The Annexe Has A New Name
A lot has happened since we last wrote about the annexe renovations, things have been progressing steadily and we’re now entering the final stages.
Most of the internal refitting and decorating is done including the kitchen and bathroom and our wonderful carpenter has transformed the porch into a great space. We’ve incorporated some storage space, along with coat hanging space and a place to sit and get muddy wellies off!
In the porch we’ve built an oak service hatch (with doors both sides) between the annexe and the main house. We plan to offer guests plant based breakfasts and afternoon tea on a pre-ordered basis. The hatch will enable us to slide the food through and it can be retrieved from the guests side maintaining complete guest privacy. No-one likes opening the door to room service in their pj’s!
The exterior of the property has had a lot of work too and we have sourced some beautiful wany edge oak cladding from Balcome Saw Mill in Sussex. They have been super helpful and the wood is just gorgeous in situ. It creates a natural look against the original cottage brickwork. Using locally sourced products where possible has been really important to us.
The Annexe also has it’s own small private walled garden and the outside lighting is hopefully going in this week while the electricians are on site. After that we need to start work on improving the garden and need to re-turf as the grass is pretty trashed with all the building work (see photo below). We are going to put in a new front fence and gate, clear and re-plant all the beds and work out a nice little seating area. Ideally we will create a low maintenance cottage garden with mostly hardy perennials and some feature plants and scented flowers. There is also an established wisteria on the facing wall which we are hoping will flower with the right pruning.
We’ve given a lot of thought over the last few weeks to the name of the annexe. We wanted it to have its own identity rather than “Mill House Cottage” as it gets confused with the main house, and I think we have finally decided on “The Bakehouse”. The annexe was indeed the original bakehouse for this site so it seems fitting and has a great ring to it.
Our goal is to have it all ready to rent by Easter, but this is not a date set in stone. We’d rather get it right than rush it and hopefully, we can get some friends and family to spend a few nights there to give us some honest feedback.