Harleston, Great Britain
Member since
2015The member has not specified any exchange dates
Large 4 Bedroom country house with swimming pond - looking to exchange summer 2025
We live in a modern 4 bedroom detached house in a rural location surrounded by fields, served by a small quiet lane. There is a large garden full of birds, with beautiful swimming pond. In the garden we have an occasional kingfisher, daily hedgehogs, owls nesting, two types of newts and dragonflies. The garden is almost an acre and is great for bbqs, swims, open fires in the fire pit, and trampolining. There are large areas for outdoor dining and play, and one living room has bifold doors opening up onto the yard and garden. Our house is bright and cheerful, with two living rooms (both with log burner and tv). There is also a BBQ for you to use.
There are two very large double bedrooms, (both with own toilet) and two smaller bedrooms (1 with double futon, 1 with a single bed). The kitchen/dining area is also spacious- in general there is lots of room to relax. We have 2 showers and a bath, 4 toilets.
It is extremely quiet and peaceful here, with views onto local fields . You can hear just the odd car, and sounds of birds and sheep nearby. We are located about a mile or so from the village centre, where you will find a bar on Friday nights.
There are many walking paths and we have all the local maps. There are lots of lovely pubs (eg The Locks Inn, Geldeston, which has live music), plus breweries with tasting rooms and Flint Vineyard 3 miles away which does lunches and tours. There's a farm shop a mile away for local produce and 3 miles away a raw milk dairy. In summer there are many children's activities in Norwich and the Waveney Valley- such as farm visits, 2 zoos, small beach theme parks etc. You can hire family boats in nearby Beccles and explore the waterways. You can also rent kyaks in Bungay and Beccles Beccles also has a heated outdoor lido.
Its a thirty minute drive to Norwich city; a vibrant small city with great market and boutique shops. We live a 40 minute drive from the lovely coastal villages/ towns of Southwold and Walberswick. We are just over an hour from the North Norfolk coast which is a very popular British tourist destination (Cley Next The Sea, Burnham Market, Hunstanton). We are 1 hour 20 minutes from the beautiful historical city of Cambridge.
The nearest station is 20+ minutes away (in Diss) - here you can catch a train to central London, which is 1.5 hours from Diss- it is easy to do London day trips from our house (Ed sometimes works in London).
There is lots of room to park cars. We like the idea of a car swap and have done this successfully on other exchanges.
We have a lovely cat- we would like you to look after him during your stay and are happy to do the same. He is happy to come and go as long as he is fed.
The nearest airport is Norwich- great if you fly through Amsterdam- but also Stansted is a much bigger airport a couple of hours away.
Our Family
- 2 Adults
- 1 Children
- 12 Exchanges made
Occupation
- Teacher,
- Consultant
Our Home
- House Type: House
- Environment: In the country
- Bedrooms: 4
- Bathrooms: 4
- Sleeping Capacity: 7
In my house
- Pets - Not allowed
- Small children - Allowed
Exchange Types
- Home exchange
Indoor
- Free internet access
- Central heating
- Fireplace
- Toys and games
- Washing machine
- Dishwasher
- Television
Outdoor
- Garden
- Terrace or deck
- BBQ
- Private swimming pool
Facilities
- No smoking
- Car necessary
- Use/Exchange of car
- Seclusion/Privacy
- Pet care wanted
Our Destination Wish List
- Open to any destination
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Iceland
- Yorkshire, UK
- Wales, UK
- Norway
- Spain
- Ireland
- France
- Dorset, UK
- Snowdon, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55, UK
- Italy
- Portugal
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
Spoken Languages
- English
Our Neighbourhood
Nearest Airport: norwich -
We live outside a small village in the countryside south of Norwich, near the beautiful Waveney valley. There is plenty of nature around and we often see hares & deer. It has a very quiet rural feel and we live on a tiny road.
There are many local footpaths to enjoy and Tyrell's wood a couple of miles away is great for walks.
The watermeadows around Bungay have rivers with good portage for canoeing and also canoe hire
Flint Vineyard a couple of miles away offers tours & tastings.
Nearby are two small towns - Harleston (4 miles) and Bungay (4 miles), with shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants, petrol, supermarkets etc.
Banham Zoo (35 min) is really impressive.
We are thirty minutes from Norwich city and forty minutes from the lovely coastal towns of Southwold & Walberswick. There are many sandy beaches nearby. You can always see seals if you visit Horsey beach (about 50 mins away) and over winter the seal pups sit on the beach.
Aldeburgh beach & town is an hour away, as is Woodbridge & Sutton Hoo.
You can also easily access the Norfolk Broads from here with boat trips & hire.
Occupation
- Teacher,
- Consultant
Children
- Girl - Age: 8
Pets
- Cat
About Our Family
we are a professional couple in our 40s/50s, with a 6.5 year old daughter & a cat.
Fiona is a college teacher and Ed is an energy professional.
We enjoy nature and visiting beautiful cities.
We have a Honda Civic available for use during the exchange.
Lifestyle
We love the outdoors; walking and swimming, going to the beaches nearby and seeing nature. We also enjoy watching lots of films, and city visits; galleries and cafes etc