Whenever I read the description of Barton Cottage - two sitting rooms 16 feet square, four bedrooms, two attic rooms, the usual offices, - I am struck by it's generous size.

In the UK today, millions of people of the 'middling sort' live comfortably in houses quite a bit smaller than this (think 1930s semi-detached). Of course it depends on one's perspective, and after rattling around in a great house like Norland the cottage must have felt very cramped indeed. Still, many of us would be thrilled to move to a place as big as Barton Cottage. With it's lovely views all round as well it sounds like paradise.