The Guest Cottage

High in the limbs of an ancient oak is the estate’s most curious dwelling.
Some say it was built as a folly; others insist it was punishment for a carpenter who lost a bet.
No one agrees on its origin, but everyone agrees it is rarely empty.

Lantern light glows in the windows, the rope bridge creaks at odd hours, and once, someone swore they saw smoke rise from the chimney on a clear summer night.

Guests arrive without invitation.
They never knock.

One day the Cottage is still, the next it’s very much alive — an astrologer setting her charts by candlelight, a botanist pressing ferns between the pages of our ledgers, a sailor stringing a hammock where no hammock should be.

They stay long enough to eat our bread, tell stories (true or otherwise), and leave behind a small batch of wares as payment.
Pearls, potions, tonics, soap.

Each month it’s something different.
Each month, just enough for those who happen to be here when the      Guest Cottage is occupied.

When the shelves are cleared, the guest vanishes, and the Cottage waits again, swaying slightly in the trees, as though nothing ever happened at all.

Spooky Season at the Guest Cottage

October at the Guest Cottage
Honoria Finch has returned.
The first indication was a light in the Guest Cottage three evenings before anyone was expected. The second was the arrival of several trunks, a collection of rather posh needlepoint pillows, and enough dried oranges, cinnamon, and exotic spices to suggest that something was being prepared.
No one had been informed. Naturally.
By the following afternoon, the cottage had acquired a distinctly sporting air. Stags had taken up residence on the furniture, polo mallets appeared among the cushions, and a rather handsome snaffle bit had established itself in the most comfortable chair.
Honoria declared the arrangements entirely suitable.
Meanwhile, in the Kitchen, a glass pot appeared on the AGA, accompanied by carefully assembled parcels of dried oranges, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and mulling spices. Honoria maintains that a properly appointed country house should smell as though something wonderful is happening, even when absolutely nothing is.
The Estate has declined to argue.
The Rather Posh Pillows and Honoria's aromatic simmering provisions have now found their way into the Estate's collection, where they are available to those wishing to introduce a little seasonal grandeur into their own surroundings.
Honoria, of course, considers this a public service.
The Guest Cottage is occupied. The AGA is on.
And autumn, it seems, has officially arrived at Stags Head Retreat.
522 | German Weather House
522 | German Weather House
522 | German Weather House

$58.00

610 | How You Doin Honey? Notecards
610 | How You Doin Honey? Notecards
610 | How You Doin Honey? Notecards

$24.00

630 | The Rather Posh Pillows
630 | The Rather Posh Pillows

From $60.00

523 | Chalet Clock
523 | Chalet Clock

$100.00

434 | The Stag’s Vigil Candle
434 | The Stag’s Vigil Candle
434 | The Stag’s Vigil Candle

$25.00 $40.00

904 | The Moonlight Silk Pillowcase
904 | The Moonlight Silk Pillowcase

$75.00

522 | German Weather House
522 | German Weather House
522 | German Weather House

$58.00

523 | Chalet Clock
523 | Chalet Clock

$100.00

610 | How You Doin Honey? Notecards
610 | How You Doin Honey? Notecards
610 | How You Doin Honey? Notecards

$24.00

434 | The Stag’s Vigil Candle
434 | The Stag’s Vigil Candle
434 | The Stag’s Vigil Candle

$25.00 $40.00

630 | The Rather Posh Pillows
630 | The Rather Posh Pillows

From $60.00

904 | The Moonlight Silk Pillowcase
904 | The Moonlight Silk Pillowcase

$75.00