Yew Tree Cottage

Their English Country Cottages

We fell in love instantly and only spent 5 mins inside the house on the viewing before we knew we wanted it. We spent so little time in the house on the viewing we didn’t even notice it had a cellar.

Vanessa Price

Vanessa and her firefighter husband Steve live in this stunning Cotswold Village cottage along with their rescue dog Stella and two pet pigs Katie and Pippa (named after the Middletons). They bought the traditional Victorian Stone cottage 15 years ago having instantly fallen in love with it just from the picture of the exterior!

Planning permission had been sought by the neighbour for 6 new houses in the next door garden so Yew Tree Cottage was unpopular, overlooked by many house hunters and extremely cheap for this beautiful area of the Cotswolds. The courageous couple decided to buy this disregarded cottage to renovate and sell on. 15 years later they are still here and very happy. Brilliantly the neighbour didn’t get planning permission and Vanessa and Steve fell totally in love with the village which has a wonderful community. Both Vanessa and Steve were born in Stroud which was named by The Times as the “best place to live in the UK 2021” so they were keen to remain nearby.

One of the first changes that the couple made was to build an extension at the rear of the cottage changing it from a two bed to four bedroom property and added an upstairs bathroom (as with so many Victorian cottages, it only possessed the original downstairs bathroom).

Vanessa is constantly redecorating as she simply loves to paint! “A room never stays the same for long, as soon as I spot a colour I love I redecorate”. As one can garner from her beautiful photos, Vanessa loves colour, and usually designs her rooms around her choice – it is the colour that comes first and then the furniture and accessories follow. She cites the uber famous interior colour ambassador Sophie Robinson as a huge inspiration. Vanessa mentions that a few years ago she “did go all white and grey but it only lasted about six months and then colour started creeping back in”!!! 

Every Country Cottage should have a wood burner. We have one in our sitting room and kitchen. Our cottage is small so they can warm the whole house. I can’t imagine a winters evening without the warmth and glow of a wood burner.

Vanessa Price

Wallpaper from Wayfair “Meadow Animals” 

Pops of Vanessa’s favourite colour pink appear throughout the house, featuring heavily in two of the beautiful bedrooms with a gorgeous wall mural called “Enchanted Blush” by @photowall_sweden. Vanessa managed to put up it up in an hour and explains that it is a great way to give a room a wonderful new look. Pinks also appear downstairs in the pop of a cushion or a jar in the kitchen but at no point does this feel like the predominant colour in the joyful cottage. Each room is filled with glorious colour but it isn’t overwhelming, nor does it feel too contemporary. Vanessa has an amazing eye for cheerful colour but blends it seamlessly into an old stone cottage.

The couple dream of moving to Dorset, finding another beautiful cottage and retiring to the South Coast. For now this seems like the perfect cottage for them, filled with joyous colour and so much happiness, no wonder Kate and Pippa are smiling in their gorgeous blue pigsty.

For more colour bliss head to Vanessa’s Instagram Page https://www.instagram.com/vanessa_inthe_cotswolds/