Modern Country Cottage

“We spent Easter week at this beautiful home in Ely. Ely is the quintessential English town with a beautiful cathedral, wonderful restaurants, lots of history and a great local market. The house was very clean and welcoming. We also exchanged cars and it was easy to drive to the train station and go from there to London, Cambridge... The cats were very easy to take care and the house is kid friendly. The family were very thorough with their instructions and very easy to communicate with them before, during and after the exchange. We highly recommend this home.”

“We had a wonderful stay in Rahel and Malcolm´s house. All arrangements before and during the stay were really easy, thanks to our hosts for the helpfulness! We were there for 10 days and had a wonderful time, even when the weather was bad. We used the Train to travel to London 4 times, were in Cambridge by car and explored the area around Ely. The house is very spacious and bigger than it appears on the Pictures. It is very charming, clean, has a well equipped kitchen and lots of toys for children. The neighbourhood is very friendly and helpful. Rahel and Malcolm provided many helpful informations and tips. A lot of thanks to Rahel and Malcolm who made our family-vacation possible and made it unforgettable. Also both of my kids enjoyed it very much. We can really recommend it to everybody. Thank you very much, we really enjoyed our stay! Hugo with Family”

“We have a great time in Ely. We love the house its very cozy. Very clean and tidy. Ely city is authentic and the most beautiful village. Ely cathedral highly recommended. We are been along the whole area and we love it, the weather was great very sunny. We would certainly recommend swapping this family.”

“Thank you to Malcolm & family for sharing their lovely home for our first home swap experience!! The house was so like ours that we felt at home the minute we stepped through the door. Everything was as we expected, clean, tidy and well organised with lots of useful information from Malcolm to help us enjoy our stay. Lots of toys, trampoline and sleeping in a bunk bed were a treat for our 8 yr old son. The cats were so friendly and basically did their own thing. Ely and the surrounding area is beautiful with a huge variety of things to do and see. A tea stop at Peacocks by the river in Ely is a must. Take it easy on a country walk, a scenic trip to the nearby east coast or visit lovely Cambridge for some vintage shopping. Cambridge bus tour is a good idea to find the layout of the city before exploring by foot. We thoroughly enjoyed our first home swap and with lots of help and tips from Malcolm it made the whole experience run very smoothly.”

“Malcolm & Rachael\'s home in Tipps End was a real home from home for us. Not only because this was our second exchange with them but because this, their new home is in such an idyllic setting meaning relaxation from day one. Annabelle their house is clean and fresh with more than enough room to spread out along with an amazingly huge garden set out into different zones: one to lounge & sunbathe, one to chill out & read, one with various childrens outdoor games, one with large swim spa, one for outdoor family eating and a huge grassy area with orchard for running around. The most exciting thing for us was feeding the ducks & chooks...such fun!! We highly recommend an exchange with the Ewan family and can assure it will run smoothly from initial contact and throughout the duration of your stay. Thank you Malcolm, Rachael, Rosie & Harry for taking care of our home and leaving it just as we left it.”

“We had a very, very nice holiday in Tipps End, Although we visited England for several times, we never discovered this aria( The Fens) before. Realy very surprising! The house Annabelle is a lovely place to stay, and also the garden is fantastic. When we arrived, pizza, choclat, beer, milk, bread ect. ect. was there fore us. Communication with the family was relaxed and so easy. Coming home our house and cat were as we hoped they would be. We really already dream of coming back!! Thanks for this great experiece, Malcolm, Rachel, Rosie, Harrie Chris and Dineke. Bakkeveen (The Netherlands), 1-9-2016”

“We had a very nice exchange. The house was spacious and the spa really relaxing. It was nice feeding the cats and chickens, and have fresh eggs every morning. Enough to see in the neighbourhood like the marvellous cathedral of Ely, or even further away like a daytrip to London. There were lots of brochures and other information for things to do in this part of England. We can positively advise you to go the house of Malcom and family!”

