Giving it all up for the country life

Tammy Madge, was a property manager before deciding she had enough of London wanted to live in the country.

But she didn’t quite expect it to be a 12 bedroom, 16th century manor surrounded by nine acres of garden.

“I pretty much had enough of living in London,” said Tammy, 29. “I wanted to get away and get some fresh air. And this place is ideal, so beautiful. It’s my dream home.”

She helped fund her dream by developing a plan to rent out part of Woodhall Manor. Tammy has spent a year designing the house, which has a banqueting hall, to make it suitable as a weekend location for birthday parties and weddings.

Tammy, 29, was living in an apartment at Western Beach, but she longed for a life away from the madness of the capital. She stumbled across the venue while looking for accommodation near Woodbridge for a golfing holiday.

“I found it three years ago,” she said. “It was a hotel once but by the time I found it it was run as a private house.”

Two years of negotiation later she purchased the manor house with her partner Michael Chittenden.

“It’s our private house but also a business,” she said. “We have had up to 30 builders helping to get the place sorted. It’s been quite a challenge but we’ve got through it and we’re opening it this month.

“The biggest problem has been sourcing products and period features. The house was built in 1566 and buying things for it has been very hard. Products such as Tudor bricks and furniture. Nothing is standard.”

However, now that Tammy has her dream flat in her ideal location, she admits she misses some aspects of city life.

“Now it’s nice to get back to the city,” she said. “We can come back to London on weekends because I miss the social side of London, but saying that there’s a lot to do up here such as horse riding. I’ve got the best of both world’s really.”

Go to www.woodhallmanor.co.uk