Seven rooms

Two kinds, seven rooms, and no two of them the same size, because the house was not built to a plan that cared about that.

The four on the second floor

Original windows, original floorboards in two of them, and ceilings of 2.7 metres which is tall for a house of this date in this town. The two at the front look over the roofs to the water; the two at the back look at the garden and the ridge.

How manyFour
Size20 to 24 square metres
BedsTwo doubles, one king, one twin
BathShower in three, bath in the corner one
Water viewBoth front rooms

The three in the attic

Under the roof, following its pitch. Two of them share the five-window dormer and the third has a single gable window at the back. Head height at the wall is 1.5 metres and in the middle it is 2.9, which is the trade you are making.

How manyThree
Size17 to 21 square metres
BedsTwo doubles, one twin
BathShower only
Water viewThe two dormer rooms

In all seven

A wool blanket folded at the foot of the bed as well as a duvet. The power goes out in a nor'easter.
Storm windows from November, which is why the house is quiet in January.
A kettle, tea, and coffee ground in the galley that morning.
No television in any room. There is one in the front room on the ground floor.

The stair

It is the 1888 stair, it is 760 millimetres wide, and it turns twice. There is no elevator and there is no room for one. A large case goes up with a bit of swearing. Tell us and somebody will carry it, and that offer is genuine rather than polite.

Arriving

Rooms are ready from three, and we ask for them back by eleven. There is parking for four cars behind the house, up the lane off Fox Street, and on-street parking everywhere else that is free and untimed outside July and August.

Winter

We stay open. Four of the seven rooms are kept warm in January and the other three are opened when they are needed, which takes a day's notice. The town in February is empty, cold, and the best it ever looks.