Zamil Real Estate 1
ne minute you’re battling traffic on LA’s 405 Freeway in your 1990s Honda Civic, the next you’re sitting in a 16th-century farmhouse in the English countryside deciding between goose and braised brisket for dinner. A change of scenery can be a beautiful thing.
I’ve travelled more than 5,000 miles for this farmhouse, now a boutique hotel with six rooms, called Artist Residence Oxfordshire. Since opening its doors, the property has landed on The Times ‘100 best British hotels’ list, been lauded by The Independent for ‘making the countryside a little more louche’ and nabbed a nomination for Best-Dressed Hotel in the Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Awards. Word travels fast – across- continents fast.
The final straws on the property’s thatched roof had only been in place a second before friends from London to Los Angeles returned with rave reviews. One pal, a Hollywood casting agent, rhapsodised over the hotel’s attention to detail, ‘right down to the embroidered hair dryer and slipper bags.’ A Brooklyn-based couple – both photographers – messaged me that it’s ‘the quirky country retreat of their dreams’ and they’d move there if only they knew something about raising chickens. Louche, quirky, chickens – I was sold.