“Thank you Malcolm and Rachel for allowing us to exchange with you.We had a relaxing break which was what we wanted. This property is in an idyllic part of England, almost in the middle of no where with the most fantastic views and relaxing atmosphere. We rarely left the property, as there is everything you would need for young and old alike. The swim Jacuzzi is wonderful and a real treat, the chickens and ducks most entertaining, we enjoyed the feeding , letting them out in the morning and putting them to bed and collecting the eggs. I spent ages watching one have a bath. And snowball and Mr Pickles (the cats) very loving. We wanted a relaxing holiday and this exchange delivered. If you wanted to get out and about there is Ely and Cambridge near by. Ely has a wonderful Antique centre. We were very lucky to be shown around by Malcolm and Rachel when we arrived and this just added to the perfect communication throughout. Would recommend an exchange with this property and we would not hesitate to go back. ”

“During summer 2018, I did a non-simultaneous exchange with Malcolm and his family, meaning that Malcolm and his son Harry came to stay at my house while I went to Italy. Both before and during the stay, the communication with Malcolm was really easy. We used WhatsApp during the stay. I have pets and they were very well taken care of. The house was found in same condition as I left it. I can only recommend doing an exchange with Malcolm and his family. Best regards, Lotte”

“We had lovely holiday in Tipps End in July 2019. House and the garden were beautiful! We had such a relaxing holiday and got to see English countryside at it's best. As this was non-simultaneous exchange, we got to meet the family too and that was so nice! Thank you Rachel, Malcolm and the children for making us feel so welcome and making our holiday easy. Dinner waiting when we arrived and great tips for things to do and places to see were so lovely. Special thanks for the kindness with our children. They are already missing the chicken, ducks and cat.”

“Malcolm and Rachel have an idyllic house in a lovely part of the countryside. The house is beautiful, the garden fantastic, particularly if you have a family, and the area is perfect for exploring the countryside, towns and cities in Cambridgeshire. The family could not have been more welcoming to us and left us lots of information on things we could do in the area. They provided us with everything we would need to make our stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible and kept in contact with us regularly to make sure we had settled in well. The house is in a very quiet area and the nearest town of Ely is 20 minutes away where there are plenty of shops and supermarkets and also good tourist attractions like Ely Cathedral and The Oliver Cromwell house. Cambridge was within easy driving distance and definitely worth visiting. There is a local wildlife centre 5 minutes from the house where we saw many rare species of birds and it also had great activities on for the children. We would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Malcolm and Rachel\'s house to anyone wishing to see this wonderful part of the English country. Our only problem was that we only stayed there a week and there was so much to do that we will have to visit the area again in the future to discover more. Thanks to the whole family for a really enjoyable stay.”

“Nous avons passé de très très bonnes vacances dans cette magnifique maison au calme. L\'échange s\'est parfaitement déroulé et nous avons été accueillis merveilleusement bien. Nous la recommandons sans hésiter. Jean-Paul & Véronique”

“Pour un premier échange, c'était une réussite: un accueil des plus chaleureux, une grande disponibilité avant, pendant et après l'échange, une maison très fonctionnelle et agréable à vivre, des sorties et promenades à profusion. C'est promis, nous reviendrons en Angleterre. Nous vous recommandons vivement cet échange.”

“We swapped our home with the Ewan's in April 2014. Contact was easy. There was lots of information on the home and things to do and see. The home was clean and spacious with a lovely private garden. The cats were friendly and easy to look after as they came and went as they pleased. Ely was a lovely place to visit. Our home was just as we left it. We would highly recommend a swap with this property.”

“We have swapped our house with this kind family during 1,5 week in August 2013. The correspondence before went very well. We have had a very good time while staying in their house. It's comfortable, clean, spacious and family friendly. Our children enjoyed the trampoline in the garden and have played many hours with the nice toys inside. They have also enjoyed the great playparks which were close. The neighborhood is quiet and pretty. Ely itself is a beautiful town. And so is the amazing cathedral! There are many good places and towns to visit in the area around Ely. We highly recommend this house for a nice swap!”

“Dear Malcolm and family, We had a pleasant stay in your beautiful house in Ely. We traveled by airplane to London Stansted and hired a car and came to you house in a bit more than 1 hour drive. A new experience: driving on the left side of the road, but it went very well. Ely is a beautiful town with an old centre, a very beautiful ancient cathedral and lying on the waterfront of the ouse river. We visited Cambridge by train and car, visited the centre, the sedge wick museum and the botanic gardens. Due to the beautiful weather we went to the beach near Hunstanton twice. Thank you very much for letting us stay in your house and for the nice contact. We found our house as we left it. We recommend your house to other house swappers. Kind regards, Anke and family.”