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In this deeply personal episode of the Anglotopia Podcast, Jonathan Thomas makes a big announcement — he and Mrs. Anglotopia are returning to Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, the place that inspired Anglotopia itself. As a teenager in Indiana, Jonathan hung a poster of Gold Hill on his bedroom wall and dreamed of going there; it became the reason he fell in love with Britain. After nearly 10 years away, he and Jackie are returning to stay in Button Cottage — a 400-year-old property sitting right on the famous cobbles, painstakingly restored by its owner Melanie Fontana over three years. Jonathan sits down with Melanie to hear the full story: how she and her partner fell in love with Gold Hill on an Easter weekend, found the cottage for sale on their phones, and spent three years stripping away decades of 1970s “improvements” — concrete floors, bitumen tar, plasterboard, blocked fireplaces — to reveal 450-year-old beams, Victorian elm floorboards, a fossil in the grouting, and one of the most atmospheric interiors in Dorset. The episode also covers the history of Shaftesbury, the legacy of the Ridley Scott Hovis advertisement, what it means to restore a Grade II listed building, and why Gold Hill remains one of the most unchanged streets in England.
Links
- Button Cottage — Official Website
- Button Cottage on Airbnb
- Shaftesbury Town Guide
- Shaftesbury Abbey Museum & Garden
- Historic England — Listed Buildings
- Listed Property Owners Club
- Farrow & Ball Paint — Dorset
- The Original Hovis Advert — Ridley Scott (YouTube)
- Blackmoor Vale, Dorset
- Friends of Anglotopia Club
Takeaways
- Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset — the steep cobbled lane made famous by Ridley Scott’s 1970s Hovis bread advertisement — is the place that inspired Jonathan to visit Britain as a teenager and directly led to the founding of Anglotopia. Jonathan and Jackie are returning to stay on the hill for the first time in nearly 10 years.
- Button Cottage is a genuine 400-year-old property sitting directly on the cobbles of Gold Hill, restored from near-dereliction to authentic period condition by Melanie Fontana and her partner over three years — and it is available to rent on Airbnb.
- The cottage was comprehensively ruined in the 1970s: beams were covered with plasterboard, the fireplace was blocked and converted to gas, floors were concreted over, and the entire structure was tanked with bitumen tar — stopping the building from “breathing” and trapping damp inside the walls for decades.
- Stripping back the 1970s layers revealed 450-year-old oak beams still filled with ancient woodworm holes, Victorian elm floorboards underneath later chipboard, layers of wallpaper from the 1950s through the 1980s peeled from the fireplace wall, and a fossil discovered by hand with a pickaxe when the concrete floor was removed — now set into the grouting between the limestone floor tiles.
- Restoring a Grade II listed building requires using period-appropriate materials throughout: lime plaster (not modern gypsum), limewash or breathable paint, reclaimed stone, and kiln-dried wood for the fireplace. Melanie worked with a conservation architect and joined the Listed Property Owners Club to educate herself before starting work.
- Shaftesbury is one of England’s five highest towns, built on a Saxon hilltop fortification, and its history stretches back over 1,300 years. The Abbey ruins directly outside Button Cottage — founded by Alfred the Great in 888 AD — are a Grade I scheduled monument and entry is free.
- The Hovis advertisement, directed by Ridley Scott before he became famous, still draws visitors from around the world to Gold Hill — some of whom walk up the hill humming the theme tune. Melanie says the town “wears it like a comfortable cardigan” — not overplaying it, not overdeveloping it, just letting the hill exist as it always has.
- Button Cottage sleeps two (one king bedroom plus a single daybed room), features a working inglenook fireplace split into two halves by 1970s alterations, Victorian elm floorboards, 450-year-old beams, a ground-floor shower room, a kitchen with reclaimed pine floors, and a walled garden with views over the Blackmoor Vale.
- Melanie offers a genuinely personal hosting experience: she meets guests on arrival, shows them how everything works, customizes the welcome pack based on dietary preferences, and provides seasonal gifts — currently Prosecco and Dorset Apple Cake in summer, red wine and local cheese in winter.
- Gold Hill itself has barely changed in centuries — historical paintings and photographs from every era show the same street, the same rooflines, the same Abbey wall. It is, as Jonathan puts it, a place that simply doesn’t change — and that is precisely why it means so much.
Soundbites
- “As a teenager in Indiana, I bought a poster at Hobby Lobby called Gold Hill Dorset. And hung it on my wall next to my bed and looked at it every single morning and thought — one day I’m gonna go there.” — Jonathan on the image that started it all.
- “My partner got on his phone and Googled to see if there was anything for sale. And this little cottage, the cutest of all the cottages, was for sale. We went home, got on the phone, booked a viewing, and we just wanted to snap it up right away.” — Melanie on falling in love with Gold Hill on an Easter weekend.
- “It was very much spoiled in the 1970s. The beams were covered, all the woodwork was covered with modern plasterboard. The walls were plastered with modern plaster. It was actually really, really damp — because it had been tanked with bitumen tar.” — Melanie on what they found when they bought the cottage.
