Venn Lakes is a family-run business, built on a shared love of the outdoors, hard work, and creating memorable places for people to slow down and reconnect. We’re Rob and Sophie, husband-and-wife partners in life and in business, and everything you see here has been shaped by our hands, our family, and a whole lot of graft.
Family is at the heart of everything we do. We’re proud parents to three sons, whom we home educate, and running Venn Lakes has very much grown alongside our family life. It’s not unusual to see the boys helping out, exploring the lakes, or learning firsthand what it means to build something from the ground up.
Our journey into hospitality began back in 2018 with The Cabin on our Hatherleigh site. What started as a small sideline quickly became something we truly loved. Hosting guests, creating special stays, and seeing people relax and reconnect with nature felt like exactly what we were meant to be doing. That love for the work gave us the courage to take a leap of faith, change careers, and step into hospitality full time.
We purchased Venn Lakes in April 2021, and the first three years of ownership were very much a labour of love.
Before we could welcome guests, there was a huge amount of unseen work to do. We laid electric cable, installed water pipes and treatment plants, planted and landscaped the gardens, and built two of the lodges ourselves.
The other two were transported all the way down from Scotland — no small task! It was physical, muddy, exhausting work at times, but also incredibly rewarding.
In March 2024, we finally opened Venn Lakes to guests, and seeing people enjoy the space we’d poured so much into made every aching muscle worthwhile.
We’re also incredibly grateful for our brilliant cleaning team — Richard, Diane and Lyn — who help us keep everything spotless and welcoming, and who share our pride in the details that make a stay feel special.
