Wealden Times | WT260 | January 2024 | Good Living Supplement inside

These page: The farmhouse’s open
plan kitchen/diner has a classic
Aga, butler sink, flagstone floors
and a large communal dining table.
“People tend to gravitate to the
farmhouse and the kitchen especially.”
Below: A corner of the snug
Tucked away in the High Weald countryside
amongst a warren of lanes between Heathfield
and Mayfield is a place so well hidden that a
lot of locals don’t even know it’s there. As one of my
colleagues put it upon his arrival, “I have absolutely
no idea where I am!” And it is a bit like that. Because
hidden away in this part of olde Sussex, where time
moves at a different rate, is an international retreat
centre disguised as an old English farmhouse.
Fair Oak Farm was bought by Ian and Penny Ledger
as their family home in 2005 and has slowly undergone
a quiet revolution, transforming it into a destination that
businesses, groups and individuals travel to from across
the world. And what started out as a small holiday let
‘on the side’, has organically grown into something way
beyond their expectations. As Ian puts it, “It was never
the plan! To begin with we were just letting out the old
barns. But we’ve just kept adding to it over the years.”
The development of the site has been spearheaded
by Ian, whose experience as a project manager in
construction has been vital. More used to multi-million
pound projects in London, the farm development was a
welcome change. He says, “I loved it. It was like going
back to where I started.” The farm has ridden the rise of
the wellness industry over the last decade with seemingly
no end in sight. As Ian tells me, “It’s just not levelling off.”
Five years ago the success of the farm enabled Ian to leave
his full time job in London and concentrate on managing
it full time. His undivided attention has meant he’s
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