Since we started this blog we have been looking for a new home, we have been living at Rich’s folks cottage whilst we carry out our search.  We are very excited to to tell you we have finally found somewhere and will be moving in next week.  One of the reasons we started this blog was to share the development of our new home, it has just taken a little while longer than we anticipated.

Our new home is a Victorian semi-detached house in Whitchurch, Hampshire.  The house was built in 1897 as one of a row of about a dozen houses, it was probably intended as a farm or mill workers home. The cottages were originally known as Jubilee Cottages due to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in the year the houses were completed.

We have 2 reception rooms and 3 bedrooms, and plenty of space for us to grow into.  The house has potential to extend into the loft and to the back and side if required. Over the years a lot of the house’s character has been removed, we will be looking to adding some of this back in.  The garden is mainly on a steep hill, with just a small section being on the flat, this will prove a bit of a challenge but we’ll figure something out.  Rich’s garden design education will come in handy!  The house is in perfectly good working order but we will no doubt redecorate throughout to our tastes, we’ll of course be sharing the progress here.

The house is on the edge of Whitchurch in North Hampshire. The nearest big towns are Andover, Newbury, Basingstoke and Winchester. Whitchurch itself is proud of its town status but in truth it is more akin to a village.  There are a handful of shops, five or so pubs and a selection of restaraunts and take aways, so we are not entity cut off from civilisation. It also has a train station with direct trains to London.

Whitchurch is famous for being the home of Richard Adam, the author of Watershed Down. The down itself lies not far from our new home, on the edge of the North Wessex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty.  The house is not far from the River Test, a beautiful chalk stream which is apparently a very good for trout fishing if that is your sort of thing? Of more interest to us is just up the road (and river) in Laverstoke.  Housed in an old paper mill is the Bombay Sapphire gin distillery, we are very excited about this, they doing guided tours and special events there, we’re sure to become regulars at their on site bar!

We are looking forward to doing into our new home in Whitchurch, and excited to join the community.  The hard work starts now!

Images courtesy of Graham & Co