A rustic retreat at Wales sheep farm

There are a few constants on the Pen-y-Wyrlod farm in southeast Wales: the sheep, the rain, the mud, the Black Mountains. And at the top of a small hill, beyond an unmarked gate, across from a medieval church, a Gypsy caravan barely large enough to hold a bed, a wood-burning stove and a paying guest — me.

A caravan — a rustic, covered wagon — on a soggy sheep farm in a far corner of Britain is not as unlikely a place to spend a vacation as it might seem. It is among hundreds of such alternative accommodations in Wales — shepherd's huts, old circus wagons, converted wool mills and train cars.

I found the caravan through a British company called Under the Thatch ( www.underthethatch.co.uk ), which is owned by a low-impact-travel-minded architectural historian. Though seemingly off the grid in Wales' Monmouthshire county, a hilly, Arcadian, green and wet place, it was simple to reach. I took a train from Paddington Station in London and then a taxi, arriving in the afternoon.

I familiarized myself with my lodgings for the evening: a little wagon that resembled a Victorian dollhouse with wheels. Once I climbed the tiny ladder that led to the door, I entered to find a little bed with heavy wool blankets and a miniature wood stove.

In the solar-powered shed next door, there was room for my baggage. The proprietors, Nick Miller and Sarah Dickins, had also left me a spare, elegant welcome: four eggs, one loaf of homemade bread and one carton of milk.

This system — self-catering — meant that I could bring my own food, cook the eggs laid that morning by the hen outside or walk a mile to the Walnut Tree, one of four Michelin-starred restaurants in Wales. (I chose the walk and was rewarded at the end of it with a prix fixe lunch — 18 pounds, or about $29 — — that included ale and salmon, perfectly poached in duck fat.)

Nick and Sarah decided to restore and rent the caravan last June, out of a desire to make use of a fallow field. The rates are not bargain-basement: The cost varies with the season but my stay was 83 pounds (about $130) a night. The couple live on the property in a farmhouse that was built in parts over three centuries, starting in the 15th.

They seem as comfortable with country life as with city pursuits. Sarah is a host and independent producer for the BBC working on a documentary about a Welsh punk club, and Nick is an environmental consultant who also restores 18th-century English furniture; a wind turbine at the top of the hill powers his office.

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