Heart in the Country

Kate Davies Has Not Let the Ups and Downs of Renovating Her Country Home Dampen Her Enthusiasm for Rural Living
 

A brief taste of urban living confirmed to Kate Davies that she is definitely a country girl at heart. She and her husband, Max, quickly realised that their modern family home on a new, edge-of-town development was the wrong choice. So they sold up and moved to a rural, rented property, hoping to buy in the area within a couple of years.

‘It’s a lovely, quiet spot, with fields and great schools, but because it’s so nice, properties rarely become available,’ says Kate. ‘I had in mind somewhere old that needed work, because I wanted to put my own mark on our home.’ After a four-year wait, Kate eventually heard about a former woodman’s cottage, due to be sold as the elderly occupant had moved out. At one end of a row of eight cottages, it had a large garden and potential to extend at the side, but the house itself was in a sorry state. There were damp walls, the kitchen and bathroom were old-fashioned, and the house had no heating or gas. ‘It needed a huge amount of work, but there was a good feel about it, too, and the rooms were lovely and light,’ says Kate. ‘The owner was keen to pass it on to a family, and I could tell it would make a fabulous home.’