The Summer Woodland Cottage
Notes from my Woodland Studio
I lived in a cottage within walking distance of Tahilla Farm the year we built our house in 2015, adding to our 1790 New Hampshire farmhouse. I adored that cottage. It embraced me for three months, letting me breathe through an intensive construction project. The memories of those months up the hill beyond Tahilla Farm are some of my fondest.
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June, 2015
I found a charming cottage in the woods at the top of a hill, which feels like a mountain when you walk up it. Fortunately, it is within walking distance of Tahilla Farm. The cottage was listed on Airbnb, and I truly couldn’t believe my luck in finding a spot so close to our home. The cottage owner and I chatted back and forth by email, getting to know each other as you do when you are about to rent your home to a stranger. It is one of those situations that could go very wrong or right for both parties.
We connected by phone last week. He was in London, and I was in San Francisco. By the time I hung up the phone, I was ready to be his Airbnb BFF, like, really, forever.
I have been in this little cottage on a hill for nearly two weeks and am absolutely smitten with it. Within a few days of my arrival, my son, Connor, arrived from his boarding school in Australia for a three-week visit. We both love the atmosphere and vista.
Some days, I have to remind myself that we have a house under construction that I should be visiting. The cottage is that kickback, friendly kind of living I love. If I could bottle all I love about this cottage and sprinkle it around Tahilla Farm, I would.
I will describe it to you as I describe it to my friends and family who will be visiting over the summer. Are you ready?
🌿 Finding the street is tricky; look for the three mailboxes at the bottom of the driveway, across from the sign that says Meadowbrook Farm. Drive slowly up the hill, which will, trust me, make you feel like you are driving up a mountain. The neighbors ask you to drive 10 miles per hour. Please oblige.
🌿 Keep driving until you spy a cottage tucked into a field of foxgloves at the end of the road. If you arrive in the late afternoon, you will catch them in their glory.
🌿I will be there to greet you. When you arrive, be ready to relax. I promise you will. It's that kind of place. The decorating style is playful and charming. Love books? You will love this cottage.
🌿 In fact, you may never want to leave.
🌿 Think sabbatical, a long one.
🌿 You know the afternoon light I mentioned earlier? It gets even better when it settles into the house.
🌿Afternoon and morning light—get ready to bathe in it.
🌿 Feel free to grab a chair and read a book anytime. Or throw yourself gently onto the couch and settle in. I promise you will be intrigued by each and every book.
🌿My Airbnb BFF has a spectacular library. He asks that you enjoy his books, and you will.
🌿 I snipped a few budding peonies at Tahilla Farm and brought them to the cottage for your arrival. The fragrance is out of this world. I swear they wink at me as I pass by.
🌿 My Airbnb BFF has thought of everything right down to comfy beds and bedside table book stacks. It is especially fun when you want to spend time reading in bed, which you are more than welcome to do.
🌿 Read for as long as you like. You can sleep in and come down to the kitchen when ready. Coffee will be brewing. Grab a cup and help yourself. Daydreaming out the kitchen window is allowed any time of day. Feel free to daydream outside as well.
🌿 It's hard not to. Seriously, it's really hard not to. When our day of exploring is done, and we head back to the cottage on the hill, which feels like a mountain, we can grab an India Pale Ale, chilling in the refrigerator.
🌿 Whatever drink takes your fancy, mosey onto the porch to put your feet up. Watching the sunset over the mountains is a favorite pastime.
🌿As Maya Angelou wrote—Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.
🌿 We will not want to miss any moments that take our breath away.
