B&B review: The Linen Shed, Boughton-under-Blean, Faversham

French and colonial style collide in this piece of vintage heaven – with gourmet food to match – near Whitstable

A little bit of France in Kent … at the Linen Shed
In a little over one hour I have exchanged east London for a Kent village, its main thoroughfare passing between medieval cottages that lean in as though whispering to one another across the street. Here's the Linen Shed. A grey wooden house with lace panels at the windows, it looms above a steeply terraced front garden. Someone's got a sense of humour – a metal letterbox says US Mail.
1. The Linen Shed
2. 104, The Street, Boughton-under-Blean,
3. Faversham
4. ME13 9AP
5. 01227 752271
6. thelinenshed.com
1. Doubles with shared bathroom from £75, with private bathroom from £80 B&B. Picnic hampers from £15
"It's a bit of an upside-down house," says Vickie Miles, taking me straight up a flight of wooden stairs to an airy room in which colonial and French style collide. Beneath a ceiling fan, trompe l'oeil garlanded panels have been painted on the walls in pale pastels. Bergère armchairs and a wooden sofa ("From Normandy, bought on eBay," says Vickie) add to the colonial feel. At the far end is an open-plan kitchen. There are loads of doors off this room, the heart of the house. Vickie's husband Graham appears in an Indian shirt of dazzling whiteness. Tea? Outside? Coming up. My room's at the front – it has an emperor bed with snowy White Company linen and just enough retro touches. The flatscreen TV seems incongruous somehow, and I tend to think that bedroom cupboards should be completely empty (rather than full of stationery), but I covet the large glass jar that says Rose Victor Vaissier Paris on the front. The shower room (so French with its floor-to-ceiling white brick tiles) is next door, and opposite is a smaller double room. This has a separate bathroom (which involves walking through the sitting room) and there is a third bedroom downstairs. Now I'm seated comfortably outside, on a wooden veranda, looking out at roses, lavender, hydrangeas and B&B cats Cecil and Mr Wilfred. Pink geraniums populate a small Victorian atrium, and a bird's nest is tucked into a rusting enamel washstand. Vintage heaven? Oh, I think so. This is going to be my first night in a Nissen hut – for that is what this has evolved from, the remaining one of three. Graham and Vickie moved here three and a half years ago from London. They looked in Whitstable (seven miles away – it celebrates its oyster festival this week) but knew the minute they set foot here they had found their house. "We sat outside in the car and put an offer in," says Graham. "Three minutes, it took." Vickie wants to know what I'd like for breakfast (I suspect because her list of specialities is extensive). Grilled vine tomatoes and Serrano ham. Rösti potato cake with fried eggs and smoked back bacon. Scotch pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. Creamed mushrooms on toasted brioche and, of course, full English. Everything comes from local farms, oh and she makes gourmet seafood and charcuterie picnics, or packs guests off to the beach with a single-ring burner and crab cakes. The phone rings constantly with bookings, this evening and the next morning (when I have dragged myself out of the blissful bed). Vickie talks with the authority of a true foodie to each caller about local restaurants (there is exceptional choice here). I tuck into potato rösti and eggs on the sunny veranda. "Would you like to borrow some sunglasses?" Vickie asks, returning with a secondhand pair by Vivienne Westwood (of course). Bread smells like bread ought, a little butter pat is decorated with lavender and tea comes in mismatched china. Oof, I'm stuffed. She reappears to whisk my plate away. Then she's off again, to answer the phone and talk someone else through the local dining options. • The Whitstable Oyster Festival (whitstableoysterfestival.com) runs from 23-29 July sally.shalam@guardian.co.uk