Honeysuckle Cottage

As a fan of Regency historicals and English mysteries, the books I read tend to be set in and around the English countryside.  Having been born and raised in suburban California, with cookie-cutter houses set side by side in uniform rows, it can be a little difficult for me to visualize some of those settings, especially for stories that rely on the layout of a house or village as a plot point.

Having spent a fair amount of  time in London and slightly less time around Oxford and the Cotswolds, I can picture some things, but houses and estates and the like aren’t always clear to me, based on the author’s descriptions.

Fortunately, the internet has come to my rescue via the UK’s Country Life magazine.  I’ve purchased electronic copies of the magazine from Amazon from time to time–always taken in by a great headline and cover photo, only to find myself wading through virtual page after page of real estate listings for properties far outside my purchasing power or interest, before getting to the actual articles I bought the magazine for. Continue reading →