It is a quintessentially square hill house set among acres of neatly terraced apple orchard. You park on the main road above the house and then wend your way down a cobbled pathway, past patches of strawberry suckers and beds of homegrown cabbage and broccoli, until you reach the cottage - called "Riverview" because it catches the silver gleam of the Satluj river down in the valley below on any clear day.

Our hosts are Uma and Mahavir Singha and we have come to "check in" at their home - "Riverview" for a couple of pure "chillout" days. All that we want to do is bask in the sun by day and enjoy the company of friends around a bonfire in the evening. We want a place to stay but we don't want a typical hotel or a government run tourism outfit . We are looking for something which is off the beaten track - quiet, open so that the kids can run around freely and something homestyle and cosy. Riverview is in Kotgarh, District Shimla, about 80 km from the state capital itself, and a leisurely three hour drive from there via Narkanda. From Narkanda you branch off to the right onto a wooded road shaded by tall conifers down to Thanadhar-Kotgarh. Rudyard Kipling spoke of his travels along the" Kotgarh-Muttianee road" (then a mule track only negotiable on horseback or on foot) in his book Plain Tales from the Hills, and the poignant opening story entitled "Lispeth" is set in Kotgarh itself.

As we arrive, I know that this is the right place for us. We are greeted by Salim, the Singhas' hyper golden retriever and Freud, their more sedate daschund, who immediately take over the children. We are shown our rooms - a suite like accommodation which is the lowest floor of the house but with a separate entrance for us and the lawn in front.

The Singhas thought up the idea of keeping guests in their home once their three children had grown up, started working or married , and then settled down in different parts of the world. Now their younger son Sandeep and his family live with them on the orchard. They have never formally advertised Riverview - all guests who come to them have come on the basis of word-of-mouth reccommendations from earlier visitors. Looking through the visitors' book one can see the common thread that weaves through the comments : most of them have come here for the peace and quiet and in the process discovered a great getaway from their urban stress. What has attracted most of them is the warmth and homeliness of the hospitality offered.

Morning tea, for example can be had in the kitchen with the hosts if you like, or it can be sent down to your room or on the lawn. A huge bukhari warms the Singha kitchen, heats water for the dishes and hot-water bottles. At breakfast the table is graced by an assortment of home-made preserves and jams, of which Uma Singha's quince jelly is famous. She conjures up equally good Pahadi cuisine for those who want to sample that kind of food. And needless to say, the apple-pie with cream is the piece-de-resistance at her table.

Mahavir Singha's domain is outside . Apart from managing the orchards, his enthusiasm for the garden is reflected in the varieties of blooms surrounding the house . At given times of the year Riverview is resplendent with roses, gladioli, tulips, hyacinths and other traditionally hill flowers. He has also experimented successfully with growing exotic vegetables like asparagus and artichoke in his kitchen garden.

Uma Singha is the grand-daughter of the apple pioneer of Himachal, Satyanand Stokes , an American missionary who came to the hills of Thanadhar-Kotgarh around 1904. He married a local girl and settled in Thanadhar where three generations of Stokes grew up subsequently. Uma's father, Prem Stokes was the eldest son of Satyanand Stokes and she herself was a doctor in service with the Himachal Pradesh government . With retirement, she has absorbed herself in running Riverview as a small but unique" hideaway" for tourists in Kotgarh.

"Harmony Hall", the Stokes' ancestral home built in 1912, can be seen from Kotgarh high across the hill at Thanadhar, next to the family temple. It is a long, rambling, intricately carved wooden structure built in the classical architecture of the hills. The place has a charm and ambience completely its own and is a must- visit ; you can either trek it there from Riverview and make a picnic of it or drive up and look around. From here one gets a panoramic view of the apple-growing belt of northern Shimla district , with orchards spanning the mountainsides as far as the eye can see.

Back at Riverview, children can have the run of the orchard, as ours did . If you don't want to do anything, then you don't have to do anything but sprawl out in the sun all day, read or sleep. If however you want to "do something", you can make a day of visiting the renowned Bhimakali Temple at Sarahan, about five hours drive from Kotgarh. Start early , drive along the banks of the Satluj via Rampur, climb up to Jeori and then to Sarahan , to this beautiful old temple. You can easily get back to Kotgarh by dinnertime.

The best part of staying at Riverview is the feeling that you are at home. The peace that descends upon you while you are there and which stays with you even when you leave is what draws people here all year round. If you're looking for just this kind of place , you can always contact the Singhas at "Riverview Orchards, Kotgarh,District Shimla -- 172031 (Himachal Pradesh). Phone : 01782 -- 22241.

You won't regret your trip to "The Tranquil Orchard".

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