HAllway & Sitting Room
The hallway is filled with light from the stable door, and in the Winter, we keep a fire burning in this log-burner all day, which warms the house through.
The sitting room also has a log-burner for cosy Winter nights, but it remains wonderfully cool during the months of Summer heat. We have lots of books, games and DVDs, and also, a baby grand piano in this room, if you play. Please treat my lovely English piano respectfully - it is a special 1934 Broadwood, designed for a decent quality sound, but on a cottage-scale, built to serve the 1930s cottage-core trend! There is also an antique bureau next to the sofa, which makes an ideal spot to sit and do some work on a laptop, if you really have to during your holiday!
We chose pale limestone for the floors in this area, to keep the cottage feeling light. We also raised the ceiling by over a foot, so try to imagine how it was before! The solid oak doors were made for us by our local joiner Ped, with bronze fixings, and the wood came from down the road, at the timber yard.
The window sills are reclaimed and treated elm from the good bits of the mostly rotten 18thC floorboards upstairs. We replaced the boards upstairs with solid oak throughout.
For 60 years this chimney had been blocked up and magpies had filled it with damp twigs over that time. It took two tonne bags to remove all that, and restore it back to a working fireplace. We have added a sweet little oak fender for removing shoes and boots by the fire after the many lovely walk around the village.