9 minute read
The Collective at Woolsery
Discover the story of a tech giant who transformed the village of Woolsery into a gastronomical haven, with a renovated pub, an organic farm, a hotel, and a village, all owned by one man.
When you arrive in the little village of Woolsery, population 1,100, you wonder if you’ve reached the right place. Just three miles from the stunning Clovelly, which cascades down the rugged North Devon coastline, you'll discover Woolsery along with its charming medieval church. Despite being a cherished secret among locals, this picturesque village has, until recently, garnered little attention as a destination to visit.
Yet this out-of-the way place, which also goes by the virtually unpronounceable Anglo-Saxon name of Woolfardisworthy, is getting quite a reputation for itself as a foodie escape. Gourmands are beating a trail down the M5 to eat at the revamped Farmers Arms; since last summer, they have been able to stay in The Collective at Woolsery’s beautifully designed rooms and cottages in the village too.
It doesn’t stop there: The Collective also comprises a village shop with a post office, a gourmet fish ‘n’ chip takeaway, a 150-acre organic farm, and Wulfheard Manor, which is being converted into a hotel. And it’s all owned by one man.
He is British tech millionaire Michael Birch, who made his fortune in 2008 by selling his social networking site Bebo for $850 million, and who now lives in San Francisco with fellow tech entrepreneur and wife, Xochi. Yet he hasn’t forgotten his family roots and Devonshire heritage.
“My great grandfather built the village store and my grandmother was born in one of the rooms above it,” Birch, 53, tells me on the phone from his holiday home in the British Virgin Islands. “I loved Woolsery as a child. For me, it was always the place that represented family.”
It was when his sister called him in America to tell him that the Farmers Arms might be turned into flats by developers after the collapse of its thatched roof that he decided to buy it. “The pub is the heart of the village,” he says simply.
Four long years of renovation followed his 2014 purchase, during which time the owners of the adjacent takeaway and the modern convenience store with post office across the road approached him to see if he was interested in buying them too. The project grew, masterminded in the UK by Emily Harmon, who had previously set up Birch’s private members club in San Francisco, as well as developing his Sonoma ranch and winery, and his BVI home.
Recognising, though, that Woolsery wasn’t “on a drivethrough route, or on anyone’s radar”, Harmon decided that The Collective could only survive as a business if it aimed for people’s stomachs.
They’ve really hit the bull's-eye. In the buzzy pub with open fire and beams, my friend and I sit in a wooden booth with sheepskin rugs thrown over the backs of the seats and wall-mounted cows’ heads looking down on us. If we find them a little offputting to start with, we’re soon distracted by the unusual menu.
Dishes such as goat's cheese salad and Birch Farm hogget are accompanied by pickled farm veg and fermented cabbage, alongside a smattering of nettles, ramson, lavender and juniper. It’s farm-to-fork at its finest, along with foraged, pickled and preserved ingredients, which give everything a real depth of flavour.
And it all tastes so good. My friend proclaims her fishcake the best she’s ever had, with whole chunks of monkfish and scallops rather than the usual mash of fish, while I love the mushroom parfait with chanterelle and dulse. It’s a battle of the spoons to see who gets most of the sea buckthorn tart – a new flavour to us both, and beautifully accompanied by hibiscus, pink peppercorn and sweet cicely. There are homemade cordials and cocktails to go with it all, from spiced orange and pumpkin cordial to crab apple bramble, with apple gin, rosehip and mint.
The man behind the taste is Ian Webber, a former chef at Gidleigh Park who prides himself on taking a simple dish and making a superior version of it, layering flavour upon flavour in the process. “We pickle, preserve and ferment using all those techniques that have largely been lost,” he says.
His secret weapon is Birch Farm on the village outskirts, which supplies the majority of his ingredients. Meat comes courtesy of the rare heritage animals cared for by livestock manager Chris Jenn, who is one of Birch’s distant relations (others work in the shop). And fresh produce comes from the organic market garden, where Josh Sparkes runs the show.
Based on Japanese and Dutch ideas of sustainable farming, the market garden is a fascinating place to look around. Traditional weeds such as dandelions and nettles are left as cover crops and later used in restaurant dishes, an ‘edible forest’ is growing with seven layers of vegetation for managed foraging, and alternative crops such as lemon geranium replace a reliance on imported citrus fruit.
