Our Story

Originally from London and Manchester respectively we lived in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire for the last 30-odd years, raising two children, before deciding to have a change of lifestyle. After a prolonged search for the right kind of property, we fell in love with The Old Granary and moved to Hopton Castle in January 2020, just before the pandemic broke.

Our dream was to have a pretty house, with an opportunity for a holiday-let and some space to raise a few animals, maybe hens and a few alpacas, possibly even a donkey, in time. After four major storms in the first few weeks, we realised there was work required to the house, starting with the roof, as it was more than a bit on the leaky side. Covid delayed much of the work throughout 2020 but extensive structural repairs and improvements to the main house were completed by the end of the year.

With the help of Reynolds Conservation Ltd, work commenced in January 2021 on converting the derelict barn into what we hoped would be an attractive short-term home for anyone who came to stay, whether family, friends or paying guests. Disruption continued throughout 2021 and the expected completion date of October was pushed back until final completion in February 2022.

Linking up at first with Cottages.com, the holiday let finally went live with guests arriving in early-April 2022. It was a great success, with many interesting guests passing through, and hopefully returning time and again. We are delighted to say that in both our first and second year we were awarded the 'Customer Choice' accreditation! So, feeling more confident, we decided to move away from Cottages.com and are now hosting on Booking.com which is proving to be even more successful with lots of 'exceptional' and 10 out of 10 reviews!