
I was never princess material. I’ve always been too tall, a bit graceless, possessing feet that were too big for a glass slipper. My parents wisely steered me away from ballet and into tap dancing when I was 6. Princesses might play harps or tickle the ivories, but my musical instrument was a ukelele (and now, an accordian). I suppose Disney could have had great fun with a tap-dancing, accordian playing princess, but that was never my dream. Thankfully, aspiring to be a princess is no longer in vogue (I’m looking at you, Meghan Markle), but my dream of living in a castle (in England, of course!) has never faded.

Where, you might be wondering, am I going with this? It’s no secret that I married my prince 20+ years ago and have been living a rather fairy-tale life with him since then. But there has never been a ‘castle’. In England. Or anywhere else. Til now. Dreams DO come true. (They also mature and reflect reality, but still….)

This past September, Prince Roger and I acquired a little jewel box of a ‘castle’. In England. In the Cotswolds. In the village of Broadway. My dream ‘castle’. (Okay, OUR dream ‘castle’. Picky picky.) After five years of looking and nearly buying, we’ve always skedaddled back to the United States castle-free and resolved to let go of this particular dream. Until last summer.


The village of Broadway, with its caramel-hued stone buildings, wide avenues, congenial pubs and horses-and-hounds lifestyle is nestled at the base of Fish Hill (is that a great name or what?), about 70 miles NW of London and 30 miles from Oxford. It’s always been a favorite of ours. On a sunny summer morning, we were enjoying a leisurely bowl of porridge at The Broadway Deli; Roger was perusing the local real estate listings as he has done on every trip to England since time immemorial. Out of (almost) nowhere, he announced: “I want to put down roots here!” The rest, as they say, is history.

My ever-surprising husband had already scoped out the local real estate offerings and made inquiries into a tiny cottage just steps from the village center. We were leaving for a week in Cornwall that day and couldn’t arrange a viewing but were able to obtain a mesmerizing brochure about the property which caused us to take leave of our senses and buy the cottage (and nearly the farm), as we drove along the Motorway to The Lizard (that’s the name of a town in Cornwall. I can’t make this stuff up.) (Please know this method of purchasing real estate is NOT recommended.) The rest of the visit to Cornwall is a blur (well, it was VERY foggy most of the week); we barely noticed the REAL castles we tromped through as we obsessed about the condition of the sweet (we hoped) cottage in Broadway.
Here’s the reveal:

Front entrance Very complex floor plan Back patio
47 Bredon Mews (a mews is typically a row of houses converted from stables) is the teensiest of ‘castles’ and it, unlike the glass slipper, seemed to fit this tap-dancing, accordian playing ‘princess’ perfectly. We rushed back from Cornwall, met with the current owner (the lovely Mrs. Violet Irene Taylor), took a ton of photos, exchanged no monies (because that’s how they do things in England) and jumped up and down and screamed a lot. Then we hired a contractor.

Craig Williams is the platonic ideal of a contractor. He took on the project (gutted the interior, moved walls, redesigned spaces, obtained permits (not in that order, obviously), communicated via email, made us laugh a lot and finished the project EARLY. He and Jo, his wife, live just down the road and we’re thrilled to call them friends. Those of you who’ve undertaken home renovations will appreciate this: our punch list at project’s end didn’t have a single item on it. Nothing remained to be done or needed changing. He had, in fact, added a few marvelous and thoughtful touches and still came in under budget. We’ve been looking into having him cloned.
Here are a few before and not-quite-after pictures (at this writing, the interior decorating by yours truly is not complete. I’m having too much fun sourcing things in England.)
Inflatable furniture – it’s the latest thing

At 634 sq. ft., the ‘castle’ isn’t much more than an overblown American closet, but in England, this is a 2 bedroom cottage and we’re loving every square inch of it. Now, if I can just find the muralist who painted this in a local ‘show home’ (as model homes are called) for our second bedroom…


Author’s note: I will return to actual ‘travel’ type posts in the near future along with the usual assortment of humiliating pictures of my long-suffering but good-natured husband. This time it was my turn to pose for the camera.

We love it! And you! Hugs and misses. Terri and John
EEEEEELLLLAAAAAAIIIINNNNEEEE! So fun to see the before and after! Love thinking of you and Rog there, and glad the renovation was a great experience (‘bout time!). Can’t wait to visit a broad abroad in Broadway!
Can I Borrow the coat when I come visit you and Roger at the cottage? 💕
No.
Where did you get that god awful coat! Other than that it was a nice blog and very informative.
I thought it looked like something you’d wear – that’s why I bought it! (It’s from China! Are you sure you don’t love it? I do! Everyone in Broadway recognized me the 2nd time I wore it.)
Congrats on the cool pad!
What did you do with the cane, medical equipment and the elderly person in the “before” photos?
Cheers
Dr. G
Oh, Dr. G. Don’t you worry about Dear Mrs. Taylor. We took care of her.
That’s so exciting! A broad description of Broadway and your new Castle! No worries about not having enough produce in the market! It’s all impressive!
Can your contractor do a short “vacation” in Sanibel?
We’re 2X long and 3X$ on our renovation.
He can leave the coat on Broadway
I’ll ask. I’m pretty sure Craig would welcome a Sanibel Island remodel. How’s next winter?
Congratulations! Love your story and your new home! The only downside is we’ll see even less of you at 340 OTP! Best wishes.
When are you coming “home”? The Bearpath group wants to do lunch….loved the pictures…beautiful place….
Throughly enjoyed your post. Thank you for sending!!!
Looks delightful Elaine!! I just retired last week so more traveling in our future. How often will you be in England? Would love to see you there. Hugs, Karen and David
Congratulations on retirement, Karen! I just sent you an email… let’s keep in touch!
Great pictures. Love the story too. And only YOU could pull off wearing that coat. Well…maybe Linda could too…..
I’m not sure that Linda would agree.. she still won’t let me forget the rainbow capris I wore in Tahiti. I’m leaving those to her in my will… and YOU’RE getting the coat!
Well, I think you really are a princess! That “cottage” is sooo adorable!!
Well, Karen, you knew me in high school, so you definitely know better!! (Although, I guess we were kind of princesses together, no?)
Elaine,, I think you could make a home Anywhere USA as long as you and Roger did it together. . Your place is so pretty and intimate. Lovely!!