When I was a girl, my parents had an old 1950s hardcover of The House at Pooh Corner that they read stories to us from at bedtime. My family loved Pooh and all of his friends. When my kids were little, it was my turn to read from that battered blue book.

So I was excited to hear that the charming country retreat where author A. A. Milne was inspired to write about Pooh for his son Christopher is on the market for £2 million (about $3.1 m). Let’s take a look!

A. A. Milne bought Cotchford Farm in 1925 as a country retreat for his family.

“It was here, amidst the beautiful Sussex countryside and surrounding woodland where the wonderful stories of Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh came to life,” the listing says.

This 3-story, Grade II Listed Country House dates back to the mid-16th century (with later additions).

The house has 6 bedrooms and 3 baths.

It had another famous owner–Brian Jones, the musician and founder of The Rolling Stones, lived here until his death in 1969.

The property sits on 9.5 acres.

The garden has stone statues of Christopher Robin and characters from the Pooh stories.

“The local area is now commonly referred to as ‘Pooh Country,’” the listing says, “and places in the books such as the 500-acre wood, Galleons Lap, Poohsticks bridge and Pooh Corner are all based on nearby locations.”

“The remainder of land comprises a partially fenced field with a stream running along the southern wooded boundary. ‘Pooh Sticks Bridge’ is half a mile up stream.”

For more photos and information about the property, check the Savills UK listing and Curbed. (Thanks to all the readers who wrote me about it!)

More Authors’ Houses:

• Mary Kay Andrews Beach House
• Sarah Ban Breathnach’s English Cottage
• Emily Giffin’s Traditional Southern Home

A reader named Carrie wrote me about the plight of Duncan Manor: “This is a house in central Illinois that means a lot to many people. It sat empty and derelict for years until it was sold to a real estate agent and her husband who have a history of saving old houses. They got a lot of the structural work done but now have to sell. The house is sitting empty again and is longing for a new owner to rescue it.”

Carrie’s husband took that striking photo (above) of the manor before the current owners started renovating it. Here’s how it looks now:

According to the Landmarks website:

This grand Italianate home is one of the finest farmhouses in Illinois. It has been a striking presence on the rural landscape since its construction in 1875, and still draws admiration from drivers along Interstate 55. The home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but unprotected by any local landmark ordinance.

Here’s an older photo of the house that they posted on their site:

And today:

The listing says:

“McLean County’s famed Duncan Manor, originally the home of William Duncan, boasts 7 bed’s, 6 fireplaces, 11 ft ceilings on 1st and 2nd flrs, 10 ft ceilings on 3rd flr, 4 covered porches (including widow’s walk), all original wood trimmings, including magnificent banister for grand staircase in center of home.”

You can see the house still has a long way to go, but at least the work has been started.

They’ve done a lot of the wiring, plumbing, and foundation work, as well as exterior restoration.

Ed Rascaille, who took the photo at the top of the post, wrote about his childhood memories of the house:

“When I was a boy, this large Italianate farmhouse built for the livestock farmer William R. Duncan was one of the ‘crane-your-neck and make guesses’ landmarks along Route 66 between Chicago and St. Louis. It sat isolated amidst thousands (seemingly millions to us kids) of acres of corn and bean fields and had an air of mystery…. It is sad that this historic old building is deteriorating rapidly and this memory of millions may someday no longer be with us. I hope something can be done.”

Here’s a photo that shows what bad shape the eaves were in before the current owners started the renovation:

They look beautiful today, restored and like new:

You know that was a lot of work!

The video tour shows much more of the house:

Want to save it? For more photos and information about Duncan Manor, check the listing. Thanks to Carrie for telling us about it. If you know of an historic house that deserves to be rescued, send me the link!

Another House That Deserves to be Saved: Mulberry Hill Farm House.

When a reader named Andrea wrote me about the old brick house she and her husband bought and renovated in Northern Kentucky, the before and after photos blew me away. It’s beautiful now, but here’s how the exterior looked before they fixed it up:

A little bare, right? So much better now with all the finishing touches–like landscaping and columns!

On her blog Oak Ridge Revival, Andrea talks about their adventures in remodeling. The kitchen was pretty small and outdated when they moved in:

They knocked down the wall between it and the old dining room and gave it a total overhaul. Here’s how it looks now:

It’s night and day, really, from the old to the new.