The storeroom is particularly interesting, with row after row of jars holding unusual ingredients such as pineapple weed vinegar or mugwort syrup. It feels like we’re eyeing items for a Hogwarts herbology lesson rather than supplies for a restaurant kitchen.
Sparkes, who is passionate about using alternative products, works closely with Webber to supply produce for an interesting menu. Right now, he’s particularly pleased that he has convinced the chef to use a natural replacement for sugar in some of his desserts. “I’ve been badgering him for two years to use pheasant berry and it’s now in his apple pie,” he says. “He knows how to cook it to get rid of the burnt caramel aftertaste.”
Farm produce is also sold in the village shop, named J Andrew after Birch’s great grandfather, and now a very polished version of ye olde village store. Even the fish ‘n’ chip shop benefits from Sparkes’s labour; beetroot leaves are used in the veggie burger sold there. My friend and I order one of these along with some fish on our second night, and devour them along with a bottle of wine from the shop back at our cottage, one of three owned by The Collective. Like the four rooms above the shop, they have been beautifully designed under Harmon’s careful instruction. “I’m obsessed with interior design,” she tells me. “I love texture and colour.”
It shows. Bold vintage wallpapers are complemented by heritage fabrics you can’t help running your hands over, bedrooms might feature a fabric headboard or a delicate petal lamp, and some bathrooms have a modern interpretation of a rolltop bath. The look is “fun period country vibe done very elegantly,” says Birch.
One of the cottages, with its beams and statement breakfast bar in the kitchen diner, has a woodburning stove in its bedroom, ideal for romantic couples. Ours is the four-bedroom Hillside Cottage, where the beamed master bedroom comes with an enormous fabric bed, peacocks on the wallpaper, and a roof terrace outside.
Downstairs, the open kitchen/sitting room has all the goodies, including a Sage coffee-maker and Miele dishwasher; there’s also a laundry room with a washer and a dryer. It makes for an elevated kind of self-catering, with bathrobes, hairdryers, an iron and a steamer, as well as daily housekeeping and an evening turndown service.
In the morning, breakfast arrives in a wicker hamper. Don’t expect your usual fry up here. Options include nettle and ramson fritter with a side serving of spiced fermented vegetables, and potato cake with thyme butter and smoked dulse. Together with honey porridge, yogurt and fruit, they make a surprisingly delicious feast.
It sets us up beautifully for a walk along North Devon’s wild coast, once frequented by smugglers. We start at Bucks Mills, where a sign tells us the old harbour was built in 1598 by a certain Richard Cole of Woolfardisworthy. He was possibly the Old King Cole of the nursery rhyme (whether it’s true or not, his tomb and effigy are in Woolsery’s All Hallows Church, where many of Birch’s relatives are buried). From Bucks Mills, it’s a three-hour round trip along the coast to the beach at Peppercombe. We’re tantalisingly close to Lundy Island with its puffin colony too, but we don’t have time to make the twohour crossing from Bideford.
Luckily, there’s an excuse to return to Woolsery and to make the excursion then – Wulfheard Manor is being converted into an 18-room hotel as the final part of The Collective. Although work is taking longer than originally planned, it should be completed in another two years.
At that stage, The Collective should finally become “cashflow positive”, says Birch, who declines to say how much money he’s pumped into the project to date.
“It has always been a passion project,” he says. “I care a lot about Woolsery – what it is and what it becomes.” He adds that he and Xochi aim to visit for longer periods once their youngest son, currently 15, leaves home. His name tells you everything you need to know about how much Birch loves this little corner of the world. It’s Devon.
Woolsery's Post Office has been given a new lease of life to capture the charm of the village in times gone by.
SUE MORRIS ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & HEAD OF MARKETING
I had the pleasure of meeting Michael and Xochi in the BVI back in 2010 and we have been good friends ever since. Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to visit their extraordinary properties in California, Moskito Island, and their latest venture in Devon. The Woolsery Collective is no exception to their impressive portfolio. The interiors are tastefully designed to a superhigh standard, combining contemporary art with city cool and traditional Devon warmth, as well as offering a mouthwatering farm-to-table dining experience. It is a perfect addition to this beautiful corner of the country, with even more exciting things to come. Definitely worth a visit on your next trip to the southwest of England.
Words | Jane Knight