- “To find those beams and to touch them and to know they’re approximately 450 years old is just goosebump. They are filled with ancient woodworm holes from centuries ago and they’re just beautiful.” — Melanie on the moment the ceiling came down.
- “When he dug up the concrete floor by hand with a pickaxe, he found a fossil. And he’s settled the fossil into the grouting next to the limestone floor tiles just in between the living room and kitchen. So it’s there for people to see.” — Melanie on one of the cottage’s most extraordinary discoveries.
- “The old-fashioned building techniques are fantastic because what they do is they allow a cottage like this to absorb moisture and then release moisture according to the weather patterns. It just breathes just like we do.” — Melanie on why modern materials damage historic buildings.
- “The town wears it like a comfortable cardigan. It hasn’t been overdone, it hasn’t been presented in a certain way. Nobody’s out there polishing cobbles. The cobbles just exist. The cottages just exist.” — Melanie on Shaftesbury’s relationship with the Hovis advertisement.
- “People tell me it’s really relaxing and it feels like it gives you a hug. When they tell me they didn’t wake up till 11am the next morning and they actually missed meeting up with their friends because they just slept and slept and slept.” — Melanie on guests’ reactions to the cottage.
- “It is my first time, although I do have a history a long long time ago — my first career was in hospitality. So I’ve done restaurant catering, functions, dinner dances. And this is just a little bit like that but without having to do any cooking.” — Melanie on her background and why Button Cottage felt like a natural fit.
- “I’m almost as emotional as they are, honestly. So many people feel the history and they see it as a quintessentially English place to be, to drink in. I just feel really proud of what we’ve done here.” — Melanie on welcoming guests who have a deep connection to Gold Hill.
Chapters
- 00:21 Introduction & Big Announcement — Jonathan reveals he and Mrs. Anglotopia are returning to Gold Hill
- 01:10 The Poster on the Bedroom Wall — How Gold Hill in Shaftesbury inspired a teenager in Indiana and started Anglotopia
- 02:24 Welcome to Melanie Fontana — Owner and restorer of Button Cottage
- 02:47 Love at First Sight — How Melanie and her partner discovered Gold Hill on an Easter weekend and bought the cottage on the spot
- 04:02 Buying in 2019 — Purchasing just before the pandemic and the frustration of not being able to start work
- 04:59 The Restoration Philosophy — Reverting to original as far as possible, using period materials, and letting the building breathe
- 07:32 What They Found Inside — A cottage comprehensively ruined by the 1970s: plasterboard, blocked fireplaces, concrete floors, and bitumen tar
- 08:45 The Discoveries — 450-year-old beams, Victorian elm floorboards, layers of wallpaper, a fossil in the floor, and wood from a market chest
- 13:05 The Name Button Cottage — Cute as a button, and Shaftesbury’s history as a center of the hand-embroidered button-making industry
- 14:58 Gold Hill and Shaftesbury — One of England’s five highest towns, Saxon origins, greenstone buildings, independent shops, and the worldwide renowned countryside bookshop
- 19:35 The Silence of Shaftesbury — What Jonathan loves most, and Shaftesbury as a microcosm of English history
- 20:12 The Abbey Ruin Wall — A Grade I scheduled monument founded by Alfred the Great in 888 AD, right outside the front door
- 22:24 Shaftesbury Abbey — Free to visit, picnics welcome, one of the biggest and richest abbeys in medieval England before the Reformation
- 23:48 The Hovis Advertisement — Ridley Scott, how Gold Hill became globally famous, visitors who come humming the theme tune, and the town’s quietly confident relationship with its own fame
- 26:57 Restoring a Listed Building — Planning restrictions, lime plaster, the Listed Property Owners Club, and materials of the time
- 29:00 The Biggest Challenge — Bitumen tar in the bathroom and fireplace, and why chemicals are sometimes unavoidable
- 32:57 The Inglenook Fireplace — How it was cut in half in the 1970s, why they decided to keep it that way, and why it works perfectly
- 35:20 A Tour of Button Cottage — Living room, inglenook, vestibule, shower room, kitchen, laundry, main bedroom with iron bed, single daybed room, and the walled garden
- 40:33 The Furnishings — Farrow & Ball pointing, reclaimed furniture, feather sofas, goose down bed, velvet and linen cushions, and why texture matters
- 42:17 The Six-Foot Question — Beam heights, where to duck, and the leather-padded “mind your head” signs
- 44:09 Opening to Guests — Melanie’s dream of a customer-facing business, her hospitality background, and why this was the perfect fit
- 45:39 Why Airbnb — How it works, the booking experience, and Melanie’s responsive approach to hosting
- 46:29 Tips for Staying in a Historic Property — What to expect, the hill, the cobbles, the handrail, and why it’s never as difficult as it looks
- 50:47 The Tea Question — Clipper organic, Earl Grey, Lavazza coffee, and a welcome pack tailored to every guest
- 54:32 The Big Announcement — Jonathan and Jackie are coming to stay in February, and what it means to welcome guests who have a deep connection to Gold Hill
- 56:56 Wrap-Up — buttoncottage.co.uk, Airbnb bookings, and an invitation to follow along when Jonathan and Jackie visit
Video Version
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