Located on the island of Stokkøya, this stilted overwater hideout comes with its own sauna, hot tub and jetty for cold sea plunges. Jenny Southan reports

We arrive at night in a howling storm, icy rain and wind whipping across the empty roads that wind around lakes, mountain valleys and eventually the coast. Naustet Stokkøya provides a two-night pitstop as part of a road trip around the Sør-Trøndelag region of Norway – further north than Oslo, but not as far up as the Arctic Circle.

The trip has been organised by the country’s premier travel curator, Up Norway, and the team has input our entire itinerary on a handy app complete with details of how to do the ferry crossing from the Flakk on the mainland to the the island of Stokkoya. I am travelling with my wife and six-year-old daughter – and as we drive off the ferry in the deep grey mist, light fading, we realise that our adventure is taking a new direction.

Wedged on the shores of the Norwegian Sea, Naustet Stokkøya is a striking reimagining of a traditional Norwegian boathouse – part design statement, part wilderness retreat. With its blackened timber façade and dramatic position on the water’s edge, the property blurs the boundaries between architecture and ecosystem, inviting guests to become one with the elements – specifically, fire and water.

Upon arrival, luggage unloaded from our hire car and carried across a metal gangway to the bedrooms, a wood-burning stove casts a yellow glow across the open plan living space below. It’s warm, and we quickly cast of thick coats and gloves as we are welcomed by owner Remy Nordvik, who has kindly taken it upon himself to be on-site and organise a chef to prepare us dinner.

The interior has a warehouse feel. In the centre, an industrial metal staircase leads up to a cluster of four “floating” sleeping platforms, where low beds are made up with soft white cotton sheets and charcoal wool blankets. There are no dividing walls, just honeycomb metal balustrades. On ground level, vast windows face give 180-degree views of the sea, although its all inky black at night.

Glasses of wine in hand, we watch as our chef prepares a feast of creamy artichoke soup; fig, grape and burrata salad; roasted beetroots, root vegetables, cranberries and hazelnuts; baked Camembert and more. More than we could eat, all laid out on a long black communal table. All awareness of our life back home evaporates – we are entirely present in this atmospheric hideout. Left alone, we get comfortable, spending the evening reading and playing games.

“I hope you have bad weather,” we are told by Up Norway, who know that there is nothing better than experiencing the contrast of cosy and bleak. We are lucky. When we wake up, the sky is still an ominous grey. More rain is shed across the sea. We eat strawberries from granite bowls at breakfast, drink good coffee, and make a plan for the day.

Outdoors, a deck in front of the house is too cold and wet for a barbecue (although in summer this would be delightful), but there’s an overwater net for lying on, hammock style, as well as a small sauna in a black shed, a hot tub (although this wasn’t working when we stayed), and a metal jetty leading to the sea.

The property, which also features a pair of A-frame sleeping cabins next door, is an homage to traditional Norwegian “naust” – the boathouses used to store fishing gear and vessels – so the gangway makes it both easy to board a boat, and plunge into the icy brine. I manage a dip, while clinging on to the ladder, but my wife does a proper naked swim out into the waves and back. We race into to the sauna, tingling and high on endorphins as we reheat. “Let’s do it again!”

At lunchtime we drive along the coast to Strandbaren Stokkoya, a restaurant on an expansive sandy beach, that also has nearby cabins, coastal houses for rent, tents for glamping and camping pitches. At this time of year, in late autumn, we are glad of our weatherproof refuge but it’s easy to imagine how idyllic it would be in the warmer months (it’s closed during winter until late February, once hibernation ends). The air is addictively fresh and salty.

As our daughter runs on the beach, we order zero-percent beers from Røros Bryggeri and stare at the strange humpback bridge in the distance. Much of the produce here is straight from the sea – or from the garden or local farms – and cooked on an open fire, served smoky. But they also do a good mac n cheese pasta that will appeal to anyone seeking familiar comfort food.

The light soon fading once again, we set off back to Naustet Stokkøya – it’s the kind of place, we agree, that would be perfect to write a book. Or provide the setting for a Nordic noir thriller. For outsiders, this kind of retreat offers a rare kind of escapism. Far removed from the pace of city life, it allows you to feel completely off-grid without forgoing modern luxuries.

There is a well-stocked wine and champagne cabinet, for a start, and a kitchen that dinner party hosts can only dream of. Spending time in Norway, I come to appreciate the beauty of stripped-back minimalism, of refined cooking that heroes locally sourced ingredients, and a more analogue way of living that is far from the trappings of Silicon Valley. We are at peace.

Prices:

April 1 to October 30 – NOK 15,000 (£1,126) per night.
Seasonal deal if guests stay two nights or more from November 1 to March 31 – NOK 7,500 (£563) per night.  
Weekends are only bookable for two nights – Friday-Sunday.

Book through Up Norway for an expert itinerary and insider connections.