cottage tour

I haven't posted photos of our beloved (rented) cottage since we moved in.  We are coming up on year one of living in England and we have felt settled in for some time now.

Marco's job is located on a Royal Air Force base in-the-middle-of-nowhere Northamptonshire, about 65 miles north of London. 

Cambridge is nearby and we went back and forth between living in Cambridge or living in the countryside.  We decided on the countryside as we knew it would be so unique to what we have experienced before.  We'll live in a city again, but will we ever live so remotely again?

A few of our visitor friends from the states were surprised to see how countryside we really are.  We have given up conveniences of city living but are fully embracing slower paced village life.  

The village we live in is made up of 30 some homes, a working farm, and a pub, The Fox Inn (pub garden view from our bedroom).  We are only a few miles from several other villages - some of which are a bit larger and have primary schools, 12th century churches, pubs, coffee shops, a butcher, and farmers market. 

Our cottage is a 300 year old converted barn.  The exterior, the wood beams and stone work - the bones, if you will ;) - are all original.  The large windows in the sitting room were once barn doors, the tracks still remain.  The fireplace is sadly false now but was once a bread oven.  The present oven in the kitchen is where the original open fire oven/chimney was located.

The upstairs has been converted into two bedrooms and a full bathroom.