E lm Tree Farm looks every inch the pretty rural retreat. Four miles from the Suffolk village of Lavenham, this converted barn has been designed as a country getaway for City high-flyers, escaping downshifters, retirees or families eager to be near the coast, with six bedrooms, a wine cellar, a pool, three acres and an annexe.
The project’s early stages, however, were beset with problems. Chris Notley, the property developer who built the place, was not enamoured of it initially. “It left me with a shiver down my spine,” he says of the barn. “I hated being inside it. When we took over the development at the halfway stage, the atmosphere hadn’t improved, and nor had the morale of the workforce.”
He agreed to his business partner’s suggestion of hiring Julia Walsh, an energy therapist and healer, to “clear” the property. Supporters of space clearing believe some homes retain negative vibes from past sour relationships or traumatic events such as illness, death or murder. If you constantly feel ill, unhappy or tired in your home, or are having trouble selling it, space clearing — so the theory goes — can do the trick.
“Energy runs around and through the earth in pathways,” says Walsh. “Some of which, such as the Hartmann grid, Schuman waves and ley lines, have been scientifically proven. Any building cuts through the energy anatomy of the earth and if anything bad has happened there, the memory gets held within it.”
Space clearing can also, apparently, help detect electromagnetic pollution emitted from microwave ovens and computers and neutralise the effects of mobile phone masts, power cables and electricity pylons or “geopathic stress” caused by quarries, motorways and railway lines.
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Although none of these affected Elm Tree Farm, it had “masses of trauma”, according to Walsh, and required three clearings to rectify the “spiritual, mental, emotional and physical damage” and repair fractured energy lines. Notley paid her £1,125 and says the barn is now a delight to be in: “Although I would still describe myself as a sceptic, I will never buy land or property without having it cleared first.”
Some of the workmen on the project felt the atmosphere improved, if only for more down-to-earth reasons. “The place felt spooky at first,” says Simon Brand, a plumber from Bury St Edmunds. “But you get a strange feeling walking into any worn-out property. I neither believe nor disbelieve in space clearing and feng shui. The reason this project came together so well is that Chris made everyone feel so positive.”
Bob Alecock, the groundsman, describes himself as “sceptical yet open-minded”. He says: “The turning point came when the healer placed crystals round the place. She said it would help prevent the theft of building materials at night. I thought, ‘What a load of rubbish’, but the thieving stopped, there was no more bad feeling and the lads perked up.”
Tim Sheridan, of Sheridans, the agent selling Elm Tree Farm, says: “Feng shui and space clearing are more likely to add to a house’s worth than detract from it. I wouldn’t hesitate in putting it on the particulars of the right property if I felt it was relevant.”
Elm Tree Farm is for sale for £795,000 with Sheridans, 01284 700 018, www.sheridans.ltd.uk