Sleeping BEAUTY

Sitting on the edge of a pretty Oxfordshire village, at the end of a meandering lane, is a 500-year-old house huddling under its heavy thatch. Full of colour, art, flowers, engaging textiles, overseas finds, photographs and the happy disarray of family life, it is home to Fiona (known as Fi) and Will Carleton Paget and their three children – Scarlett, 18, Sam, 16 and Eliza, 14.

Lying largely undiscovered by long-standing locals, not just the Carlton Pagets – who had rented a house in the village for seven years without ever clapping eyes on it – the property seemed determined to keep its existence a secret. It was only due to the village grapevine that they heard it was coming onto the market. “GPS,