RURAL CHARM

Inviting family and friends to stay at her idyllic retreat is a dream come true for Laura Davenport

- NATALIE FLAUM

Having decided to relocate from London, Laura Davenport struck it lucky when she spotted a Grade II-listed farmhouse and cottage for sale in a picturesque village on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. The cottage would have once served as a farm dwelling with the cattle sleeping downstairs and it provided the kind of rural idyll that Laura and her husband James had been dreaming about. ‘I was pregnant at the time and fed up with my commute. We both felt ready to embrace the peace and quiet, and a slower pace,’ says Laura.

With their offer accepted, the couple moved in on a sweltering August day – and not a moment too soon as the twins were born three weeks later. ‘I had to leave all the unpacking to James and our families,’ she says. ‘All I could do was sit and direct everyone to where to put the boxes!’

Luckily, the previous owners had undertaken a two-year renovation programme of the cottage, restoring original features, including the stone floors, so there was little in the way of structural work to do.