Quirky B.C. cottage named one of Airbnb’s most-desired rentals

For many, staying in the cob cottage surrounded by trees, gardens, a herd of friendly sheep, and a flock of chickens, feels like a bit of a fairy tale. But if that setting doesn't sound idyllic enough, the cottage is also a 10-minute walk from the beach.

Featured in a number of books on natural building, the cob cottage is both beautiful and sustainable—almost all of the materials used to build it were sourced from the property it sits on. The walls are made from clay from a nearby pond, and the curved roof beam on the second floor was made from a salvaged piece of wood.

The hand-sculpted walls leave the cottage with few corners. It's only natural, then, that the cottage is fitted with custom furniture, including a built-in bench that lines one of the walls next to the wood stove—the perfect spot to curl up with a good book.

Like much of the West Coast, the temperatures on Mayne Island are relatively mild, though it can get pretty wet outside. If that's the case, you can always light the wood stove—its dry heat is the perfect antidote to damp weather and stone floors.

The simple cottage has one small washroom, complete with a white cob shower, which might put you in mind of The Flinstones. But our favourite part of the cottage might be the staircase on the other side of the wall, which looks like it was built for a treehouse.

The kitchen isn't huge, but it has a toaster oven and two built-in burners for heating food and water. The curve in the custom-built countertop provides lots of prep space, and its shape flows perfectly with the curved lines found throughout the rest of the cottage.

There's an adorable breakfast nook in the corner of the kitchen, which is surrounded by panelled windows, so you can take in your surroundings while enjoying some local produce and meats from the town's nearby family grocer.

The bedroom's curved roof adds an extra element of cozy to the open-concept second floor. Drawers pull out from underneath the bed for storage, and a bookshelf attached to the headboard gives you easy access to nighttime reads.

For those who need to get a little work done, one of the few other pieces of furniture on the second floor is a desk that sits under a massive skylight. Nature has been known to inspire bright minds, and we can't think of a better workspace than one that looks up to a canopy of trees.

Mayne Island is located between Victoria Island and mainland B.C., and is accessed by ferry. To get to and from the cottage, there's a small community bus, though routes are limited, especially in the winter. Luckily, Alexis and Manny are as welcoming as their cozy little cottage, and are happy to pick up and drop off guests who are travelling without a car.