A traditional Devon longhouse has been restored and refurbished to welcome visitors with the help of a £100,000 loan. The loan for ‘Longlands’ has been provided by the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund via fund manager SWIG Finance.
Close to the North Devon coast and on the fringes of Exmoor, Longlands, a 18-acre holiday complex now boasts a farmhouse capable of accommodating family and friend groups of up to 20 people. It welcomed its first guests at the end of May, and bookings are coming in thick and fast.
Sarah Roberts and Barak Fave had run holiday lets in Nottinghamshire but were ready to take on a new challenge and scoured England and Wales for their next chapter. “We must have looked at 100 holiday complexes, and when we came to North Devon in June 2023, we based ourselves at Longlands,” Sarah recalls. “It was on the market, and we fell in love with the place. With its secret valley, woodland walks, private lake and hot tub, it was like a little piece of heaven on earth.”
The couple sold their Nottinghamshire business and became the new owners of Longlands in May 2024. Once settled in, they set about enhancing the offer.
“Longlands was predominantly known for its luxury glamping lodges, which were open seasonally from March to October,” says Sarah. “We’d previously worked 365 days a year, and found the winter months to be quite busy. Large parties like to go away for Christmas because not everyone has a house big enough to accommodate 20 people, and 70th birthdays still happen in January.”
The South West Investment Fund loan was used to refurbish some under-utilised farm buildings and the huge farmhouse, a Devon longhouse. Sarah and Barak reconfigured the floorplan of the longhouse to take it back to something more sympathetic, and more versatile. The revamp has enabled them to offer year-round employment on site, and created business for a variety of local suppliers of food, drink and experiences.
Find out more about the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund here.
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