Let’s take a trip to the bucolic setting of the United Kingdom to explore a charming collection of English cottage homes. First up is an adorable dwelling located in Castle Combe, often referred to as the most beautiful village in England. It reminds me of a cottage that one of Beatrix Potter’s characters would live in. The home features honey-colored Cotswold stone, as do most houses in the area.
Here’s another home with honey-colored brick, along with ivy growing up the side of the house.
This pink beauty is located in Cornwall near the Mount Edgcumbe House that’s open for tours. An old stone fence circles the property of the pink house. I would love to have a short stone wall around my property but it would be ridiculously expensive. I can envision farmers of long ago gathering stones and rocks from the farmland and recycling them into these beautiful fences.
Here are more of those charming stone walls winding their way through the English countryside. What a beautiful place to live! I imagine birds chirping and sheep roaming around at leisure.
A black lamp post greets you in the driveway of a red brick English cottage. I like the use of pebbles in the drive as opposed to asphalt or cement. Gravel is more permeable and is a much better choice for controlling storm water run-off. Every once in a while a driveway guy stops by to ask us to consider paving our drive with asphalt. That will never happen as long as I live here. I prefer the look of the gravel and appreciate the advantages it offers the environment.
Here’s a similar red brick home and pebble drive. Note the circular windows situated in each peak of the roof. This home appears to be a duplex.
An old white stone house with beautiful blue trim is located in Wales, home to over 600 castles!
A cobblestone path winds its way to the entrance of this picturesque cottage located in the historic fishing village of Clovelly in North Devon, UK. It might actually be some type of cafe due to the presence of several pale blue picnic tables.
Did you know there are more than 60,000 thatched roofs in England? I’m not sure where this charmer is located. I’d love to see that third floor with its pitched roofline.
Here’s another beautiful English home that I’m not sure of where it’s located. Wisteria scrambles across the façade adding color along with the blue front door. A diamond-patterned dormer window peaks out from the tile roof. The lawn is lush and green, surrounded by cottage-style garden beds.
This lawn isn’t as neat and tidy as the home above, but I wanted to share it for a couple of reasons. First, note the different types of exterior finishes on this house, from stones to fish scales to red brick. It even appears that the green trim is two different shades. Definitely an eclectic home!
A classic timber frame home takes residence in Weobley, one of the most idyllic places to visit in England. You’ll find an abundance of these black and white framed buildings throughout the town.
Here’s a cobbled street in historic Rye, flanked by cottages on the left and Mermaid Inn on the right. I don’t know about you, but this photo calls out to me to walk the streets and explore. If you’ve ever done any research on this quaint town in East Sussex, you’ve probably seen this same view in a photo.
And finally, we can’t take a tour of charming English cottage homes without visiting Bibury, referred to as “the most beautiful village in England” by William Morris. Morris was extremely influential on the decorating scene during the Victorian period. His wallpaper patterns are some of my all-time favorites (note to self – do a blog post on William Morris interior design).
I hope you enjoyed this collection of cottages! Maybe like me, you learned a little bit about England and interesting places to visit!
