Shabby Chic

By now, it’s probably no secret: One of my passions is for the country. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ‘City’, but the country oozes quintessentially British-ness in abundance.

I also definitely have a thing for old houses. I have relationships with them, I will build entire trips around them, I study their crevices and crown moldings and broken floor tiles, making up stories about the people who spent lifetimes living and dreaming in the rooms.

The Lodge, my Devonshire residence, is a pretty 4 bed cottage positioned deep in a tree-filled cleft on the fringe of Dartmoor. Encompassed by fields filled with calves, lambs and miniature ponies, it’s a farmers heaven, and it’s my haven.

The Lodge itself is a 16th-century stone building (originally a 2 up, 2 down, now with a few extensions here and there), located at the foot of the long, windy driveway which takes you to the impressive, yet slightly imposing, Hall. Both the Hall, which is a candidate for the ficticious Baskerville Hall featured in Conan Doyle’s ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, and the Lodge are totally isolated, accessible only by a narrow lane edged by overgrown hedges and not so strategically placed blind bends, followed by a dirt track. It’s edge of your seat stuff, so generally a rambling old pick-up truck is needed!

As a family we’ve fixed up, furnished and decorated the space (but not too much), turning the historical stone house into the most amazingly simple and pared-down retreat–for the inner artists and writer, anyone else who appreciates scaling back, and you know, channeling their inner Laura Ingalls Wilder (is that just me?).

Inside, there’s open fires, well-worn vintage furniture, ancient books scattered across window ledges and a collections of paraffin lamps. Outside you’ll see a ‘wild garden’, a self-made pond (oh yes, we hired a digger and a dumper and got our hands dirty!), rolling hills, moor and a compostable barn with stables and sheep/cow pens). It’s a boon for those who agree that the ultimate luxury these days is peace, solitude and a dreamy old house on a big swath of pretty land.

This is where I shall be hiding out during the long 11 day Easter break. Go forth!