Owning a slice of the British countryside feels a bit like stepping into a postcard—complete with ancient pear trees, suspiciously intelligent pheasants, and a roof that definitely has “character.” When we first toured this sweet country home, tucked between misty overgrown hedgerows and gossiping sheep, we knew we’d found something truly special (and mildly chaotic).

Tracks with having four kids.

Anyway, these photos capture not just the bricks and beams, but the peculiar charm—and occasional eccentricity—that comes with inheriting several centuries of history and a garden that seems to grow faster than my resolve to tame it.

(For reference, this is the second time I’ve given a “before” photo tour… to see the “before” of our Charlottesville home, check out this post. Oh how time flies!)

So without further ado, here is a quick tour of our new home!

Downstairs

When you first walk into the front door…

This is what you see when you walk in:

Upon walking in, the stairs are to the immediate right, but if you walk past the stairs and turn to the right:

The kitchen! (without a fridge or dishwasher, naturally)

The kitchen is narrow with a very small “eat-in” aspect:

The kitchen is smack dab in the middle of the house. On the other side of the kitchen is the more “working” side of the house… with a loo, laundry room, storage room, playroom, and garage. A second staircase right by the garage leads to a guest suite, which is nice and private/ soundproof from the rest of the house. (Huge bonus for those of us with a bunch of kids who actually want to offer a hospitable guest room!)

On the other side of the front entry hall, if you didn’t go into the kitchen, there’s a really long, narrow living room:

The room had a stained red carpet, which I choose to think is because previous owners threw some excellent parties with red wine:

Across from the living room is a little tucked away room which was used as an office (no wine parties in this room, of course):

And in between those two rooms was the dining room:

Simple room with French doors heading to a back patio.

Upstairs

The hallway is simple but quirky and makes me excited to eventually give it some charm. Kind of love the window placement.

Unlike the rest of the house, the carpet on the stairs is in pristine condition and felt extra luxurious underfoot. I think it was likely replaced when putting the house on the market.

Walking up the stairs leads straight to a cool character-ful round window with a view over the fields behind the house:

The top of the stairs kind of bisects the hallway– on one side is the owner’s bedroom, and on the other side is a hallway that leads to all the kids’ bedrooms and bathroom. I love the high ceiling in this part of the house!

The high ceiling carries over to the owner’s suite.

The long hallway on the other side has a regular ceiling height with three bedrooms in a row:

Each of the three bedrooms is carpeted differently:

Exterior

Although this house has so much potential on the inside, my favorite is actually the potential on the outside.

The grassy areas outside are going to be fun to create outdoor “rooms” in for the kids. But the back– with the patio and gravel and built-in garden beds… that has the potential to be so magical with the church steeple overlooking it!

I hope you enjoyed the grand tour! Word on the street is the house is actually four old cottages put together. Part of my mission will be to (one day) uncover the past of this quirky, sweet home. In the meantime, there’s a certain undeniable charm to adjusting to living in a place where every creaky floorboard tells a story and every window lets in equal parts sunlight and mystery draft. These photos are a glimpse into our new life among the hedgerows, where tea is strong, Wi-Fi is weak, and the local wildlife has more confidence than most Londoners.