[imagesource: Architectural Digest]

Sienna Miller is embracing the so-called cottagecore lifestyle with her 16th-century thatched-roof cottage in Buckinghamshire, England.

There’s a huge wave of people eager to step out of the hustle of a traditional career and the bustle of a big city, settling into the quiet stillness and nature of the countryside.

Well, the New York-born, London-raised actress is living her most idyllic life out in the English countryside, complete with the most cottagey cottage ever.

Architectural Digest has stepped inside the home that Miller, her daughter, friends, and family spend glorious amounts of time in when she isn’t busy starring in films, television series, or onstage:

“It was a time when there was a lot of press attention on me, and I wanted somewhere to escape. I bought the house on a whim—it offers a sanctuary. I also wanted somewhere where family and friends could gather. It has a nurturing feeling;  it is a home with a heart,” she says.

I have a feeling this is the room with the most heart:

Image: Architectural Digest

Or maybe the lounge with the ginormous fireplace:

Image: Architectural Digest

The house was worked on alongside Miller’s friend, director Gaby Dellal, who breathed new life into a centuries-old countryside abode:

“What was beautiful is that she just trusted me, and we had a deal whereby she was not allowed there for six months until I completed the project,” says Dellal.

…“When I took on the project, I did tell Sienna that I would want to change everything—floors, windows, doors included,” says Dellal, who set about the multipronged sourcing work of locating suppliers, craftsmen, and dealers across the U.K., the U.S., and Turkey.

Image: Architectural Digest

It turns out that the restoration process was as much a story about friendship as it was about the design vision, with Dellal going above and beyond, delivering on the “good living” enough to make Miller cry when she first laid eyes on the property:

“I could not believe the transformation—I knew it had massive potential, but arriving to see this meadow in front of the house planted with wildflowers, I started to  cry,” [Miller] recalls.

Image: Architectural Digest

“And it was all achieved in such a short space of time. Gaby is a true artist. Everything has a story, like the kitchen cabinets that were made from old school desks, and there is a real sense of place—it is an artistic retreat but not in any sense precious. Every time I stay here, I discover new aspects.”

Indeed, there’s creativity to be admired at every turn.

Explore it all with Miller herself:

It may look small, but it’s really like a “rabbit warren” with rooms that keep going.

Even Dellal reckons that “miraculously, the house never feels crowded”.

How quaint. Must be nice.

[source:architecturaldigest]