The Renovation

For a number of years we’d looked over at the derelict cottages and talked about what we’d like to do with them. Browsing the architect’s plans in 2018 we were excited to finally get started. He’d captured exactly what we wanted – to transform the four ivy-smothered farm worker cottages, last occupied in the 1950s, into a luxury holiday home. We already had the name – Kraft Cottage.

We won’t lie, that initial excitement took some hits along the way and we’ve got a few more grey hairs! But in June 2024 when we had our first guests, their five star reviews and personal comments about their wonderful stay brought tears to our eyes – we’d realised our dream.

This may seem an overreaction, but we’ve put so much physical and emotional energy into making Kraft Cottage a special part of our guests’ stay in beautiful Norfolk.

With help from family and friends, we extracted the stubborn ivy from the brick work, ‘cleaned’ hundreds of the original bricks to include in the new build, dug trenches, built garden fencing, planted 6000 hedging shrubs, and put hours of thought into the interior decoration.

At night, we could often be found ‘resting our eyes’ shortly after dinner as we were physically exhausted, aching, scratched and bruised. But we’ve also had a lot of fun along the way as well as learning about bat boxes, bee bricks, heat pumps, and the hoops, so many hoops to jump through.

But we did it! We’ve been married for 51 years and we did this together and we’re so proud when we see and hear peoples’ reactions when they arrive.

We give credit for the fantastic reconstruction to a local builder who, with a team of expert tradesmen, made the transformation complete. We give thanks also to everyone for their help, support, guidance, and just stopping by to see how we were doing!

And here’s to many more guests, we hope the love and care we’ve invested in Kraft Cottage together with the beauty of Norfolk gives you special memories for years to come.