Sitting on the edge of the village, Oaktree cottage has always been a classic Norfolk hideaway.

Originally it occupied a much larger plot, with its own well, and enough land to form a self-contained hideaway. We can see this from the earliest tithe maps, to aerial photographs taken in World War Two…

Some time after the end of WW2 the cottage fell into disrepair, and we’re told by previous owners that it was again rescued and restored as a Norfolk Hideaway by a couple who were doctors in a London hospital. They clearly loved North Norfolk, as they put a lot of love and effort into the restoration, and of course the roads from London were nothing like they are today.

We suspect that it was during this renovation that the kitchen and bathroom extension was added. There are no planning records from the time, but we believe that the original stairs would have been a ‘Norfolk Winder’ in one of the alcoves by the fireplace, and the footprint of the building would have basically been the lounge and the bedrooms.

The kitchen, bathrooms, and staircase were all added at this time, with the stairs now taking you outside of the original building, stepping back into the old house when you enter the bedrooms.

The cottage was then home to a builder who divided the plot, and built a much larger home on what would have been the smallholding. Sadly they also had to remove the ancient oak which gave the cottage its name to make room for the house, although the ‘small’ oak at the front of that house must be at least 120 years old.

Finally the cottage was a retirement home for the couple that we bought it from, before they moved to a flat by the coast.

Our story began in the late early 2000’s. I’d grown up near Holt, and still have family in the area. A degree in Electronics and Telecoms meant that I ended up working in London, and the Berkshire, and living in Surrey, but a love for North Norfolk led us to seek our own Norfolk Hideaway, which we’re now proud to share with you.