31/01/2025
Who was the founder of this place?
Well it was Mother Dymphna gray that originally owned it, which was previously owned by her own mother called Bridget gray. It was always in the family, as far as I remember. Before my mother converted these cottages and land, My grandmother had kept it there, for farm use(i think). There was an enormous amount of work put into it. The small cottage was just a ruin with a tree growing inside and the other house(Granary) was just a barn. At that time we lived in Luxembourg, and everytime we came back to visit my mother would spend alot of time there ,planting trees/shrubs etc,cleaning up and making sure the building was getting done. I use to potter around and play near the lake, not sure i liked the countryside as I found it too quiet(coming from a city) I didn't appreciate the quietness and just listening to the birds and the bees. Nevertheless I watched my mother work non stop, thinking to myself will this garden/ house ever end!
Finally she completed the cottage and she started renting it out, gradually she got some bookings, (small amount). I was always amazed how she managed her bookings from Luxembourg. But she did!
If she was here now she would be amazed on how well it's doing with the amount of bookings we've had the last few years, we doubted if we could manage at first but with determination and good will we tried to continue her hard work so we lifted our sleeves and got on with it.
The other barn was then converted to a more modern cottage. That was completed around 2010. This place is beautifu, alot of memories spend there with the ballindoon family and we only hope her memories will always continue ❤️