Jim Drew

HomeInspire visited The Windmill, a converted 1891 mill near Lavenham, Suffolk, that Natalie and Steve transformed into a five-storey holiday home over the best part of a decade. Bought as a derelict shell with no cap, no sails and nothing historical left to restore, the mill has since won two national awards – one for a zinc roof no one had clad a building of that shape in before, and another for a slatted oak ceiling built to look like the inside of a boat hull. From ground level it still reads as a windmill from old photographs of the 1920s. Inside, almost nothing is straight.

Listen to Mrs Windmill catching up with Rob Dunger on Suffolk Sound radio talking all things The Windmill Suffolk from 1 hour 25 minutes.

A unique Suffolk getaway has been thrust into the spotlight after featuring in a recent episode of a hit TV show.

We have appeared on the Channel 4’s World’s Most Secret Hotels episode.

It has been revealed we will feature in an episode set to air later this month.

I have driven past this windmill for years and watched as Natalie and Steve transform it into one of the best self-catering places to stay in Suffolk. It’s on the doorstep of where I used to live in Cockfield and Thorpe Morieux when I was younger, so the road is one I know like the back of my hand. From the top of the windmill, you can even see my old home, which made this stay feel especially close to my heart. Natalie and I have been longing to meet and it’s only now, years later, that we made it happen!

Everyone loves a windmill conversion, they come complete with character – and great views. But Steve and Natalie Roberts’ windmill is a particularly special one, a passion project featuring a striking, lovingly handcrafted ‘pod’ on the top of the last windmill built in Suffolk

Although the building itself dates back to 1891, the restoration and transformation into a holiday let has seen it turn into a light and airy home.

The modern furnishings blend with the historic structure and appearance of the once functioning windmill. 

Apart from our huge windmill garden, which has cherry blossom trees, plants and flowers, right behind The Windmill are a number of bluebell woods, including Bradfield Woods and Ickworth Park, with daffodils aplenty in Nowton Park!

About a two-hour drive from London, this unusual structure hides in the East Anglia, where pasturelands extend as far as the eye can see. Suffolk’s iconic building was once an industrial tool that was turned into a boutique getaway for those interested in quirky architecture and a taste of country living.