Now it’s open to the dining room (below). The old kitchen was in the space where the table and chairs are now–they swapped the rooms in the reno.

An old sun porch became a huge mudroom off the kitchen, too, that I’m more than a little jealous of!

The house had an addition built onto the back by the former owners, which Andrea says “resembled a Country and Western bar. There were actually guns and cowboy hats hanging on the wall!”

Now the room is light, bright, and family friendly:

The baths for the kids had a long way to go, too. Here’s how they looked before and after:

Andrea says, “Our architect, Ashli Slawter, of A. Slawter Architecture, suggested these simple changes. When I first laid eyes on the bathrooms, I thought for sure they would needed to be completely remodeled. Thanks to her suggestions, we were able to give the bathrooms a big update with a little money.”

How sweet is this pink and green bath now?

The bedroom makeovers are beautiful, too. Here’s how one of them looked before:

And now, looking fresh and current:

Head over to her blog Oak Ridge Revival to take the rest of the house tour, get the details about the remodel, and see all of the jaw-dropping before and afters. Many thanks to Andrea for sharing her home with us!

Hooked on Before and Afters?

• A Sears Kit-Home Kitchen Makeover
• A New Kitchen with Vintage Appeal
• See ‘em all!

This stunning Victorian in San Francisco was built in 1902 and is a real show-stopper. Its original period details have been preserved, but the interiors were updated with some modern finishes and contemporary design. It’s on the market for $3.8 million, so take a look and see what you think!

The front door is flanked by Corinthian columns:

The floors are walnut with radiant heat.

The 12′ coved ceilings feature the original intricate detailed moldings.

The woodwork, stained glass, built-ins, and window seats in this dining room are amazing, but it’s a lot of white. Wish we could see what it looked like originally, before the wood was painted over.

If contemporary isn’t your thing, the kitchen probably won’t be, either, but it seems like no expense was spared:

Here’s how it’s described in the listing:

“The light-filled Arclinea gourmet kitchen is finished with Carrara marble and has an impressive wrap-around counter and custom cabinetry. The two-tier island welcomes guests with comfortable bar seating and tempts chefs with a Wolf cooktop on the other. A tall bank of white custom cabinets provides abundant storage and walnut veneer provides warmth.

“Appliances include a 5-burner Viking cook top stove with down draft vent, Viking Oven and separate microwave convection oven, built-in sub-Zero refrigerator, Miele dishwasher, and top-of-the-line built-in Miele espresso maker.”

The house has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. I love all the light and windows in this one:

The remodeled master bath has a soaking tub and steam shower with Philippe Starck fixtures.

The house is close to Alamo Square and within a short walk to the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park.

What do you think? Do you like the contemporary take on the house? You can read more about it and see the rest of the photos on Pricey Pads and the listing by Vanguard Properties. (Thanks to Kim for telling me about it!)

More San Francisco Eye Candy:

• The Classic Victorian in Mrs. Doubtfire
• One Kings Lane Founder’s Fab Pad
• Reese Witherspoon’s Apartment in Just Like Heaven
• A Neoclassical Revival with $32-Million Views

A reader named Andrea wrote me about her family’s historic Tudor in England called Athelhampton House. Much of it has been standing for over 5 centuries, which is hard for most of us in the U.S. to wrap our heads around (here, anything over 100 is considered old!).

Sir William Martyn built the main hall in 1485, and it remained in the Martyn family for 4 generations. In 1891 it was purchased by Alfred Cart de Lafontaine who restored the house and gardens to how they look today.

Athelhampton is now owned by the Cooke family. Patrick Cooke and his wife Andrea continue to improve and care for the house and gardens while living here with their two young boys. I can only imagine the amount of work that goes into an historic home like this one, so my hat’s off to them!

It’s located just outside Dorchester in Dorset. You can rent the house for events like weddings and film shoots.

I can picture a Masterpiece Classic being filmed here, can’t you? This bedroom looks like something Jane Eyre would sleep in at Thornfield Hall:

They open the house to the public, and I’d love to see it in person someday. I’ve been to England a couple of times and really enjoyed house tours like these.

