Top Dog Design
Journalism Examples
AN ENCHANTING HOMEIts present owner talks to In The Sticks about living somewhere so enchanting: it could be in another world, yet is within commuting distance of two major cities.
The places where she had grown up were magical. Southern Italy; the moors of Swaledale in Yorkshire; and a house in Cambridge which inspired a children's storybook called "Tom's Midnight Garden". That house played an important role in her childhood. Hollow hedges circled the spellbinding outside space, a river ran through, and she and her four brothers and sisters would play there, sometimes trespassing into Miss Hassell's garden next to theirs. When Miranda Tufnell had children of her own, she wanted to give them the same enchanting start to life.
Tomo was born first, then two years later Jonah came along. The family were living in a remote part of Northern British Columbia, north of Vancouver, and it was a playground of adventure. Tomo, then only 11 1/2, would hang onto the back of his big black dog, McFee, and wander freely. Together they would eat wild raspberries and gooseberries from the brambles, McFee acting as a bear patrol, but safe really from any danger.
Miranda describes what it was like there: "You could hear wolves and coyote, and the rivers were just full of salmon. One day outside the cabin, there was a great flock of migratory bluebirds, there must have been at least 100. It was very, very alive. It was wonderful."
But when a move to London became necessary, life changed dramatically. "I found myself running around after the children, making sure doors and gates were closed", Miranda says. "It was that aliveness of British Columbia that I really missed when we came back. I just found the South so crowded and pressured.
"The children were very young and I wanted to bring them up somewhere they could belong in a place; somewhere there was a community; and somewhere it was safe for them to go wherever they wanted without me having to oversee them all the time."
The family were looking to buy a new home in the Lune Valley, but then completely by chance, saw an advert in a dentists surgery for a converted mill nestled within the fells of Cumbria. They went to see it. Immediately they knew it was right. "We just completely fell in love with the place, the area, and the landscape. There were two good schools nearby and lots of children around, and I thought, 'this would be a great place to bring the kids up.'"
Ravenbridge Mill is set in 21 acres which includes gardens, woodland, 12 acres of meadow land, a stream, and an amazing man-made lake. The building is a 17th Century house, originally part of the Eden Hall Estate. It was one of a number of mills along the Raven River, though it had not been used as such for at least 100 years. Lived in by a farmer until around 1975, Ravenbridge Mill was then purchased by a family who began its development.
They opened out the house, originally a two up, two down, and converted adjoining barns into a large kitchen and four more rooms. Many original features of the farmhouse remain, like the old stone staircase, and even the massive oak front door, whilst much of the natural material, such as stone and wood, have been retained throughout the buildings.
The primary and converted areas are separated by the kitchen, a fantastically social area, with massive glazed space, where a large barn door once stood. Indeed, throughout the property, there are skylights and many windows, sending streams of light through the building. In total, Ravenbridge Mill has 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; and a large separate studio - a project Miranda herself had seized upon to assist in her work as a dance artist, converting an old cattle byre for the purpose.
The most spectacular change that has been made though, was the creation of the huge lake in the grounds. Above all else, this is what makes Ravenbridge Mill stand out as an enchanting country property.
"When we first came down to the house, we saw it was such a unique property because of the lake. The streams and the water bring all kinds of animals; it's a kind of wildlife paradise, and that's what made us fall in love with the property.
"My partner and I both love birds, and there are Dippers, Gooseanders and Heron. A lot of wild duck come down to the lake, including Goldeneye and Tufted Duck. We also have visits from migratory geese, and a pair of Oyster Catchers come every March."
"We get badgers, foxes, deer, red squirrels and owls. There's an old hare that comes into the garden most days, and I've even seen deer in the courtyard. I love that sense of the wildlife; it's feeling alive; because not everything has been turned into a 'Manscape'. When we came up to this area, it was actually the first place in England that I'd felt there was a quality of aliveness."
"From here you can walk up into the fells, yet you're within an hour of both Carlisle and Newcastle. This place is it's own small kingdom; you're completely enclosed. Many of my friends come to stay and it's like going abroad to them. They can get completely away from it - you don't even have to cross a road."
Miranda admits the place has become much wilder whilst she's been there, but in a most bewitching way. She has created a wild flower meadow awash with spectacular colour, and planted hundreds of bulbs throughout the garden. They have introduced carp into the lake, which was previously used as a fish farm. The carp keep the water clean and grow more enormous every year.
She's lived there now for 17 years. But the boys have grown - Tomo is 20, and Jonah, 18. It's time to move on.
"Every place has it's time" she concedes. "When your children have grown up, sometimes you need a time to wander and explore. I want to explore different work opportunities and see where that takes me. But it's going to be the most incredible wrench."
Miranda begins to talk about what she will miss the most. "The complete seclusion, but without feeling enclosed. It's the privacy of going out there and not meeting a soul. I can walk up on the fells and never meet anybody, and that's what I'll miss."
"No cars, just the night sounds: the owls, the bats. I'll miss the gentleness and restfulness of living here, and the incredible peace. And the sound of the water, that's what I'll miss the most. I never get bored here. I look out the window and I always see something new, it always surprises me. It always feels alive and it never feels familiar".
"We've been tremendously happy here. For me the place is full of the children's pleasure in growing up: making dams and boating; having bonfires and sleeping out on the fell. It's going to be terribly painful to leave because I know the place so well.
"That knowing of a place is infinitely precious and I think that's what Ravenbridge has given me - it's been somewhere to really belong and put roots down, and that is without price."