Step inside
Anchor Cottage enjoys nearly 2000 square feet of flexible space and retains many features from its 17th century origins, including exposed oak beams, timber floors, an inglenook fireplace and a flying freehold. It's easy to imagine its earlier life as both home and inn.
But in 2008 much of the internal layout was sensitively remodelled - without losing is historic charm - to offer substantially more space throughout.
2008 : major works
All of the staircases were moved to a delightfully spacious new stairwell. The effect was not only to maximise the usable space in each room, it also enlarged the common areas and created a wonderful new feature in the wooden clad extension.
Anchor Cottage now offers accommodation across four floors, with kitchen and dining room on the ground floor and six other rooms meeting every need.
In our time they've been nurseries, bedrooms, a playroom, a guest room, a snug, a games room, a TV room and a yoga studio.
But that's just to set the scene, step inside.
The back passage
The back door - and back gate - take you directly into the town centre without crossing any roads.
It's a boon that's seen seven years of pushchairs - and a full ten years of the school run!
In fact, one of the reasons we moved into Anchor Cottage was the fact that we could get most places without getting in the car.
The Garden
The back garden is secluded and quiet, an oasis of calm.
The layout has changed over the years to meet our needs - but at the moment, we have a treehouse, a sunken trampoline, rope nets, three swings, a hammock and a firepit. Not to forget a barbecue, coffee table and the chickens!
A part of the garden is overlooked at the moment - until the hazel tree shoots up again next year; but both the decked area (for dining al fresco), and the terraced patio (perfect for coffee in the morning sun) are wonderfully private.
Lower ground
The lower ground floor contains two large rooms suitable for a variety of uses, along with a shower bathroom room and direct access to the garden via a stable door.
At the moment, it's a bedroom for our eldest, who's just returned from uni - and a snug, TV, peloton and piano room
Upper ground
Anyone entering from the front is welcomed by our relatively wide cottage hallway, with its gorgeous lime plaster and timber-framing. And then it's...
Kitchen to the right - and front room to the left.
The kitchen
The kitchen is super spacious and definitely the heart of the house.
We used to have a much larger table here, to sit 10 comfortably, see below, but we didn't use it enough so we went for a more relaxed feel.
This one seats six round the table with bags of room.
Range cooker and a hardwearing slate floor makes this about as homely as we wanted - the room that sees everything!
Dining room
The front room AKA the reception room AKA the front parlour.
It's a lovely restful room with its wood panelling and broad oak floor - easy to imagine covered in sawdust to mop up the spilt ale. The barrels were presumably just down the stairs which used to be reached through the trapdoor.
Now it's just a room for relaxing, for visits, for reading - and for Christmas!
The first floor
There's our bedroom, on the left, and the girls, on the right. It seems funny to say master bedroom when all the rooms are as big as the others.
On the first floor, there are two double bedrooms with timber flooring and period detailing, as well as a family bathroom featuring a deep soaking tub.
The bathrooms, on the other hand, are small but perfectly formed.
They certainly don't offer space to pad around or stretch out - but for anyone into Japanese style deep baths and water conservation, there's a lot to be said for them!
Some special features
We thought we'd give you a short break before heading on upstairs!
There are some features which don't automatically jump off the page yet which are fundamental to why we love this place. So here are four of 'em.
Thick walls
EPC measurements are set up to measure modern technologies.
Anchor Cottage would earn a better EPC with the ubiquitous brick and breeze block cavity walls than with its 400 year old, 50-60cm thick walls.
In our experience, our house is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer - and the growing appreciation for more traditional construction suggests this isn’t our imagination.
Open fire
What is there more to say about an open fire?
A nice wide flue and a 12 m draft means this fire cooks marshmallows about as quickly as we can eat them.
Light and airy
It’s a small incidental but we have broad generous staircases hallways and landings, thanks to the extension.
So if you like cottages in principle, but you’re upwards of 180 cm or have tall friends, you’ll like it here.
Plenty of stretch room, high ceilings - and only one headchopper doorway!
Exposed wood
Academic studies show convincingly that our bodies react positively to natural materials.
Touching wood for example measurably reduces cortisol levels, which are a clear market of stress.
All of which explains the wonderful sense of calm this house exudes.
Top floor
A further staircase leads to the second floor, which houses two additional double bedrooms with vaulted ceilings and exposed beams, a workstation, and a sit spot at the gallery window, looking out on the garden and central Haslemere.
I can't tell if you're picking it up, but the house is wonderfully calm. It's not just the decor, it's all to do with how it's built, its history and proportions. It just feels solid and permanent - and that's a great feeling when the world around feels anything but!
Trompe l'oeil? Pas du tout!
If you're used to agents' wide angle and fish eye lenses turning what used to be called a boxroom into a spacious double bedroom, you'd love it here. Obviously there's some wide angle involved in the photos or all you're going to see is a third of the room - but the rooms and space broadly look here how you experience them in real life. Lots of lovely space!
