A couple from Cockfield have shared the story of how they transformed the derelict windmill at the bottom of their garden into luxury holiday accommodation.
Seven years ago, neither Natalie Roberts nor her husband, Steven, ever imagined that they would leave their careers to embark on a new adventure.
However, 2008 saw them looking to move out of London.
The couple had visited the Christmas market at Bury St Edmunds before, and so when a home became available in the nearby Cockfield with a ramshackle windmill in its back garden, Natalie was enthralled.
Regretfully, they decided that it was too far from London to view, and continued their search – until two months later, when Natalie’s mother called to suggest they might visit a charming property with its own windmill.
The Windmill Suffolk in Cockfield, pictured in 1931. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: The Windmill Suffolk)
The Windmill Suffolk pictured before and after its restoration. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: The Windmill Suffolk)
Natalie and Steven Roberts, the proud owners of the Windmill Suffolk. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: The Windmill Suffolk)
All three of them were enchanted.
“We got as far as Saffron Walden, then we turned around and drove all the way back to put in an offer,” Natalie laughed.
The windmill needed extensive renovations, and so Steven, an electrician, left his job to carry out the work over the next few years.
Later, when they had transformed the windmill into luxury, adult-only accommodation, Natalie left her job as a sales and office manager to take on the running of their new business, The Windmill Suffolk.
Restoring the windmill has been a project many years in the making. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: The Windmill Suffolk)
The kitchen inside the windmill. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: Joe Lenton)
The windmill's living room. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: The Windmill Suffolk)
Natalie and Steven enjoy going above and beyond for their guests. Pictured, one of the windmill's bedrooms, filled with balloons. Image: The Windmill Suffolk (Image: The Windmill Suffolk)
She has never looked back.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s so different, so unique. We’ve been really lucky.”
The windmill has now seen five marriage proposals, one vow renewal proposal, and countless special birthdays, staycations, hen weekends, anniversaries and many more celebrations besides.
Those who remember the building from its days as a working mill are also pleased to follow its journey. The family of a man in his 90s who lived at the mill as a child got in touch to ask that an embossed dressing gown could be sent to their father’s new home in Australia. He was delighted.
Decades ago, the windmill was used as a working mill. Image: Rachel Royal (Image: Rachel Royal)
Natalie and Steven enjoy going above and beyond to give their guests an unforgettable experience. She remembers hurrying into the windmill when one couple had gone out to dinner, filling the bedroom with rose petals in preparation for his romantic proposal later that evening.
“It’s so fulfilling, that we can be a part of their special day,” said Natalie.
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