Crossways Farm is a Grade II listed thatched farmhouse with a 2.5 acre garden located at Cross Green, in Hitcham village, central Suffolk. The oldest part of the timber-framed house dates from the late 14th or early 15th century and was almost certainly the first farmhouse at Cross Green (then known as Bantofts Cross). It is surrounded by fields on 3 sides, giving it a wonderfully peaceful setting where you can watch the clouds go by or the flames in the fire and forget the rest of the world exists.
I have known the house all my life, spending nearly every school holiday here throughout my childhood, and have been living here full time since 2011. After my father’s death in 2013, I found I was lucky enough to be able to choose to stay and give it all the love and time needed to bring it to its full potential.
The first two years were a long project of repairs, refurbishment and various attempts to rein in the garden (and the goats, who usually resist), and work on the house and garden still continues intermittently. But although new, less-urgent projects are still mischievously presenting themselves almost daily - a wildflower meadow, a mini orchard, an ever expanding vegetable garden, perhaps just two more chickens… - the house, the garden, the creatures and I have been eagerly receiving guests since the summer of 2016.
To read more about the history of the farmhouse, please click here.
For an account of my personal history with the house, please see my post, Origins.