Outfit: The Poetry Room in Helen's Tower

On a whim, we booked Helen's Tower to stay in for the weekend. As the name might imply, it is a beautiful old tower which you can rent and stay in; it's quite unique because it's a stand-alone tower in the middle of the woods and when you book it you have the whole place to yourself. For a weekend (or longer) you get to be lord or lady of the tower, surveying your kingdom from the lofty windows. It is exactly how you imagine a tower to be; a tall spindly building with rooms stacked on top of each other and connected by a winding spiral staircase. It's really incredible to go up floor by floor and see how the view changes; from looking into the surrounding trees to peeking at the tops and new spring buds beginning to form, to seeing far over the trees and towards the horizon. The top room of the tower (before you reach the actual rooftop which is a blustery spot but has the best views) is this room; the Poetry Room. So-named for the bronze plaques of poetry that decorate its wooden walls. The room is lined with windows and tiny velvet window seats perfect for reading (or writing) poetry while being inspired by the natural world swaying outside. Being in this room felt more like being in a ship than a tower; with the tops of trees bobbing around outside of you in all directions it was easy to imagine yourself floating above the world in a small wooden vessel.
As an old building, the tower was built in 1861, it can be a bit cool inside (and we actually saw some snow flurries when we first arrived on Friday evening) so dressing cozy is the wisest decision. I thought this vintage sweater from Rokit would be a perfect nod to the country estate with its red clad figure of a classic English lord on a hunt! My plaid bag is also from Rokit, from their recycled line where they re-work unwearable vintage fabrics and clothes into original pieces. I snagged their "hold all" style bag and it really did hold just about everything I needed for a weekend away! I thought this look would suit the poetry room quite well and it gave me an excuse to spend some quiet time in the room one evening, reading and snapping a few pictures while Thomas was away fishing at a nearby pond. With the sun filtering in through the windows and the fire gently crackling away it was the most perfect quiet time.