When Chris and Julie Dilger first came across a Lake District farm estate, they instantly saw potential in the old buildings on its land.
The pair bought Cocks Close Estate, in Garnett Bridge, near Windermere in 2015 and over the course of six years renovated the old farm buildings on the land into holiday lets, designing them to fit into and complement their natural surroundings.
They also renovated an existing property on the land called The Old Watermill, a bobbin mill from the late 1830s.
The renovations didn’t come without challenges, with Covid delaying the building work a year longer than planned. One of their main contractors then went bankrupt, which further disrupted the completion date.
Finally opening to holidaymakers in 2021, the Shacks and Old Watermill have proven a huge success with guests, securing a total of 110 bookings for 2024 already via Sykes Holiday Cottages and generating an average annual gross income in excess of £150,000.
Named after wildlife that visited the shacks while the transformation was taking place – including Hare’s Shack, Badger’s Shack and Owl’s Shack – the interiors have been finished to a high standard.
There is one remaining building on the estate that is still to be converted, an old Cumbrian Bank-Barn that overlooks a mountain on one side and the River Sprint on the other.
They already have planning consent and, as it’s isolated from the other accommodations, they can renovate without disturbing the other guest accommodations.
Chris and Julie said: “It’s hard to describe how Cocks Close Estate captivated us when we first viewed it. Although the Shacks were very run down, we could see what an incredible rural escape they would be for holidaymakers, as they’re surrounded by pastureland, fells and the River Sprint.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure that nature and sustainability are at the forefront of everything we do, whether that’s installing heat pumps to extract energy from the pastureland, or using local larch timber from Grizedale Forest near Windermere to clad the exteriors of the Shacks.
“We’ve also worked with The Woodlands Trust to plant 450 trees in our 24 acres.”
