If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d be running one of Yorkshire’s favourite luxury hen party houses, I’d have laughed.

Honestly, it wasn’t part of the plan.

The Scarlet Hen was born at a time when life felt incredibly uncertain. My husband Darren and I had spent over twenty years lovingly restoring Norfolk House into the family home we’d always dreamed of. Every room had a story. Every colour had been carefully chosen. Every piece of furniture had been collected because we loved it.

Then life changed.

Like so many families, we found ourselves facing some difficult times and the heartbreaking possibility that we might have to sell the house we’d poured our hearts into. It felt like we were running out of options.

Around that time, we’d been travelling and staying in beautiful Airbnb homes around the world. I loved how they made you feel welcome the moment you walked through the door. So I thought… why couldn’t Norfolk House do the same?

We started by renting out a few rooms.

Then the whole house.

What happened next completely changed our lives.

People kept booking birthdays, family gatherings and special celebrations, but it soon became obvious that this house had found its calling. With its huge dining table, generous entertaining spaces, beautiful bedrooms and room for everyone to stay together, it was absolutely made for hen parties.

Not the wild, anonymous kind.

The kind where your favourite people spend an entire weekend together laughing until their cheeks hurt, cooking breakfast in their pyjamas, dancing in the kitchen, drinking cocktails in the hot tub, playing games around the dining table and making memories they’ll still be talking about twenty years from now.

That’s when The Scarlet Hen was really born.

Everyone told me it would never work.

“Why would anyone come to Huddersfield?”

But I wasn’t trying to compete with city centre hotels.

I was creating the sort of place I’d want to book with my own friends.

A place that felt luxurious without feeling pretentious.

Stylish without being intimidating.

Beautiful enough for the photographs, but comfortable enough that you could kick off your shoes, pour another glass of fizz and completely relax.

That idea has guided every single decision I’ve made ever since.

One thing most people don’t realise is that Norfolk House is still our family home.

Every single week we pack up our lives and move out so another group can move in.

By Thursday afternoon you’ll usually find me surrounded by fresh flowers, mountains of laundry, shopping deliveries, cushions that somehow never stay where I put them, candles being replaced, champagne glasses sparkling on the shelves and a to-do list that’s far longer than I’d like to admit.

Every bed is made by hand.

Every room is checked.

Then checked again.

I’ll probably rearrange the dining table three times before deciding it looks just right.

I notice the little things because I know they’re the things that make people feel special.

By Friday, our home becomes yours.

And honestly, I still get excited every single weekend.

I love imagining everyone choosing bedrooms, opening the Prosecco, laughing over old stories, getting ready together before heading out, or gathering around the kitchen island the following morning with coffee and slightly sore heads.

Those are the moments that matter.

I don’t get to be part of them, but knowing Norfolk House became the backdrop to those memories means everything to me.

People often ask where my attention to detail comes from.

Looking back, I think everything I’ve ever done has quietly prepared me for this.

I studied Fashion and Textiles, spent years designing for Cream and Creamfields, worked in interior design, appeared on BBC’s Changing Rooms, taught Art and Design, and have always been fascinated by how spaces make people feel.

I’ve learnt that beautiful interiors aren’t really about expensive furniture.

They’re about creating a feeling.

That lovely moment when you walk through the front door and immediately think,

“We’re going to have the best weekend.”

If that happens, then I’ve done my job.

I’m also dyslexic, which means organisation, dates and numbers have never come naturally to me. It’s slightly ironic considering I now coordinate hundreds of celebrations every year!

Because of that, I probably double-check everything far more than most people would. Every booking, every detail, every arrival email gets my full attention because I know just how important these weekends are.

So far… I haven’t missed a single booking.

Not once.

Over the years, The Scarlet Hen has grown far beyond anything I ever imagined. We’ve welcomed guests from across the UK and around the world, celebrated hundreds of hen parties, birthdays, reunions and family celebrations, and every single one reminds me why I started.

People often tell me that staying here feels different.

I hope that’s because it is.

This isn’t a business run by a management company.

It’s my family’s home.

It’s a place that’s been built with love, looked after with care and shared with people celebrating some of the happiest moments of their lives.

I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created together.

Not because of the awards or the recognition, although I’m hugely grateful for those too.

I’m proud because somewhere inside Norfolk House there are thousands of photographs of friends laughing around the dining table, mums and daughters celebrating together, brides opening gifts, grandparents toasting birthdays and people making memories they’ll treasure forever.

Knowing our home has been part of all those stories is something I’ll never take for granted.

Every Monday morning, the house becomes ours again.

It’s always incredibly quiet.

There’s usually a forgotten phone charger tucked behind a bedside table, a few empty bottles waiting to be recycled and, if I’m lucky, another beautiful message in the guest book that reminds me why we do this.

Then by Thursday…

The flowers arrive.

The beds are made.

The candles are lit.

We pack up our lives once again.

And I get ready to welcome another group through the front door.

I genuinely can’t wait for one day that group to be yours.

A Few Moments I’m Especially Proud Of

Airbnb Superhost since 2016.

Winner of the Prestige Awards Holiday Home of the Year 2021–22.

Featured in Hello! magazine.

Hundreds of five-star reviews from wonderful guests.

Proud supporters of Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership through the Giving Back Campaign.

Founder of The Scarlet Pen Life Drawing Experience, bringing creative hen party experiences to venues across Yorkshire and beyond.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope when you arrive at Norfolk House you’ll feel exactly what I hoped people would feel all those years ago…

Like you’re walking into a home that’s been waiting just for you.