Welcome to Shepherds Close.
Built by hand, shaped by land, and still unfolding.

Shepherds Close is a working piece of land in the Kent countryside near Canterbury. It is home to our family, our animals, our gardens, our buildings, and a growing collection of small projects that all come back to the same thing: learning how to live well with land and share the joy this land gives us with others.

It’s not a finished project, it’s an evolving small holding vision.

  • Shepherds Close includes open fields, gardens, orchards, woodland edges, ponds, and working spaces. Parts of it are productive, parts are wild, parts are still being figured out.

    The land shapes everything:

    • What we grow

    • What we eat

    • What we build

    • What we share

    We work with seasons because we have to. Weather, light, soil, and growth set the pace. Some years go well. Some don’t. We adjust and keep going.

  • This land is Max’s childhood home. When life threw him a few curveballs, he moved back home from a life of travel, adventure, and creative living.

    Through some very clever international wooing, he convinced Caroline to leave the sunny west coast of the States to settle down in Kent. Now two babies and a growing herd of animals later - this is their home and their livelihood.

    Caroline shapes how things feel.
    Max shapes how things work.

    Shepherds Close sits where those two meet — a place that’s built, lived in, and where dreams are watered to grow.

  • Max’s father purchased the land in the early 90’s and through his niche interest in antiququated landscaping practices, he transform agricultural fields to something more akin to an arboretum. Collecting specimen trees, promoting bio-diversity, and bringing together features from gardens he visited around the world to create a backyard like no other.

    The transformation didn’t stop with his passing. Max and Caroline introduced animals to the land and are carrying on his torch in the garden every season.

  • Shepherds Close now includes:

    • Boutique countryside stays near Canterbury

    • Gardens and growing spaces

    • Animals and smallholding work

    • Open-fire cooking and long-table meals

    • Workshops and seasonal gatherings

    • Ongoing building and design projects

    Some things are permanent. Some are experiments. Some will change.

    We’re learning every season how to live with the land more closely.

  • We believe the countryside is not something to package and sell. When people come to Shepherds Close, they’re stepping into a real place — with real work happening around them.

    That means:

    • Seasons decide the schedule

    • Land decides the menu

    • Weather decides the plan

    • Learning never really stops

    This is countryside life in Kent as we’re learning to live it: practical, seasonal, celebratory, imperfect, and growing every season.