Creating a family home and a new business that are intrinsically intertwined demands bravery, dedication and hard graft. Rosalind Sack discovers how Restaries founders Gem Boner and Thom Scherdel are carefully shaping a new chapter for this enchanting 16th century Suffolk farm
(LEFT) EARTHY COLOURS AND NATURAL MATERIALS IN THE KITCHEN AT THE CIDER STORE AT RESTARIES. IMAGE: PARADISE FARM / ADAM CARTER; (RIGHT) GEM AND THOM WITH THEIR BELOVED KUNE PIGS
Moving from a Victorian terraced house in East London with astroturf in the garden, to a 16th century, 10-acre Suffolk farm is a major lifestyle shift, by anyone’s standards. Add in two young children and the prodigious task of creating a business from scratch on the same vast plot of rolling countryside, and the hard work never ends for Gem Boner and her husband Thom Scherdel.
“We shouldn’t have taken it on, it’s such a massive project, but you wouldn’t do anything if you knew how hard it was going to be in hindsight!” laughs Gem as she recalls cold, wet days on the building site with a baby strapped to her front. “But we just fell in love with Paradise Farm immediately. There is something super magical about the land and it just kept calling us.”
Keen for a change of scene and a fresh challenge, Gem and her husband Thom moved to the wonderfully named Paradise Farm in August 2023. For the past two years Gem, a former director of Soho House, and fashion consultant Thom have been hard at work shaping the land and renovating the various buildings here to create Restaries – a restorative escape for those craving a pause from the everyday grind.
The resident Kune Kune pigs, Pygmy goats, Valais Black Nose sheep and Burford Brown hens are not purely there as part of the scenery but are “the heartbeat of our sanctuary,” says Gem.
The family base themselves in “the Red House”– the historic terracotta-coloured thatched farmhouse. Spread over three floors, this has become a multi-generational home with Gem and Thom’s parents spending alternate weeks there, staying on the top floor.
THE THATCHED ROOF OF THE 16TH CENTURY FARMHOUSE – WHERE GEM, THOM AND FAMILY STAY – PEEPS OUT FROM THE GREENERY
“The land is so big and with a site of this scale there isn’t a single day when something doesn’t need looking at… it’s so ridiculous. It’s all hands on deck at all times! Our parents help with absolutely everything and it wouldn’t be possible without them, they’re so supportive,” says Gem.
Intergenerational living can be challenging but they appear to have carved out a way of living that fits everyone with ease. And it’s a trend that Gem is seeing more and more among her friends. “It’s super difficult in theory but, as long as each family member is given their time and space, it’s so amazingly rewarding. Especially seeing how close my daughters are with their grandparents. We all know the vision and really support each other.”
With its higgledy-piggledy layout, beamed ceilings and leaded windows, this historic farmhouse has a very different appearance and feeling from Gem’s favoured open-plan layouts and mid-century furniture. The challenge has been trying to create a sense of home here. Gem and Thom sold the furniture in their London house and inherited what was left by the previous owners. And, while they can’t change anything structurally, they are slowly putting their mark on the house – when time and budget allows.
GEM AND THOM ARE SLOWLY AND SENSITIVELY MAKING THEIR MARK ON THE FARMHOUSE, STARTING WITH THIS BANQUET SEAT IN DEEP REDDISH BROWN BY FARROW & BALL AND STRIPED CUSHIONS FROM COLOURS OF ARLEY
They started in the kitchen where the family spend most of their time – installing banquet seating made by Thom’s dad, complete with cushions upholstered in bold stripes by Colours of Arley. They also swapped the cabinet handles and switches for new ones from Corston, removed the heavy floral curtains in favour of sheer, lightweight cafe curtains from Etsy and added a vintage table from Vinterior.
They have also painted the dining room in Folly Pink from Farrow & Ball’s archives – a nod to Suffolk Pink, historically used in abundance on buildings in the county – and added curtains and antiques found locally. While the living room now has large bespoke sofas and a piece of rolling artwork to hide the television. “It’s a very special house and I’ve tried to add our twist with a piece of art or a fabric. So rather then feel like a 16th century grandma’s cottage, it feels like it’s had an eye of youth but we’ve been respectful of it,” says Gem.
“It’s so different from our normal aesthetic and nothing is baby-proofed, but we have learned to live with how things are. Everyone settled in so quickly and the land felt immediately ours. For the first month after moving here in the Summer of 2023 we had 20 or so friends staying with us every weekend to help with the gardening and the painting. In hindsight, they didn’t actually do very much, but they definitely helped us christen the land!”
