“We run it like a hotel but it doesn’t feel like a hotel. It feels like coming to your best friend’s house. The house and the grounds kind of gather you up and look after you,” said Ian Spencer, warden at Holland House.
The house was given to the Diocese of Worcester by Mrs Holland in 1946. The diocese ran it originally as a retreat and conference centre and a place of learning. Now it is run by the Holland House Charitable Trust and is still run on Christian values, but is open to anyone, not just Christians or people linked with the church.
“We run a programme of study groups and other courses such as poetry weekends, yoga and painting courses. A lot of businesses come here for meetings too. However, we also welcome individuals who can come at any time of the year for any reason.
“Sometimes people come and stay with us to celebrate a birthday or if they are going through a big change in their life such as a career change, getting married or maybe for sad reasons like they have just lost a loved one and they need a bit of space and peace to think things through. You can come here and we don’t ask any questions but we are here if you need us,” explained Ian, who is also a priest and leads prayers each morning in the lovely chapel for those who want to attend.
The beautiful gardens, metres of riverbank with its kingfishers, owls and woodpeckers and the entire house itself is open to people to spend as much time wherever they wish.
“Our ethos here is ‘in harmony with creation’ and that underpins how we run Holland House. We use produce from our vegetable garden and fruit trees and whatever else we need we source locally. We also clean the house using environmentally-friendly products and we are great at catering for special diets and allergies. People probably don’t realise they can also come here for Sunday lunch – we do great food!”
For more information or to enjoy the peace of Holland House, see www.hollandhouse.org or call 01386 860330.