Charming thatched-roof farmhouse from the 1800s, wood-beamed ceilings, book-lined walls, six bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 inside stone fireplaces, large garden with orchard, chickens, small pond, glass pavilion, 2 fire circles. It is located on a small country lane with a view over horse fields and rolling hills. Yet, it is only 5 minutes over the hill from the Autobahn, which brings you directly to Hamburg in 25 minutes. Our house could be used as a base to explore Northern Germany (in which case, we would organize someone to take care of the cats and garden), or it could also be an ideal place to simply settle in, go for country walks, lounge around in the garden in the hammocks if the season allows it. This is our home, so naturally we care a great deal about who stays here.

The Lüneburger Heide is a traditional tourist area. Our hamlet (nearest town with banks, supermarkets, churches, pharmacy is only 3 kilometers away though) is set in rolling hills just on the outskirts of the national park (where bicycling, walking and horses are allowed, no cars) . One can easily rent a horse and wagon (with driver of course) by the hour to see the park, take a picnic etc. Bike paths criss-cross our area. And just 20 minutes away is Hamburg, Germany's 2nd largest city, with a very impressive (Europe's second-largest) port. Hamburg offers everything one would expect from a European city: excellent restaurants, every kind of music, theatre, opera, dance, English-language cinemas, both eclectic and elegant neighborhoods. . . . We are also about 1 to 1 1/2 hours from the Baltic Sea coast . . . about 2 hours to the best North Sea beaches. For more information, see: http://www.niedersachsen-tourism.de/en/regionen-staedte/regionen/lueneburger-heide/index.php

We have a house cleaner, and can arrange for a gardener. We would welcome children (though obviously they need to be careful with our home, just as we would be elsewhere). We have toys and a beautiful sandbox in the garden. We don't want smoking in the house, as it has a straw roof and the fire hazard is too high. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and chickens. We would request you take care of the cats and chickens. Our dogs can be taken care of by friends. If you are using our house more as a travel base, then we have neighbors who will happily feed and water the other animals.

We are tied to school vacations, which fall generally in October, Christmas time, March-April, summer.

We are a medical doctor/psychoanalyst and an anthropologist/writer. I am originally from San Francisco. We have 3 wonderful children, 9, 14, 18. We spent a sabbatical year in California 4 years ago, and enjoyed two terrific house exchanges. Now that we are back in Germany, we would like to explore more of Europe. We would be interested in shorter exchanges to Italy, or to the Alps during this coming winter. We are planning a trip to northern California next summer 2013, and would be interested in an exchange for a week or two.

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