The farmhouse can also be rented out by guests, alongside other buildings on the land; the lovingly renovated Cider Store and Gate House and the soon to launch Log Store, Tack Room and Cart Lodge. All of which are painted in soothing, earthy Farrow & Ball tones and decorated with a sensitivity to their bucolic surroundings. Light, open and with an abundance of natural materials and layers of texture, each space has a sense of flow and harmony.
(LEFT) A PALETTE OF SOOTHING EARTHY COLOURS AND CHEQUERBOARD FABRIC IN THE BEDROOM AT THE RESTORED CIDER STORE; (RIGHT) KITCHEN CABINETS DESIGNED AND MADE BY APRON AND PAINTED IN CANE BY FARROW & BALL ALSO AT THE CIDER STORE. IMAGES: PARADISE FARM / ADAM CARTER
“Home is the land, not necessarily the buildings. And we want the children to grow up with the fact that we are quite nomadic in style. Thom hates it because he is absolutely not – he’s very attached to things! But I want the girls to be flexible and fluid, and they know that we move around the spaces. The one-year-old hasn’t got a clue, but the three-year-old is like, “Are we staying in holiday house? Where are we going today?”
Sharing your home with paying guests isn’t always easy, especially when you’re three, admits Gem. “When we have guests on the site, sometimes she throws a tantrum and runs off, sometimes she’s amazing and goes and feeds the animals and tells the children how it’s done. She once ran out nude while I was showing some guests around!
“So, of course, sometimes it would be great to have our own space but we have the house, we have enough land to not be on top of people and we’re surrounded by nature. So if they’re climbing the walls and guests are round, we go to the beach and we take a picnic and we swim in the sea.”
Gem and Thom’s vision for Restaries is about creating memorable moments, forging partnerships with like-minded brands and individuals and – above all – extending a sense of home and community with their guests.
Drawing on the abundance of local talent, they can arrange for private chefs, yoga instructors or masseuses to visit, and run local farm-to-table dinners, wine tastings, culinary workshops and wellness retreats. Gem can organise beautifully atmospheric events here, from special birthdays to intimate woodland weddings, even her parents take guests to the beach in their VW camper van and greet them with a bacon sandwich and a flask of tea after a dip in the sea.
Yet Gem and Thom are mindful not to create lots of traffic and noise in the area and, crucially, protect the essence of what makes Paradise Farm so special. “We want it to be very zen and feel like a very spiritual, calming place,” she says.
“We love doing little magical things for people that you wouldn’t get if you stayed at a big corporate hotel because it’s not financially viable for them. We had a guest staying with their three-year-old last night, so we lit up the woods and prepared them hot chocolate and marshmallows. So hopefully you feel like a friend of the land and of the family here. You only get that if it’s not about the bottom line, you get it if it’s about the attention to detail and the love.”
(LEFT) THE TWIN BEDROOM AT THE CIDER STORE WITH PANELLING PAINTED IN OLIVE BY FARROW & BALL AND HEADBOARDS UPHOLSTERED IN STRIPED FABRIC BY COLOURS OF ARLEY; (RIGHT) THE WARM, EARTHY TONES EXTEND INTO THE BATHROOM. IMAGES: PARADISE FARM / ADAM CARTER
MELLOW APPLE GREEN AND WARM BUTTERY YELLOW SIT HARMONIOUSLY ALONGSIDE NATURAL MATERIALS AND TERRACOTTA TILES FROM CA’ PIETRA IN THE KITCHEN IN THE CIDER STORE. IMAGE: PARADISE FARM / ADAM CARTER
(LEFT) GEM AND HER YOUNGEST DAUGHTER ENJOYING LIFE AT PARADISE FARM; (RIGHT) WARM NEUTRALS ABOUND AT THE GATEHOUSE AT PARADISE FARM, NESTLED BEHIND WOODLAND
CONTEMPORARY ARTWORK, BOLD STRIPES AND INTERESTING CERAMICS AND LIGHTING ADD FRESHEN UP THE CIDER STORE LIVING SPACE. IMAGE: PARADISE FARM / ADAM CARTER
THE ATMOSPHERIC GATEHOUSE WITH EARTHY STRIPES AND BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURAL WINDOWS FRAMING THE LUSH GREEN OF THE FARM BEYOND
THE 16TH CENTURY THATCHED FARMHOUSE, RICH IN HISTORY AND CHARM, HOUSES GEM AND THOM’S FAMILY AND THEIR PARENTS WHO ARE HUGELY HANDS-ON AND SUPPORTIVE OF PARADISE FARM
THE BEAMED DINING ROOM AT THE FARM HOUSE WITH THE PREVIOUS OWNER’S FURNITURE AND A FRESH COAT OF PAINT, A NOD TO SUFFOLK PINK
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