The pictures in this book are made of layers. I began with the reverse side of a roll of wallpaper and added floors and walls and furniture, made from scraps and fragments I found in the house. Most of the first layers are invisible now, hidden beneath embellishments and details, in the way that stories become layered as they get retold over the years. Stories about everything, and nothing much, that stay alive long after children grow up and houses fall down, while wildflowers nod their heads in the sun. Our menu caters for every occasion and dietary requirement. If you are vegan, vegetarian or avoiding gluten, we have it covered. We take pride in providing a comfortable and indulgent retreat for our guests.Each of our 27 bedrooms are designed with your comfort in mind, offering a peaceful sanctuary where you can unwind and recharge. We believe in providing you with the little luxuries that make your stay truly special. For those looking to slow down, step outside of the Farmhouse and find yourself surrounded by beautifulHertfordshire countryside, where you can immerse yourself in nature and explore at your leisure.

Farmhouse is a tribute to this house and other unnamed and unknown homes and residences which have been abandoned or outlived their purpose and which have eventually been reduced to dust in the name of progress. Every year, monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles from Canada to Mexico. Each passage takes three to four generations, and each generation manages to communicate to the next, without language as we know it, the direction and call of the journey as it dies. Along the way, the caterpillars of the new generation feed exclusively on milkweed — the only host plant of the species, the only taste of home for these eternal migrants. Hums with life and the joys and tribulations of a large family ... The story itself is told in lilting text which reads so well aloud, and the accompanying illustrations are colourful and joyous. I loved this book without reservation' ReadingsFirstly, my favourite thing about this picture book are the end papers. A montage of artwork and photographs of items and materials from the house that inspired the book, it's absolutely captivating. It's like looking at a digital scrapbook of creativity, memories and the passage of time. Look closer and the curtains around the windows are scraps of fabric, look again and you'll notice newspaper clippings, photographs and scraps of wallpaper.

I was saddened to read in the Author's Note about the demolition and burial of the Farmhouse and its parlor organ. I hope all that was salvageable was saved.After years of immersion in the enchanting remnants of their bygone lives — photographs and hand-printed wallpaper, a handkerchief and a wedding dress, old brass keys and dusty books, a box of mud-soaked rags that turned out to be twenty colorful hand-sewn dresses — Sophie brings them alive in her wondrous book Farmhouse ( public library) — a consummately illustrated, painstakingly hand-collaged story in the shape of a poem that is a single sentence, undulating with its “ands” and “ors” like a life does.