
The established cottage garden is filled with handcrafted objects, flowering plants, rustic pots and creative touches, making it a pleasure to explore — and a space dogs absolutely love.
Nearby attractions & day trips
There is no shortage of places to explore during your stay at Valley Views Cottage.
Just 3.6 km from the gate, you’ll find Jumping Rock, a much-loved local swimming hole — perfect for relaxing, swimming, picnicking, or trying your luck catching the elusive bass that spawn in the upper reaches of the creek.
Toorumbee Road itself is a pleasure to explore, whether walking, cycling or driving. The road follows the creek as the valley opens up, offering beautiful scenery and peaceful countryside views along the way.
Direct access to Boonanghi Nature Reserve is approximately 4 km from the gate. Fire trails follow the ridgeline and descend into another secluded valley, leading to a spectacular waterfall known locally as the Kempsey Blowhole, along with rock pools and cascades that flow year-round. This is a wonderful full-day adventure, taking around an hour each way via 22 km of forest fire trails. Due to multiple tracks and limited reception, please ask us for a map. This area is only suitable for 4WD vehicles, or we’re happy to help arrange a day trip if you don’t have one.
For a change of scenery, the Mid North Coast beaches make great day trips, including Crescent Head, Hat Head and South West Rocks, with Crescent Head approximately one hour’s drive from the cottage.
Important notes
This is a remote, rural location, accessed via approximately 18 km of unsealed road. A 4WD is not required, but low-clearance sports cars are not suitable. There is no mobile phone reception, however Wi-Fi calling works well.
The property is not baby-proofed and includes steps, uneven ground and steep walking tracks. It is not suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters, or guests with limited mobility.
Why book Valley Views ?
We’re confident a break at Valley Views Cottage will not disappoint — please feel free to read our reviews to see what past guests have loved about their stay. Many guests let us know that they feel completely recharged after a stay at the cottage.
Guest access
Valley views cottage located at 667 Toorumbee road is 45 minutes west of Kempsey and travelling here would include 15km of dirt road. No 4x4 necessary but do not reccomend turning up in your super low set sports car ( leave the R8 at home)
The property consists of 200 acres and all of the land is available for guests to explore, from defined tracks to bush walks, just ask and we can point you in the right direction for adventure.
The holiday cottage is private and set well away from the main house with no clear line of sight from either dwelling.
A large fully fenced garden ensures extra privacy and we take care to let guests feel like they are here all alone, unless they want to chat but this is rarely the case.
Please note the property is mountainous and hilly, all walks involve some steep inclines with rocky terrain. The cottage garden has levels with steps so if you are not physically mobile it may not be a good getaway option as you will find yourself confined to the dwelling space. Definitely not suitable for wheelchairs or mobility scooters.
Other things to note
Suitable walking shoes are needed for the walks on the property including to the creek.
If you need to make phone calls then you will need to have a phone that is wifi calling enabled and then you can call through the internet connection. There isn't any phone reception.
You don't need to bring anything except your food, the cottage has tea, coffee, spices and sugar as well as essentials like oil, tin foil, cleaning supplies, dish cloths etc.
Low clearance vehicles will need to drive slowly up the steep driveway but we have had guests come in all vehicle type, a 4x4 is not necessary to get to this location but there is 18kms unsealed road with no phone reception until you reach valley views (not suitable for sports cars or trailers/ Caravans)
Seasonally the creek may flood and water may be over the road in places but we rarely get flooded in and will advise guests if there is risk of this happening.
Registration details
PID-STRA-27323
