A Farmhouse?

In the story I’m currently working on — about the sad farmer and the young woman whose father beat her  — I was trying to work out the layout of the cottage he lives in, which is where she comes as a new bride. 

It’s important to have a layout in mind when writing about fictional buildings. At the front door, does she turn right or left? Where are the stairs? Is there a parlor? Where is the kitchen? Is there a scullery? What about fireplaces? Is there more than one? How many bedrooms? In this case we need at least two, as they don’t initially share a bed — it’s a marriage that was more or less forced on him, and they’re both marrying a complete stranger. And what about outbuildings?

When I was writing The Virtuous Widow (later renamed Wish Upon a Christmas Candle) I used a historic cottage where Captain Cook’s parents lived, which was dismantled, shipped to Melbourne and reconstructed in a public park for all to visit.   But I can’t use that all the time, and I can’t just nip up the road and check out a 17th century farmhouse. And I would like it to be reasonably accurate to the times, so I have to rely a lot on the internet. I’m forever diving down rabbit holes. . . 

I rather liked this video of an old farmhouse. It has some similarities to my imaginary one — the thatched roof, and a few other things, and  the interior detail shown in this video was very interesting and helpful. So here it is for your enjoyment. Of course if you’re not interested in looking at an old farmhouse, skip it and move on to the next post.