That’s a statue of Queen Victoria in the garden:

Can you imagine living in and caring for a grand old estate like this, filled with so much history? Considering how long it takes me to get around to doing all the basic maintenance in my own (fairly new, not very big) house, I’m not sure I would be up to the task!

Visit the Athelhampton website for more photos and information. Thanks to Andrea for telling me about it!

More Historic Houses:

• Barton Cottage in Sense & Sensibility
• Highclere Castle in Downton Abbey
• Castle Howard in Brideshead Revisited
• Haddon Hall in Jane Eyre

When the ceramic artist Ayumi Horie told me about the old country church in Cottekill, New York, that she has been living and working in for the past ten years, I was totally enchanted. I love a classic white church with stained glass windows, so it does my heart good to see this one so well preserved and cared for. She’s now selling the property, which includes both a connected house and art studio, for $349,000.

The Cottekill church was built in 1898 and once served as a place of worship for both Methodists and the Dutch Reformed. Here’s how it looked on an old black and white postcard, circa 1915:

You can see it hasn’t changed all that much in a hundred years!

Behind the original church building is a 2-bedroom house connected by a breezeway, as well as a 400 square-foot working art studio currently used as the site for Ayumi Horie Pottery.

Ayumi hosts studio sales and annual craft sales in the church. “Ideally,” she says, the new owner “will continue to use the space to create art and support the growing arts community.”

Here’s a photo taken inside the church during one of her pottery sales:

The entrance to the house, which is attached to the back of the church building:

It wasn’t an easy decision to sell the property, but she’s moving to be closer to family. She says, “I’ve had the church for ten years and have loved every minute of it, from the beginning renovations when I would find caches of walnuts in the walls and bats in the belfry to the spiffed up sanctuary it is now.”

The kitchen has maple cabinets and stainless-steel countertops…

And a wood-burning stove in the corner to keep things cozy.

The bathroom has hand-planed cherry counters and a copper sink:

I love the transom windows in the house:

The art studio includes an 8 x 10 kiln room, as well as an office and half bath.

You can watch Ayumi work in videos she’s posted on her site. I especially like the one called “You Know, You Got to Let It Grow.” It’s kind of mesmerizing to see the pottery take shape.

Cottekill is in the Hudson Valley, about 2 hours from New York City. Here’s an aerial view of the church and surrounding area taken in the 1930s–much of which is wooded now:

The front of the church at dusk, after a snowfall:

Beautiful! Thanks to Ayumi for telling me about it.

For more photos and information, visit the Cottekill Church website and the real estate listing by Laura Prince of Westwood Metes & Bounds. You can also learn more about Ayumi, who was named Ceramic Artist of the Year, at Ayumi Horie Pottery.

More Unique Historic Properties I’ve Featured:

• Austin’s First Firehouse
• A Stone Cottage Once Owned by Isaac Newton
• Singer Daryl Hall’s Revolutionary War-Era Colonial

This Edwardian country house in West Sussex is beautiful–and it’s “a 5-minute walk to the sea”–but I was especially taken by the sweet spaces for children there are in it. It’s nice to see such a grand house looking so child friendly. There’s a pretty little playhouse in the garden, too. Take a look!

I’m totally swooning over this fireplace with the built-in mirror and shelves:

I would have loved to have had a fireplace like this in my bedroom growing up. Actually, I’d like one now!

My daughter has a similar heart hanging from the doorknob to her room (wish we had a door with this much character to go with it!):

A boy’s room:

I love how all the kids’ rooms have fireplaces in them. This one even looks child-sized:

The kids also have this adorable playroom to hang out in:

And a playhouse in the garden:

Charmed? You can see more photos of the children’s rooms–and the rest of the house–on jj Locations, which features houses that you can use for photo shoots and movies, etc.

More Posts About Kids’ Rooms:

• Over-the-Top Rooms for Kids: Would You Spend This Much?
• A Backyard Treehouse
• Our Playroom Gets a New Look with Board and Batten

This stately Greek Revival, built in 1830, was once owned by Massachusetts Civil War Governor John Andrew. Abraham Lincoln’s friend and cousin, he authorized freed slaves to serve in the Union army (remember the movie Glory?). The house, which Andrew called “the home of my heart,” remained in his family until 1929.

