There is much that I want to say but can’t with regards to the day I have had. Mondays are tough, especially if you are someone in your early 30s who still drinks (and there are fewer and fewer of us, probably for the best), but the agonies of tasting real freedom on a Saturday and Sunday, only to be returned to the crashing thump of adult life, can be overwhelming.
Suddenly, the many emails that you have been ignoring for 48 hours can be avoided no longer, and as you desperately cast your eye around the home in which you work, in a vain attempt to briefly disconnect, all you can see is cracks in the walls, and things that need repairing and clothes that need cleaning. And then, a strong breeze blows all your plants off your windowsill and covers you in soil. I often take it upon myself to attempt to bring the countryside to the computers and tablets of the ordinary Londoner, but this was a little too literal, even for me.
Bringing the countryside to the good people of the city should be more like writing about homes like Sarsden Cottage in Sarsden, Oxfordshire. On the market with The Country House Department for the not insignificant sum of £1.75 million, the property is a five-bedroom thatched cottage that looks like it wants to pick you up and cuddle you. The agonies of adult life will find you everywhere, but at Sarsden Cottage, they will hurt a little less.
Situated in the triangle of Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold and Burford, the village of Sarsden (and its adjoining village Churchill) is about as peak Cotswolds as you can get. There is a nice church. There is a village green. There is a nice pub (The Chequers Inn) and, perhaps most importantly these days, Daylesford Farm Shop and the Soho Farmhouse are a short drive away.
The property itself dates from the 17th century, although it does benefit from some more recent additions. The current owners have carried out a tasteful refurbishment of the house, creating a home of period elegance that oozes cosiness. Observe the comfortable sitting room and its glorious fireplace. Marvel at the farmhouse style kitchen that is both modern yet traditional. The double aspect garden room, with its enormous french doors and windows, is a particular highlight (I also like the choice of paint colour).
The small garden to the rear is also extremely pleasant. Hardly massive, it is mostly laid to lawn with well stocked beds and shrubs, creating a space that is nice to look at, spend time in, but won’t demand every hour of your free time to maintain. It’s all very well thought out and the kind of welcoming, functional space that might not write its own headlines, but is exactly the kind of calming home I would like to retire to after a day like today.
Sarsden Cottage is for sale with the Country House Department for £1.75 million
A classic Georgian manor house in an ancient hilltop town in the Cotswolds
The Lammas is a spectacular Georgian house in one of the finest spots in the Cotswolds, as Penny Churchill explains.
Credit: Savills and Knight Frank
Six of the best homes in the Cotswolds (or just outside) for sale, as seen in this week's Country Life
If it's more than an hour from the Soho Farmhouse or Daylesford, we don't want to know about it.
Credit: Hamptons
A honey-coloured home in Wiltshire that sits at peace with its landscape
Rock Cottage offers four bedrooms and almost two acres of land in the pristine countryside near Turleigh.
A 'rare and exceptional' medieval estate with an Elizabethan-style house, a string of cottages, and a location an hour from London
The Allexton Hall Estate comes to the market, and Penny Churchill tells its story.
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West London's spent the last two decades as the laughing stock of the style set — here's how it got its groove backThe style set is returning to the very West London neighbourhoods it once made a habit of spurning, finds Will Hosie.
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The new property hotspots where you can have it all: Beautiful houses, great schools and idyllic lifestyleAcross the country people are selling up and heading to the towns where there's no compromise on dream homes, outstanding schooling and the good life, according to analysis from two of Britain's top estate agents. Anna White explains.
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The new property hotspots where you can have it all: Beautiful houses, great schools and idyllic lifestyle
Across the country people are selling up and heading to the towns where there's no compromise on dream homes, outstanding schooling and the good life, according to analysis from two of Britain's top estate agents. Anna White explains.
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Where Venice once ruled: The roving Venetians left handsome imprints across the Greek world, from its religion to its rambling villasMatthew Dennison explores the lingering traces of Venice's vanished empire — and the best places to buy where it once stood.
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A delightful 16th century home with some of Kent's most beautiful gardens has come on to the marketThe Grange puts the 'garden' into the Garden of England.
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A pristine Scottish island for sale at the price of a garage in FulhamA dot on the map of the west coast of Scotland has come on to the market, where you'll be surrounded by sea, living off grid and be neighbours with the local seal colony.
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18 beautiful homes, from charming cottages to a Highland mansion with unbeatable views, as seen in Country LifeOur look at some of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life in the past week includes Georgian manor houses, charming commutable homes and the grandest home in Newcastle.
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The gorgeous Somerset home of the designer behind one of Glastonbury's chicest spotsThe Manor in Hinton Blewitt is a glorious Georgian home that ticks every box.
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A 600-year-old National Trust property that you can call homeThis blooming property in Kent showcases the original garden of England. Penny Churchill takes a look.
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A wisteria-clad delight with lawns running down to the Thames is the prettiest riverside home for sale in London todayDeodar Road, near Putney High Street, offers unrivalled views of the Thames and is characterful in excess.
