Cosy, comfortable and charming – introducing Heacham Manor’s new rooms

A stay at Heacham Manor is always a relaxing experience with a warm welcome, fabulous dining and a great night’s sleep in a peaceful setting. Earlier this year, the hotel refurbished several of its bedrooms and the design inspiration for the makeover came from close to home.

Heacham Manor, a family-run independent Norfolk hotel

Built in 1582, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Grade II listed Heacham Manor is believed to have originally housed a ‘cell’ of monks and later became a homestead for a local farm. It is this latter stage of the building’s history which has inspired a recent makeover of some of the hotel’s rooms.

While much of Heacham Manor’s interior design has a country house style, the opportunity to refresh several bedrooms presented an opportunity to introduce a less formal aesthetic. The inspiration for the new decor came from Eleanor Searle, daughter of managing director Paul Searle, who works as a revenue analyst in the family-owned business.

With a deep understanding for the hotel’s heritage and location, Eleanor was inspired to create an interior design which would be welcoming and relaxing for guests staying at the Norfolk hotel. “My main role in the family business is very different, but interior design is a hobby which I enjoy, having bought and designed my first home locally a few years ago. 

“When updating the rooms at Heacham Manor came up for discussion we initially talked about bringing in an interior designer, but I suggested that I would like to get involved and had a strong vision for how they should look. While the hotel looks like a traditional manor house, I wanted to lean into the farmhouse aspect of the original house and create a style which reflects that aspect in its history. To my mind, it’s a cosy, comforting aesthetic which is inviting and approachable. 

“As the hotel is an old building, no two rooms are the same so all of the furnishings are bespoke to fit the scale and size of the space. We pared back the furniture in each room so they feel less cluttered, and we introduced standalone pieces which help to make the rooms feel open and bright. We also removed the pelmets from the windows and introduced warm white lighting so there’s plenty of natural daylight and cosy lighting.”

“Previously the rooms were decorated with bright, rich colours. I wanted to pare things back with a more muted neutral wall colour, Farrow and Ball Drop Cloth, and introduced fabrics with a softer colour palette, such as Skopos Fabrics Fenix in Guava, Melba, Chestnut, Galia, and Agave for the curtains, and a stronger pop of colour with Skopos Fabrics Bonita/Salsa Velvet (Seville and Eggshell) for the seating. The overall effect has been to create a contemporary farmhouse style which is less uniform and has a fun, eclectic feel.

In the frame! Original artwork at Heacham Manor

The finishing touch to each of the rooms which Eleanor designed was an original piece of artwork that she and her father, Paul, created together. “I’ve always enjoyed painting since school days,” says Eleanor, “and although I studied for a degree in sociology and my job is in financial management, I still enjoy being creative.

“As part of the design for the rooms, I wanted to introduce elements of nature with simple line drawings of plants and flowers which reflect the hotel’s coastal setting. Dad and I spent an afternoon drawing the pictures which we then had framed – one hangs in each of the rooms. It was so enjoyable and rewarding to do and adds a really special and personal touch that completes the project.”

With the new rooms reopened in March, the new contemporary farmhouse style has been well-received by guests and Eleanor says the design may inspire future development of other areas of the hotel. “It’s exciting to see how the interior design that I’ve created for the rooms might work in other areas and we’re exploring ideas at the moment, but working on the project has been great fun.”