The current owners undertook a full renovation of the historic property in 2010 and are now selling it for $2.975 million. Take a look!

MSNBC reports: “Much of the 5-bed, 4.5-bath home’s original character, like its pumpkin pine flooring, marble fireplaces, and ceiling medallions and molding, were maintained in the remodel.”

The family room has a Something’s Gotta Give vibe with the blue and white-striped rug:

Some rooms–like this bedroom–are a little bare. How would you decorate them?

There are 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths.

Love the gray cabinets.

The interiors don’t look like they belong to an historic house from the early 1800s, do they? The rooms look new. Which I suppose they are, since the house underwent such an extensive renovation.

The mudroom:

It sits on several acres outside Boston in Hingham and has 6,300 square feet of living space. There’s an apple orchard, 3-car detached garage, boat house, and barn on the property, too.

Like it? For more photos and information about the house, check the article on MSNBC’s Bottom Line and the For Sale by Owner listing on Zillow. (Thanks to Nancy for telling me about it!)

On Sundays I Feature Interesting Houses For Sale:

• A Victorian Cottage in Pasadena
• A Hamptons-Style Home on Bainbridge Island
• Julia Morgan’s Charming Redwood Grove House
• See ‘em all!

I’ve been removing the small private ads from my blog this year, and it’s fitting that CalFinder is the last one left. They were the first to advertise with me, and I want to thank them for being such a long-time supporter of my blog. If you need to find a reliable local contractor for a home improvement project, they can help!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a “Save This House” post featuring one that deserves to be rescued, but the minute I saw this great old Second Empire-style manor in Maryland on Old House Dreams, I knew it was a perfect candidate.

It has actually already been rescued from demolition, having been safely moved to this new location.

A site dedicated to Talbot County history shows photos of Mulberry Hill Farm as recently as 2007 standing vacant on its original site. Here’s one of the photos (you can see more here):

Then they moved it:

And they reopened the original porch that had been closed in:

It got a fresh coat of paint, too:

The interiors still need a lot of work, but the potential is definitely there:

Love the built-ins and all the woodwork in the house.

This poor kitchen might need more help than any other room:

It’s nice and big, though! And check out those back stairs:

There are 5 bedrooms and 4 baths.

The listing price is $325,000. The 3-story house sits on 2.69 acres of farmland that appears to include a barn.

When I see a house like this, I start imagining how I’d like to fix it up and how beautiful it could look. If you could be the one to save this gem, what would you do with it? Any ideas?

For more photos and information, check the listing and Old House Dreams. (Thanks, Katie!)

Remember the Inn from Nights in Rodanthe?

I’ve gotten a few questions about this one lately from readers asking me if it was ever rescued (it had been condemned at one point). The answer is yes! It was moved to higher ground and given a top-to-toe reno to look like the sets from the movie that made it famous. It’s open as an inn again. You can read the whole story and see the before and after photos here:

The Inn from Nights in Rodanthe: Rescued and Renovated

How can you see an old house painted pale purple with green shutters like this and not stop to get a closer look? I couldn’t. It was built in 1876, and the homeowners have done an amazing job updating it. It’s in Clifton, Ohio, where I grew up–an area known for having some pretty amazing old houses.

The kitchen alone tempts me to move back there (if I could come up with the $610,000 asking price). Take a look!

I found the house mentioned on a website about Cincinnati architecture that referred to it as the C.W. Deland house. It said the house style is Victorian, but the interiors look more clean and modern than I would expect from one.

The house has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 3,788 square feet.

A 5th bedroom was turned into an incredible dressing room.

The kitchen is what put it over the top for me. So sunny and bright with all those big windows…

It’s hard to find a kitchen this big in an old house. I grew up in one not far from this and our kitchen could have fit in that center island…

The house sits on over an acre of land with some lovely views.

Like it? More photos and information at Comey & Shepherd (listing by Cynthia Collins and Ian Collins). Thanks to Josh for telling me about it!

More Sunday Open House Posts:

• A Sweet Storybook Tudor in Oakland
• A Retro-Industrial Steampunk Loft in NYC (just saw this on “Selling New York!”)
• One Kings Lane Founder’s House in San Francisco
• All “Sunday Open House” Posts