On 5th April 2025 we will be celebrating 10 years of welcoming guests to Darley House. Our very first guest, Robert, booked Darley House as a surprise for his wife Joanne’s 40th birthday celebrations.
It was so exciting getting the house ready. There was so much to organise for welcoming guests, particularly as we had only recently finished the renovations. The weekend was a huge success and here’s what Joanne wrote in our visitor book:
Robert and Joanne kicked it all off and since then, we have had around 350 bookings and welcomed over 3800 guests. Our guests are celebrating every conceivable occasion – significant birthdays from 30th to 90th, weddings anniversaries (pearl, silver, golden, ruby), christenings, wedding showers as well as friend get togethers, book clubs, walking holidays, family holidays, yoga, wellbeing and art retreats.
Welcoming Guests for Milestone Birthdays
So many birthday parties have been celebrated at Darley House. Looking at the bookings for the coming year, almost half are for birthday celebrations. Mary Jones celebrated her 50th birthday with us last year. She sent us these photos above to wish us a Happy Birthday and said what an amazing time they all had.
Our own family have celebrated our son’s 30th, my husband’s 60th and my father’s 90th at Darley House in the last 10 years and we will be holding our son’s wedding here in 2026.
The photo above is from my father’s 90th birthday celebrations, taken by photographer Graham Dunn. Graham went on to book Darley House a few years later for his wife’s birthday celebrations.
My father passed away last year and so the memories of this day are very special.
Something for all generations
Darley House is very much a family place and we have had many young guests to stay. We have cots for infants, a double bunk room and extra beds in the ensuite rooms to cater for all ages.
When speaking to a regular guest, Barbara, about her forthcoming stay this year, she told me that out of the blue whilst driving, her granddaughter said to her:
Its wonderful hearing things like these and we love that the children feel so at home.
The gardens, table tennis table and cosy lounge are wonderful for children, as well as the surrounding walks and attractions they can enjoy. Julie Brady sent us this photo of her family enjoying the hot tub, (which you can hire in), after a game of rugby.
Here are some quotes from other young guests:
“I loved the garden because we made a secret hideout and I loved the table tennis.”
“Love it. I litrery screamed!”
If the children are happy…then it helps everything else to go well.
Making Memories
We are perfect for big family get-togethers. We have even had 4 generations of the Darley family staying at Darley House! They said:
And of course, are all now 10 years older! Naomi Evans stayed at Darley House with her newborn baby back in 2016 and wrote to me saying:
How to sum up darley house
Sometimes we lack the words to describe our beautiful space, so we thought we would put all your lovely words together and see what ones came up repeatedly. This word cloud shows what adjectives you, our guests, use the most in the reviews written in our visitor book and we’ve picked out some of our very favourite reviews to share here too.
Its all about connection
We love welcoming guests to Darley House. It gives us great pleasure and a sense of purpose to have touched the lives of so many people who’ve visited. To see so many people coming together and feeling the warmth of family and friendship around them. This is one of my favourite guest reviews:
In this sometimes disconnected world what could be more fulfilling than bringing loved ones together?
Looking to celebrate?
If you would like to celebrate a special occasion, or just get together with family and friends at Darley House, in the Peak District, you can make an enquiry on our Booking Page.
