OUR STORY
An old house, a shared love of beautiful things and a rather unexpected new chapter.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Carl and I met in East London, where we fell in love over good coffee, interiors, vintage finds and a shared enthusiasm for spending our weekends rummaging around car boot sales. We loved the creativity of London, but were equally drawn to the countryside, often dreaming of a slower life surrounded by beautiful old things. An old farmhouse was always the dream. Somewhere with character, a garden and enough room for the ever-growing collection of things we couldn’t possibly leave behind. During Covid, with our first daughter still little, we made the decision to leave London and move back to Cheshire, where I grew up. I had spent years building my sustainable hair salon business and Carl, a carpenter by trade, shared my love of craftsmanship, natural materials and interiors with a bit of soul. Then the manor came along. A beautiful old house in the countryside, with a date carved above the door, centuries of character and an adjoining annex. When my parents heard about it, they jumped at the chance to be part of the adventure. Suddenly, our dream of country living had become something even lovelier, with three generations of our family under one very old roof.
THE MANOR DIARIES
And somewhere along the way, we became completely fascinated by the history of the place. We originally believed the manor was around 400 years old, but recent discoveries suggest its story could stretch back much further than we first thought. Walls that were once exterior walls, doorways that have moved and extensions built across different centuries. The more we learn, the more questions we have. The Manor Diaries began as a little place to document our life here. A mixture of interiors, antiques, vintage treasures, family life, a love of sustainability and the fascinating history that continues to reveal itself. It’s a celebration of old things, thoughtful living and finding beauty in the everyday, even when the everyday involves two little girls, a very muddy garden and a house full of things we’ve collected along the way. And we have a feeling there’s still rather a lot more to discover. Welcome to The Manor Diaries.