It was only after the roof had been retiled, heating had been installed, plumbing and electrics replaced and landscaping under way that we turned our attention to the smallest of our barns. Would this be suitable for a little concert hall?  Could we invite young musicians to come and stay and rehearse and work together?  The seeds of an idea quickly grew and were shared with various musical friends and contacts resulting in our first residency in September 2011.  Happily the acoustics in the renovated barn were fine.  Music at Brel was started.

For us, the experience of having a house full of music played by enthusiastic, talented and hard working young musicians is priceless.

Peter and Veronica Lofthouse

What we grow

Our 13 hectares of land is mainly hillside woods above the house and fields stretching down to the road.  We have slowly developed the land around the house and have various ‘garden’ areas including a large terraced grass garden and a pretty ‘secret garden’ - a great place for quiet contemplation.  We are particularly proud of our summer dahlias and roses as well as the irises which flower in April/May and the lavender labyrinth which is at its best in July.  Our long-term gardener Kate is kept super busy not only with maintenance but also with new projects as plants grow and expand and we have to create to areas for them.  In 2020 we planted 40 trees to make our 40th Anniversary. That’s a lot of holes to dig!

Peter’s potager has grown to include two areas all gardened using the no dig method which requires lots of deliveries of huge organic compost - then spread deeply over the beds to prepare for the next year’s crops.  Our crops start with asparagus and continue through the season with onions and salads, herbs and tomatoes, cabbage and root vegetables and give us great inspiration for lovely meals throughout the year.