Our Staycation at Ridge House
Back in November we had a lovely weekend staying at Ridge House ourselves with friends. This was the first time we’d stayed in the house since we’d moved out exactly a year ago, so we were excited to experience the fully finished guest experience (rather than the 80% done version we’d lived in!) We were also interested to see how different it was living there with our children now a year older (they were 3&1 when we left) and at that age a year makes a huge difference!
The friends we invited along (@ramble.family) have a YouTube channel and took some beautiful photos and videos. You can watch Athena’s video of our stay here. (Start at 16 minutes to go straight to Ridge House.) Our eldest girls are best friends so they were beyond excited to have their first ‘sleepover’ together, and enjoyed slow mornings making duvet dens on the sofa and baking pancakes for breakfast.
The reality of 4 kids under 5, 3 adults, 2 dogs to walk and trying to film content, meant that Jonny volunteered to take the kids to soft play one morning (The Hive is only 15 minutes down the road and a favourite haunt of mine on a rainy day) while Athena and I got to do a child free walk (unheard of!) with just her youngest in the carrier and our two dogs. We headed towards Cautley Spout which is my go to local walk from the door.
The next day was Jonny’s 39th birthday and I’d planned a practice run for his 40th next year and invited a few families for an afternoon of mulled wine and toasting marshmallows on the bonfire. Everyone brought a plate of food to share and we had an idyllic afternoon watching the sun go down from the top of the garden, whilst the many children ran around and mostly looked after each other.
Jonny has a habit of deciding to start/finish jobs last minute. And true to form, he decided to start fitting the glass in our field shelter (that he’d built 3 years ago) the afternoon before the party. Of course the kids wanted to help so he screwed some off-cuts of timber to a fallen tree to make hand and foot holds for a climbing tree. Unfortunately Eden took a tumble and broke her wrist, but a quick trip to Kendal UTC (in and out within an hour), and she was right as rain.
The photos make it look like an utterly idyllic weekend - which of course it was. But the chaos that comes with 4 small children was ever-present - especially with the rollercoaster of emotions around a holiday with best friends and a party!
But of course when you look back all you remember are the small moments of joy, watching your children play and explore. And even though this is (was?) our home, it still felt like a holiday. It didn’t make me regret us not living at Ridge House, because living somewhere and going on holiday there are two totally different things. Ridge House is a house to be shared, to host in, a house for slow dark mornings and long evenings relaxing in front of the fire. A house to share with friends and family and slow down, in a way you only can when on holiday.
Coming into the new year I’ve decided to try and do more of this. We’ve already booked a long weekend in for the spring with friends from Suffolk - where we used to live. And we’ll be doing a re-run of the bonfire weekend for Jonny’s 40th in November. September will bring the much awaited arrival of a favourite auntie and uncle from America - who’ve yet to see the fully finished version of Ridge House.
So it looks like our holidays for 2026 will be 3 staycations in our home from home (500 yards from our front door!) But sometimes that is all you need to slow down and appreciate the small moments, beautiful views, and time with family, in the stunning Rawthey valley we are lucky enough to call home.
If you fancy booking a stay at Ridge House in 2026, head over to our booking page and we look forward to seeing you soon!
