India, March 15 -- When daily life requires commutes and calendars, a vacation should allow you to go on autopilot - to lose track of time, forget the day of the week, and do nothing and everything depending on your mood. For this, the British have long had a secret: the English countryside. And one corner of it, the High Weald National Landscape of East Sussex, is particularly known for its serenity and natural beauty.

Tucked among the national landscape's neon-green hills and medieval woods is a 16th-century farmhouse with a roster of impressive past occupants. Cotchford Farm inspired A A Milne, the author of Winnie-the-Pooh, and provided Brian Jones, a founding member of the Rolling Stones, with a quiet sanctuary.

Cotchford Farm insp...