The Magic of Hill House, Norfolk: Food, Fellowship, and the Art of Vibes

For our recent company offsite, we traded Zoom fatigue for sun-dappled mornings, Slack threads for shared bread, and the hum of notifications for birdsong. We headed to the Norfolk countryside — not just to meet in person, but to celebrate company momentous milestones together, to reconnect, recharge, and remember what it feels like to linger. Our host was an elegant and charming 500-year-old Tudor manor called Hill House. Our guide through it all was Darren Swayne, the founder of Elsewhere (a corporate retreat end-to-end service), who believes that what you’re really booking goes far beyond a venue, it’s a whole feeling. A vibe. 

The Food: A Story of Its Own

Of course, before we get into the meat here, it wouldn’t be a Happy Bellies post without pausing first — reverently — for the food.

On our first night, Theo Thanos — a MasterChef UK alumnus — cooked us a buffet that felt like a celebration in every dish. Butterflied leg of lamb with harissa yoghurt, couscous laced with pomegranate, salmon with Indian spices, and slow-roasted stuffed peppers. Each plate was layered with flavour and generosity. It felt like a welcome written in ingredients.

Breakfasts unfolded around a long communal table in the beautiful dining room that seated all twenty-one happy bellies that needed to be fed. Full English, served family-style: sausages passed down like secrets, scrambled eggs to power you up for the day, hashbrowns for that indulgent feel. In between the clatter and steam of the fresh coffee, conversations bloomed.

Our final dinner was a classic English roast. Roasted chicken, crisp pork belly with mustard sauce, greens that tasted like home, and buttery roast potatoes with the kind of golden crunch that makes you relish in the guilty pleasure associated with indulging in such a rich piece of meat. Every detail hit the mark.

A Home With Heart

Now, let's peel back the layers of this charming venue. Hill House wears its history proudly. One wing dates back to the medieval era, the other to Victorian times. The fireplaces are deep enough to step into. The floors tilt. The light spills through the large windows. You half expect a Jane Austen character to glide in, unannounced.

The house was lovingly restored by Darren, who bought it in 2003 with his wife and spent years bringing it back to life. But his mission wasn’t just about preserving heritage — it was about building a kind of hospitality rooted in soul.

“It came clear to me,” he told me one evening, “that people thought about buildings like this as bricks and mortar. And not about experiences.”

So he flipped the model. Hill House became a place to feel. “Our competitors trade in meeting rooms and projectors,” Darren said. “We trade in energy.”

That energy begins the moment you arrive. We were greeted at the train station by Megan — former TV producer, now full-time experience shaper at Elsewhere. She greeted us like VIPs. The drive to the house felt like a prelude. A soft entry into a story being carefully told.

From Crumbling Charm to Cohesive Magic

There’s a rare kind of host who sees your needs before you voice them. Darren doesn’t hover, but his fingerprints are on every moment.

A London-based investment banker in a past life, Darren didn’t set out to start a hospitality business. 

Him and his wife were part of the Grand Designs generation — dreamers drawn to restoration and reinvention. They spotted Hill House on a property listing and were hooked. After a brief heartbreak (it was under offer), fate swung back their way. Darren made the offer from a ski bus in France. “You haven’t stopped talking about that house,” his friends told him. “Buy it.”

And so they did.

After a great deal of restoration works over a period of four years, they were finally ready to open up Hill House to the wider world. They began with private dinners for weekend guests — a concept called Bespoke at Hill House. One of Darren’s early experiments to stand-out in the market was to offer a quirky activity at the manor. He came up with the idea of having a secret cocktail bar. He transformed a sitting room in the west wing of Hill House into a UV-lit cocktail lounge, where a hand-painted martini mural appeared under blacklight. “We’d turn on the lights and boom — the whole room transformed,” Darren recalled.

Trouble was, the secret cocktail bar was sorted but there was no bartender. So, Darren, being as resourceful as ever, sent his gardener home with instructions to upskill as a bartender for the evening. And that’s how even the gardener became part of the magic. 

“I asked our gardener to learn how to make a mojito,” he laughed. “He did. And a guest said it was the best mojito they’d ever had.”

From these early experiments, Darren realised what he was really offering: a kind of transformation. An invitation to be immersed, delighted, remembered.

Reimagining Hospitality — One Feeling at a Time

So really, what sets Hill House apart is its choreography. Darren doesn’t view hospitality as logistics — he sees it as emotional design.

“Most places outsource everything,” he told me. “But then it’s like trying to write a novel with a different author for every chapter. It doesn’t work. Here, we write the whole book.”

He’s built a team that shares this instinct. Megan, Danni, Theo — each comes from a different world, but they all understand the mission: create belonging through deliberate care.

The aim is presence; not superficial polish.

Art, Atmosphere, and Something That Lingers

Every now and then, Hill House hosts an artist-in-residence. No brief, no fee — just space. They come with their families, stay a while, soak in the energy, and leave behind something that reflects their time there. The result is a growing collection of vivid, original works that line the walls — art that wasn’t commissioned but gifted, infused with memory rather than mandate.

“It leaves a mark,” Darren said. “You can feel it.”

He’s right. You can.

And then there’s the Banksy story that Darren casually mentioned during our conversation.

In the early days, Darren bought 92 Banksy prints, back when the artist was still seen as subversive street talent rather than global icon. Over time, the prints were sold. Darren occasionally jokes about how much his portfolio would be worth if he’d held onto them a little longer. 

The collection inspired a team-building game called the Banksy Heist — a kind of interactive whodunnit where one participant would secretly steal a print and the rest of the team would have to piece together the mystery. How did they do it? Why? Who cracked first? It was chaotic, creative, and completely unforgettable, perfectly doing the job of bringing people together over a good laugh and problem solving. 

What Did Hill House Leave Us With

We came for a team retreat. We left with something gentler and more lasting — a sense that the best places are composed not of features, but of feeling. That being hosted can mean being seen. That meals can bind people together in a way that PowerPoints never will.

As Darren put it: “We’re not trying to compete with the hospitality industry. We’ve created our own category.”

And indeed, Hill House is more than a venue. It’s an experience built from intention, energy, and care.

So if you ever find yourself invited, go. Bring your appetite, your curiosity, and your whole self. That’s all you’ll need.

About me...I'm Lorna Rose and, by day, I work in the tech industry, but in my heart of hearts, I've always been fascinated by the story that food tells. The magic of a well-cooked meal, the way a simple dish can bring people together, spark conversation, and create lasting memories. On Happy Bellies, I set out to explore and find hidden gems, so that I can indulge in telling stories around food that will make you want to go out and create your own foodie adventures.

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