The view from the front door of Glebe House is of rolling, ruched-up fields, hidden ha-has, evergreen woodland, ancient farmsteads and their flocks—and a gardener riding a sit-on mower, carefully clipping the front lawn. It’s a scene that hasn’t changed in all the years Hugo Guest has known it.
Hugo grew up in this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty before leaving for university and a life in London. In 2020, when his parents suggested selling up, the lure of the valley proved too strong. Hugo and his wife, Olive, returned to rural Devon with a view to transformed his childhood home into a guesthouse and restaurant. The couple had spent some time abroad, finding inspiration in Italian “agrotourismos”, working farms with accommodation and a food offering that showcases the best of local produce. Hugo had also spent the previous two years working as a chef in some of London’s top restaurants. With the world in lockdown, the couple began transforming the 15 acres surrounding Glebe House, planting a vegetable and cutting garden, creating a space for pigs and chickens, and converting an old garage into an on-site bakery and temperature-controlled aging room for salumi production, a craft honed by Hugo in Italy.
