Hobby Cottage, Felbrigg, near Cromer, Norfolk

Photos:

View of the front, (north-west side) from the lane. The flints, red brick and pantiles echo traditional Norfolk houses.  There is room for two cars to park in front.		View of the south-east side from the big field. The house nestles in the trees and fits in with the old farm buildings beyond but the all-glass east gable says 'contemporary'.

The cottage is just outside the little village of Felbrigg, about 2 miles inland from Cromer.  It overlooks open fields and we use it ourselves as a holiday cottage. The land was once part of the estate of Felbrigg Hall, which is now a National Trust property with a fine 17th century mansion, large peaceful grounds, gardens, a lake and acres and acres of woods where you can walk at any time from dawn to dusk the whole year round. Felbrigg Hall is about a mile from Hobby Cottage and you can walk across the fields to the Hall on public footpaths or drive/cycle by road. There is a nice restaurant at the Hall (summer season), ideal for coffee, tea or lunch after a good walk through the beech woods. Felbrigg Hall

The cottage is down a lane called 'The Driftway' which is a dead end for cars so there is no through traffic. There are a few cars going down the lane to neighbouring houses and sometimes hikers and horse-riders pass by, but it is quiet and peaceful. It is possible to walk along the lane and across the fields to Cromer but you definitely need a car or bicycles for convenience. The cottage overlooks open fields which grow arable crops. Farm machinery works in the fields at times such as ploughing, harrowing or harvesting but there are no farm animals (nor their smells) close to the cottage. There is a patio and a small garden around the cottage where you can sit and enjoy the peace of the Norfolk countryside, and of course, the occasional country noises. There are no street-lights and the stars are brilliant on a clear night.

Cromer is a small seaside town on the north Norfolk coast. It offers a variety of beaches which are a mixture of sand and pebbles, depending where you are, an old-fashioned pier with a theatre at the end, a cinema, plenty of activities for children and all the facilities of a seaside town. Seafood, especially crab, is a speciality of Cromer and small fishing boats still go out crab fishing daily. There are some good restaurants in the area and there are a number of historic houses, National Trust properties and estates within easy reach: Felbrigg Hall  Blickling Hall  Sherringham Park  Houghton Hall  Royal Sandringham Estate  Holkham Hall 

Hobby Cottage is close to wonderful coastal areas for seeing birds and wild life:  Birds and birdwatching
Blakeney Point  is especially interesting and it is a National Trust nature reserve and on the migration paths of many birds. You can walk out over the mud flats (low tide only!) and see the wild seals or you can take a boat from Blakeney to see them close to.   Pensthorpe (BBC Springwatch),  Norwich and the Norfolk Broads are within easy reach. Norfolk is very rich in picturesque villages and small towns and is wonderfully unspoiled.

The Interior of Hobby Cottage
The rest of this page shows photos of the interior of the new house. It is fully furnished and equipped.  There are three good-sized bedrooms, two with double beds and one with two single beds. There is a cot if required.  As it is so new we are still adding pictures and other small items. 

On opening the front door you enter a small lobby which has double glass doors into the rest of the house.

The ground floor is open-plan with a large sitting-dining area which links to the kitchen. The end-wall of the sitting-dining area is all-glass and it also has large double doors that open out to the patio and the side-wall has french windows too. So the garden feels very close.

Dining area with wood-burning stove, evening. The double doors to the entrance lobby are on the left of this photo	.

The ground floor is tiled throughout with ceramic tiles of a warm terracotta colour. The underfloor heating gives a very warm feeling, even in winter. It is a house for people who like to walk around in bare feet.

Another view of the sitting area, late afternoon on a sunny day	Lunch on the patio.  Photo taken from the garden in July 2008

The kitchen is all-electric. The fridge-freezer & microwave oven are out of view, on the left. The dishwasher is at the bottom right. Photo taken at night so the windows are dark.		The spiral stair.  Note the kitchen beyond to the right.

Also on the ground floor there is a shower room which has a walk-in shower ('wet room'), a toilet and a wash-basin. This room also serves as a utility room and the central heating boiler and the washing machine are there.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. The rooms have sloping ceilings but the ceiling goes right up to the apex and the structural wooden ridge beam is visible so it feels very spacious.

Main bedroom. The curtains roll up.	Main bedroom. A beautiful morning in early Spring .

The end wall is all glass and the bedroom has double doors that open inwards with a balcony rail outside. This room has a wonderful feeling of open-ness if the weather is good and even if it is not (this is Britain after all!). You have a view over the very large arable field and across to other fields beyond. This window faces south-east so it gets the morning sun. You will see birds and perhaps other creatures in the garden. There is no street-lighting so at night the stars are amazing if the sky is clear.

The front bedroom has twin beds and looks over the Lane.	The north-east bedroom. It has a big triangular window and looks over the big field and down the bridleway to the woods beyond.

The upstairs bathroom has a large bath with a shower-end, a wash-basin and a toilet. It has a roof-light which can be opened.	View from the garden at night. Su-Nak, our dog, is looking out (middle, bottom)

Outside there is garden all round the house but the boundaries are not dog-proof. The old garden was destroyed by the building process but the new one is coming along well now. There is a small lawn, some pots of herbs, a bed of perennials and grasses and an area of rough grass beyond. There is a good-sized patio with patio furniture, a brick barbecue and we have a small garden shed which could hold one or two bicycles. There is parking for 2 cars.

The kitchen is all-electric: cooker, dishwasher, large fridge-freezer, microwave, all cooking tools, pots, pans, and cutlery and crockery.
There is a washing machine in the utility room and a TV with freeview and DVD-player in the sitting area. There is wood for the wood-burning stove.

contacts: E Raggatt, The Ferns, Berkley St, Eynesbury, St Neots PE19 2NE
raggatt2@onetel.net    01480 213884
    Availability and cost 2011       Availability and cost 2012

Just in case you are interested in music as well as holidays in Norfolk, may we point you to the photos and music created by young Raggatts.

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