to see more SOUTH ENGLAND HOUSE RENTALS

This superb medieval house has wonderful stories.  It is located in the picturesque medieval town of Rye, on one of the most photographed streets in England.  This house was once the home of writer- illustrator Mabel Lucy Atwell.  It is the house described in the Beatrix Potter book, “Tale of the Faithful Dove” and in the old song, “There’s an old-fashioned house on an old-fashioned street”.  Stay here and be part of literary and folk history.

A three-level Tudor house dating from 1480, it has original timbers, high ceilings, wood carvings and some of the finest straw plastering in England (this is a lost art and historically significant).  It is very comfortable and perfect for a casual holiday on the south coast.

The house has a large living room with comfortable furniture, TV, stereo, decorative inglenook fireplace.  The room has been redecorated since we took these photos - there is a new sofa and different chairs, but you can see the general tone of the place.

The large, gracious dining room a beautiful table and chairs for 10+ people.  This is a fine room for a feast. The kitchen, with windows looking out to the garden, has seating for 8.  There is a scullery with a dishwasher, a clothes washer and dryer and a large refrigerator/freezer.  The bathroom on this level has a toilet, a bidet and a shower.

The room at the top of the stairs is called the Garden Room because it looks out onto the garden.  There are two single sofa beds and several easy chairs.  There's a decorative fireplace, a bar with a sink -  and a rickshaw (!).    An adjacent  bathroom has a long tub, but no shower.  There is another wc on this level.

Two have vaulted ceilings and queen-size beds.   One has a standard double room.   One has  a single bed and its own  wash basin.

The top floor has a large bedroom with three single beds and a large hallway area at the top of the staircase.  The library - a reading or meditation area - has two single sofa beds.

The owners, who live in Hong Kong, have a significant collection of Asian artifacts, Chinese ancestral doors, embroideries, pottery and bronzeware.  The house has TV, video, stereo, CD.

The large private garden has a patio, barbecue, unusual trees, flowering shrubs, rockeries.  It is an ideal space for family meals or just lazing about.  Children are warmly welcomed here.

The house is a 3-minute walk to the Rye High Street and a mile and a half to Rye Harbour and the open sea.  Rye offers good restaurants and pubs, potteries, antique shops,  an 11th century church, a 13th C. fortified tower and Landgate (until the 16th century, it was Rye’s only link with the mainland).  From the tower, one can gaze across Romney Marsh, once famed for its smuggling.

London is 1 ½ hours by train.  Rye is within easy reach of Canterbury.  It is a short drive to Ashford, Kent for the Eurostar train to Brussels or Paris.  This part of the country is know as "the garden of England".  It abounds in National Trust houses and gardens and other spectacular attractions including Charleston, home of the Bloomsbury group of artists, writers and thinkers.  Every day will offer adventures.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTICE:

This is a good choice for travelers with mild to moderate mobility limitations who can manage interior stairs.  The ground-floor bathroom has a shower, but there are no bedrooms on the ground floor.  There is wheelchair access to the ground floor only.

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