OUR STORY
A little patch of Kent we call home.
Shepherds Close has been shaped by generations, seasons, animals and more than a few muddy boots. Now it’s our turn to look after it — and to share a little of life here.
Our Story
A family home, a working farm, and a little corner of the Kent countryside we’re lucky enough to call ours.
Shepherds Close sits in a fold of the Kent countryside, where the North Downs begin to roll towards the sea. There are old trees, long grass, orchards and gardens; sheep in the fields, chickens underfoot and usually a dog somewhere it shouldn’t be.
It is our home, but increasingly it has become something we want to share.
A place with a past
Long before there were gardens here, Shepherds Close was a collection of apple-pickers’ cottages and pig sties, surrounded by working farmland.
In the 1990s, Max’s father began planting. Trees, hedges, orchards and gardens slowly transformed the land, creating something between a small estate, an arboretum and a wonderfully unruly English garden.
Max grew up amongst it all. Caroline fell in love with Max and subsequently traded her flip flops in sunny California for wellies in the Garden of England.
Today, we’re adding another layer.
Animals have returned to the fields. Old corners are being brought back into use. We’re planting, repairing, building, growing and learning as we go — trying to leave the land richer, wilder and more useful than we found it.
There is no grand plan to finish Shepherds Close.
We rather hope we never do.
