How Rockefellers fell in love with idea all the way from Yorkshire

Most Americans won’t appreciate the significance of the Yorkshire flag fluttering above Matt Spence’s garden in Washington D.C. but if they ask they’ll find it symbolises more than a proud ex-pat.

The standard, bearing the white rose, marks the story of a Dales farming family whose diversification into holiday property has seen them conquer Britain, Europe and now America.

Their track record of creating luxury eco homes in national parks and other protected areas is so impressive it has won powerful backers, including the wealthy and influential Rockefeller family.

“It’s been incredible, really, and it all started with my mum asking me and my brothers to come up with income-generating ideas. She’d been sheep farming for a long time and it was hard work for not much money,” says Matt, founder and MD of Natural Retreats.

He came up with the plan to build holiday lodges on the family farm, near Richmond, ten years ago, though it took another two years to persuade Richmond Town Council to allow the development.

It was turned down twice but with the backing of the local community and a few tweaks to the design, he finally got the go-ahead for  the timber and glass properties that marry striking architecture with contemporary interiors.  The lodges later won an RICS award and have been much copied.

“I learnt a huge amount in those two years working with Richmond Town Council and that has helped me when dealing with Yellowstone National Park and the government here in Washington D.C. It’s the same skills,” says Matt, a former rugby player who later worked in marketing for Coca-Cola.

The timber lodges , which opened in 2006, were different from anything else on offer and were an instant hit with holidaymakers and weekenders.

It soon became clear that the concept and the brand had enormous potential, though world domination wasn’t top of the “to do” list back then.

“We knew it was a winner because the holiday lettings market is quite amateurish. You deal with owners and agents and you never know what you’re going to get until you arrive at the accommodation. It’s pot-luck

“With our company you know exactly what you are going to get and that’s a lovely place to stay in a stunning, rural location,” says Matt.

The recession hastened expansion as the Spence family took advantage of falling land values and renewed interest in holidaying at home. It now has 15 sites, including lodges and cottages in Cornwall, Scotland, Wales, Lanzarote and the States.

“We were lucky, we had a very good recession. We also have joint ventures with a lot of big country estates and that works well. They have land and we have the expertise in building and letting,” says Matt.

There are plans to build Natural Retreats cottages near Pickering and Matt is working with the Duke of Argyll to create holiday lets on his estate in Scotland.

Opportunities in Britain abound but it is the USA where growth looks set to be stratospheric. This is largely thanks to the backing of the Rockefeller family.

“We’d been on family holidays to Yellowstone National Park when I was young and I loved it. It had a big effect of me. It was a dream of mine to take Natural Retreats to America so in 2010 I flew out and made a few enquiries with people in the property world.”

One of those contacts secured him a meeting with Mark Rockefeller, the grandson of the legendary John D.

“It was a mad rush to get to New York to see him but it was serendipitous because  he had a wilderness lodge just outside Yellowstone and was looking for someone to help expand the idea.

“The next thing I knew I was on the 50th floor of the Rockefeller building in J.D.’s boardroom telling Mark about our Yorkshire farm and the Natural Retreat site in Richmond. I told him how we pushed the boundaries of design and helped people connect with nature and he loved it.

“The Rockefellers were founders and donors for the national park system in America, so he was interested in what we’d done,” says Matt.

“His backing has given our brand credibility because the Rockefellers are like royalty in America.”

Part of Mark’s lodge site at South Fork on the Snake River in Idaho has now been turned into a Natural Retreats site.

“There are lot of hotel brands in America and they are waking up to the fact that there is a need for self-catering accommodation for families, so they’re creating two bedroom suites, but no-one specialises in what we do, which is accommodation in and around national parks. There is a massive market out there and the American people have really taken us to their hearts.

“We now have three sites in the US with eight more in development and the numbers will grow and grow,” says Matt, who estimates that there will be 30 Natural Retreats across the world by this time next year.

Work means that he now splits his time between Yorkshire and Washington.

“I like the US and it’s where I need to be because that’s where a lot of the growth is,” he says. “But I love Yorkshire and I’m really proud of my roots, which is why I fly the white rose flag in my back garden.”

www.naturalretreats.co.uk

Doing it naturally

Natural Retreats has based its business on creating luxurious holiday property in beautiful, secluded locations.

It has now split into two companies, Natural Retreats, which operates and promotes the brand and Natural Assets which buys and develops 
the sites alone or via joint ventures.

Its site near Richmond was the first and won awards for its striking, contemporary lodges.

Although most are for let, a small number are available for sale as a whole or as a property share, from £199,950. Its latest project is at John O’Groats with lodges from Caithness stone and Scottish larch. The company has also converted the Inn at John O’Groats into holiday apartments.