Holmrook, Cumbria England (HE27019)

Our home is an 1850s coach house, recently renovated to create an open plan & cozy cottage. Plenty of windows and 8ft ceilings lend themselves to a feeling of openness, whilst its location in woodlands, with a multifuel stove (i.e. not an instant 'flick for heat', but the satisfaction of a fire well built and tended!), make for a perfect winter retreat.

Our ground floor has the original cobbles and troughs of the coach house. This means practicality in spades for muddy wellies and paws; but a potential trip hazard too. You easily get used to it, and its an amazing feature, but it's worth bearing in mind.

The Western Lakes are a privilege to live in. Away from the well trodden tourist trails, we are less than 2 miles from the beach, and less than two miles from the Lake District National Park and Scafell Pike.

Remote in the sense that your nearest chain supermarket is half an hours drive away, you will soon settle into the rhythm of tea rooms, pubs and honesty tables with everything from fresh flowers to newly picked potatoes.

Ambleside and Windermere are an hour and a half drive, Lancaster two hours, and Carlisle a similar distance in the opposite direction.

The Cumbrian Coast Mainland Railway is one of the most beautiful railway journeys in England, and it delivers you to within a half hour walk from our door! The Cumbrian Coast line, and L'al Ratty (Cumbrian for: Little Railway) recently featured in a BBC programme entitled Britain's Greatest Railway journeys, hosted by Michael Portillo.

Muncaster Castle is also just a five minute drive away and it's Owl Sanctuary and incredible views (not to mention, haunted bedroom) make it one of the Lake District's hidden tourist gems.

The recent winner of "Britain's Favourite View", Wastwater is 7 miles from our small village; which manages to squeeze in a post office come agricultural feed store, a petrol station come village store, and, the all important pub - a 4 minute walk (& only because of the lack of street lights!) directly from our front door to theirs!

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We're a couple in our early thirties, who have spent the last two years renovating our home, and now want to share it. Living here has been a life changing experience in putting perspective on the pace of life, and we love sharing the effect with friends, family, and now others...! Between being born and raised in the Caribbean and moving to England by way of Africa, and having both lived and worked abroad in the US, Caribbean and Europe, we have worked hard to create a home that we adore coming back to, which enables us to go forth and get to know the rest of the world we haven't met yet!

We have two large dogs and a tiny cat. A significant element of our wish to exchange is to know that they can be happy at home in our absence. However, we have a local pet sitter who can handle the walking for you, if you can handle the relaxing by the fire with them afterwards!

We have now successfully completed our sixth exchange, and would be particularly interested in a longer (3 to six week) swap in January 2013 - to somewhere outside the UK.