'It's got an atmosphere that's hard to describe': what it's like to live in an 18th century Cotswold cottage

Black Dog Cottage, in Little Barrington, is a quintessential country home in a quintessential Cotswold village. Overlooking the village green, the limestone building has pear trees in its front garden, laden with fruit. The house is set behind a Cotswold stone wall, with a neat green front gate and a gravel driveway which extends up the left side of the house. And all this English country charm is exactly why its owners, Klaus and Brandon, bought it in 2013.

“We both wanted to live in the Cotswolds, and we were looking for a lovely period property. We came across it over dinner with a friend, who told us that her ex-husband was selling the house,” says Klaus. “It was quite a coincidence. We saw the house, and we fell in love with it.”