The last thing you’d expect to find in a 17th century mill on a Hampshire chalk stream, is a Japanese interior. Isn’t it? As you approach the little brick building through a gate beside an ancient bridge, all is as you’d expect. But open the door of this bijou cottage, and the influence of a life spent in the Far East, is clear. Owner Holly Larrett’s father had spent time in Japan convalescing after being injured in the Korean War, and was later to establish London’s first Japanese restaurant. In the 80s he bought the mill having first spotted it as a boy, while fishing. By then it was a wreck and needed completely rebuilding. The Japanese screens which make the interior so distinctive, were brought back from Kyoto, and now form the kitchen, bathroom, and loo. Aside from these subsidiary spaces, the cottage is basically one room, floating above the gurgling river, with a woodburner stove in the middle, surrounded by cosy rustic furniture, and well stocked with books. It’s the perfect little romantic escape, as hopefully my pictures illustrate, and fortunately it’s available to stay in via airbnb.
