Crosbie Cottage

Crosbie Cottage is located at the south west corner of the New Forest, just a mile from the beautiful beaches at Highcliffe and only half a mile from the New Forest National park itself. Chewton common is close by, as is the wonderful spa, restaurant and small golf course at the well known Chewton Glen Hotel. As well as the forest and the beaches virtually on your doorstep, Christchurch and Bournemouth are just a short direct drive from this large New Forest Cottage. Crosbie Cottage owes its name to Annette Crosbie, Margaret Meldrew in ‘One Foot in the Grave’, which was filmed here. Margaret and Victor Meldrew’s house was located just around the corner, and this cottage once featured in an episode, covered in snow. During the restoration and refurbishment works the whole roof was removed, along with many interior walls, the back wall taken down and the house extended on both floors, doubling the floorspace on the ground floor, meanwhile the front elevation was restored to it’s former glory, wooden sliding sash windows reinstated and the whole exterior repointed as well as a new roof built. The contemporary design of the rebuild and extension is reflected throughout the interiors, with large open plan spaces, full width sliding/folding doors to the garden, contemporary open fireplace and reclaimed timber floorboards throughout. Walkford is a small village, with a couple of pubs within a few hundred yards in either direction, and a good convenience store at the end of the road. Highcliffe is within easy walking distance, where you’ll find a good selection of restaurants, including in particular an excellent Thai restaurant run by a husband and wife chef and waitress team. It is small though – so be careful to book especially if it is for a large group. There is a top quality chinese takeaway next door to the Thai restaurant too, and several other places to eat, as well as a handful of pubs, tea rooms, coffee shops, supermarket, antique shops and a kayak and surf shop. Just beyond the main street you’ll come to the cliff top and sandy beach, where there’s a quality cafe/bar/ restaurant open in the daytime and evening with fantastic views.

This cottage is the perfect base to discover the south west New Forest or venture further along the Dorset coast for a day. The kitchen/dining/living space has plenty of space for a large group to dine together at the table. Theres a cosy central fireplace for winter and the full width sliding folding doors accessing the large deck are wonderful when the weather turns warmer. At one end of the room is the kitchen, which has fitted units with silestone granite surfaces providing ample workspace and storage. There is a wide range cooker with a single very large oven, a freestanding fridge/freezer, integrated dishwasher and washer/dryer. The base and wall units house all the cooking and dining equipment needed for your break. The kitchen and dining arrangement here makes Crosbie Cottage a wonderful cottage for adding a chef-catered meal for a special evening in, with no washing up to do, no tables to set, or taxis to arrange home, as you’re already there! The lounge space at the other end has sliding/ folding doors to the deck, and a contemporary fireplace, with large settees facing each other so everyone can socialise and relax in comfort. There’s a television with DVD, and a radio / CD player. There are four bedrooms at this large cottage. All are double rooms, which can of course be used as singles too. If there are five or six singles in the group there are extra singles available in each of the two larger bedrooms to make a total of six separate beds. The two larger front bedrooms each have an original fireplace a pleasant street view, one is on the on the ground floor. The two smaller back bedrooms have views across the gardens behind, and one of these bedrooms includes a desk. The modern bathroom has a double ended bath, heated towel rail, wc and basin. Downstairs, the contemporary shower room has a shower, wc and basin.