The photos on this page were taken in April 2003. I will be adding some
new photos later this month. To see a collection of interesting old
photos of Atherfield House as it was in years gone by, CLICK HERE

Welcome to Atherfield House!

Welcome to our humble abode - isn't this entry foyer impressive?

This was once used as a smoking room when the house was
an inn - we plan to use it as the computer room....

And this will be the sitting room...

Come into the sunroom and relax!

I never thought I'd hear myself say this but I really like the pale pink walls...

This is just one of the many things we love about Atherfield!
Don't you wish you could step inside the photo?

This is the "yellow room" - we'll probably use this as an
informal sitting room for the kids.

I really like this room - it's small but it's neat and will
make a nice little display room for all my childhood treasures.

I really like the low ceilings and the crazy out of plumb door
frames - gives the house a lovely friendly quirky feel!

Ooh, it's painted pink, I wonder if it is "shabby chic" inside?

Maybe not chic but it has a lot of character....

More shots of the grounds - I just love the lush green pasture.

This is the coachman's residence - the kids are fighting
over who gets this for a bedroom. I think Robin will win
but there's no way I'm letting him paint it black and line
the walls with felt - where do they come up with these ideas?

Here's the old wooden garage:

And here's the driveway to get to it - where's the machete!

We're wondering whether to use this for chooks or a toolshed for Graham...

The is the door to the old tap room - I love the charming
low doors. Luckily none of us are over 6.5 feet!

This reminds me of a scene from "Pride and Prejudice"
Can't you just picture Mr Darcy striding across the lawn...

The Cells

For most of the 1800s Atherfield was an inn, first known as the Help Me On Inn,
then the Ark Inn. As this was the time when convicts were frequently transported
past the Inn, there are 2 stone cells underneath the house. Later they were used
for food preparation and you can see 2 sandstone troughs which were used for
salting beef. As you can see, the salt has caused the sandstone to deteriorate.

If only these walls could talk....


We plan to paint the house in October - once the winter rains
are finished. This is my thoroughly researched and totally authentic
late Georgian colour scheme with stone coloured walls, dark roof
and window frames - and here's someone who agrees with me!

We also plan to put limestone gravel on the driveway.