From training staff at The White House to running a section in a Michelin-starred kitchen, the MD of The Collective at Woolsery tells Jane Rakison about her most ambitious role yet
Even at the age of ten, Emily Harmon had goals. ‘In my dreams, my ideal life would involve running a little bed and breakfast in England.’ For someone whose childhood was spent in a farmhouse just outside San Jose, northern California, the odds of Emily realising this dream seemed pretty unlikely. But anyone who knows Emily now will know she’s the kind of person who makes things happen.
Since arriving in Devon almost ten years ago, she has taken on the hospitality role to end all hospitality roles: to develop, curate and manage The Collective at Woolsery from its inception as a simple pub renovation to its current status as an ecosystem of lifestyle businesses in the rural village of Woolsery (also known as Woolfardisworthy) in north Devon.
The Collective comprises The Farmers Arms pub, a fish and chip shop, a village shop and Post Office. There’s also a manor house (still under construction), Michelin-Key-rated cottages, suites and rooms, and Birch Farm, the 150-acre organic farm that supplies meat and produce to its sibling businesses.
The multifaceted project was founded by Xochi and Michael Birch, US-based tech entrepreneurs who sold their social networking site Bebo to AOL in 2008 for $850m. Their interest in Woolsery stems from it being the birthplace of Michael’s mum. He spent time there as a child and still has family connections in the village.
Emily has worked with Xochi and Michael for 18 years, curating, creating and managing most of their international lifestyle projects, often simultaneously. These included The Battery – the couple’s private members’ club in San Francisco – and an estate on the Caribbean island of Moskito. However, it was while Emily was working at the family’s home in London that Michael raised the question of this project.
‘He said they’d bought a pub in Woolsery and could I go take a look because it needed “a lick of paint”.
‘When I turned up, I could see the thatched roof had caved in – a tree was growing through it – and water was pouring down the walls. I thought, “Oh, very funny” because that’s classic Michael. He comes up with an idea, Xochi makes sure it’ll work and then it’s my job to make it happen.’
Village life 2.0
Under Emily’s stewardship, The Collective has breathed 21st-century life into a village that might otherwise have succumbed to a fate all too familiar to countryside dwellers: a corner shop overtaken by a large chain, a Post Office under threat of closure and a shut-down pub.
Instead, Woolsery is alive and kicking. Locals pop in and out of the everyday – yet elevated – facilities and the spot also yields serious destination credentials for foodies, explorers and nature lovers. Visitors now pour into the area to visit the award-winning pub, attend one of the always-sold-out natural farming workshops or escape everyday life by relaxing in one of The Collective’s rural-luxe spaces.
Mother of all lessons
From its immaculate skirting boards to flawless service, The Collective screams high standards. This doesn’t just mirror Michael and Xochi’s vision, but realises expectations instilled in Emily at a young age.
‘My mother was very particular,’ she says. ‘I hated that when I was young but now, when I look back, I have such an appreciation for her. I didn’t realise that all those little touches my mom did to make things beautiful – fresh flowers every day, lighting candles and putting potpourri in the drawers – would also be ingrained in me.’
This attention to detail has served her well throughout her career. At 17, Emily opened her own patisserie and, by her early twenties, was already heading up the pastry section at the Michelin-starred restaurant at The Madrona in California. After concluding food service wasn’t for her, she further explored her creativity by working with vintage clothing, completing a floristry apprenticeship and managing a spa. It was while working as a concierge at Auberge du Soleil that she discovered the world of private service. She subsequently enrolled on an intensive estate management course at the Starkey International Institute in Denver.
‘I gave my parents my cat, put my stuff in storage and off I went. I just loved, loved, loved it there. One week I was the driver organising Mrs Starkey’s (the founder’s) transportation, the next week I was in charge of housekeeping, then I was the groundskeeper and so on.’
After she’d completed the course, Mrs Starkey hired Emily as a teacher – a role that provided lifelong memories.
‘A few times a year, Mrs Starkey would take a couple of teachers with her to Washington DC to do on-site training for staff at The White House and Camp David. Can you imagine teaching housekeepers at The White House how to do things?!’
Emily soon moved on to her ultimate goal of managing private households, which led her to Xochi and Michael.
Delicious discoveries
Complementing Emily’s impeccable standards is a love of eccentric creativity; she draws inspiration from everywhere, everything and everyone.
‘I love the little threads you pull that lead to other things. Even if I don’t follow up on a new discovery immediately, I put them safely away in a little pocket in my brain until they need to come out.’
A perfect example is land&water. Emily first found the sustainable small-batch smellies at the Teals farm shop in Somerset.
‘When we opened the hotel, I identified land&water as the kind of product I wanted to use. Then I discovered they’re just down the road in Cornwall and now we have this lovely relationship with them.’
Teals is just one of Emily’s favourite local hotspots.
‘If I’m heading anywhere near Bude, I go to the Electric Bakery and buy a miso mushroom roll – they’re amazing. I’ve been known to buy one of everything they make, then bring it back to the pub and throw it down for the team before service. We cut it all up into little pieces so everybody gets a bite of everything.
‘It’s just beautiful to relax into somebody else’s well-curated hospitality experience. The Glorious Oyster in Instow does these weekend sundowners in the summer. They serve delicious seafood with a bottle of wine while a couple of DJs play tunes in a parking lot by the beach. It isn’t directly linked to what we do, but I just love it.
‘I’ll also go to The Newt every chance I get because they do incredible top-level hospitality,’ she adds, although she says it’s important not to look to the places most similar to you for inspiration.
‘I like to go to places that do something a little different to what we offer, because that takes you on a beautiful journey.’
Emily’s journey was meant to see her living in Devon for just two years. Then Covid happened and eight years later she’s still here – and just as passionate about the project as she was on her very first day. If ten-year-old Emily could see her life now, she’d surely feel she’d more than achieved her childhood dream.
