On the phone, he sounds like Hugh Grant. His voice full of bonhomie, his mouth full of plums. In the flesh (there is very little of it) he is tall and very thin. In old age he will be described as gaunt, but today he looks like a long distance runner on a vegetarian diet, all muesli and raw carrots, He has the promised ease of Hugh Grant, the sensibility of Prince Charles and the spirituality of the Dalai Lama. Add to this an immense family fortune and you have an English treasure, a true eccentric of the ruling class.

His name is James. James, not Jim, and never ever Jimmy!

We met him rather surprisingly through the digital pages of Airbnb. He, or rather the humanitarian foundation which he founded, owns what he refers to as a retreat and what we would call a spectacular home. It sits in the middle of nowhere in Suffolk, one of the counties that makes up East Anglia. For those of you who have no idea where that is, it is the rather pregnant looking lump that sticks out into the North Sea on the right hand side of England. It is an area of England that neither of us knows but have been wanting to explore for some time. 

Loving the house was easy, renting it was not. We had to go through the rather unusual process for Airbnb of being vetted. The walls of the house are lined with a truly valuable collection of art, and so James needed to know that we were entirely trustworthy, and would treat the house and it’s contents with respect and not do a runner with any of its many treasures.  We also had to assure him that we would not be bringing any children with us. The latter proved rather easier to do than the former! 

We were aware that we were moving in exulted circles, but completely unaware of just how exulted those circles were until we entered the house. As we opened the front door, we were greeted by a large portrait of Prince Charles, now better known as King Charles III of England,

Score one for James. Our host certainly knows how to impress.

And as we look at the signature we realize it was actually painted by James.

Score two for James

But wait, there is more! The hallway leads us into the living room. Here we find the Duke of Edinburgh staring down at us from above the fireplace.

I think that is a hat trick!.

This is painted by James’ father . 

The Fabulosity Meter is loving it. This is rarefied air indeed.

The house, completed in 2020, is stylish and modern with huge folding glass doors everywhere. It is a net to zero carbon house, all solar panels and renewable energy with an air source heat pump. I got that from the brochure! I hope you know what that means, as I don’t have a clue! 

But I do know that the end result is we never have water that is really hot.

It is miles from the nearest village, with not a neighbour in sight. A gravel driveway leads up to the house. The large garden is of course totally natural and totally organic, given over to an unruly selection of wild flowers and grasses allowing the help to leave us floral decorations such as this

Narrow grass walkways cut through the wilderness

allowing us to reach private spots to relax and meditate. In this particular spot James, unable to resist, has commissioned a stone urn on a huge plinth

The inscription carved into the plinth is all James

There is not a fence anywhere. They are not needed as James owns all the surrounding land.

Back inside the coffee table is scattered with recent copies of Tatler. Of course it is. Books of poetry are everywhere and one book of non fiction suggests there is more to James’s family than just wild flowers and organic vegetables

The author, Richard Dannatt, is more formerly known as General the Lord Dannatt, and has signed the book for James.

I wish the Fabulosity Meter would calm down.