T
he concept for Naked Retreats did not emerge from a carefully constructed master plan. Instead the idea was deeply personal. When South African
entrepreneur Grant Horsfield arrived in Shanghai over 10 years ago, he found himself yearning for the open spaces of home. Having recently met Hong Kong- born architect Delphine Yip, his wife-to-be, he knew he wanted to remain in China. But to survive the hustle and bustle of his adopted city, he realised he would have to find his own rural retreat. “Cape Town offers people an incredible lifestyle – it’s easy to find fresh air, simple luxuries and peace,” says Horsfield. “While Shanghai was extraordinary, there was nowhere for a country boy like me to escape to on the weekend. So we started to actively look for a location, a place of genuine quiet.”
The Horsfields stumbled upon the
secluded farming village of Sanjiuwu while exploring Moganshan, a bamboo and pine- clad mountain 220km west of Shanghai, which once served as a haven for the city’s foreign elite until communism set in. Home to a small, ageing community, with no throughway, Sanjiuwu seemed ideally suited to their idea of a rural refuge.
Naked is born Although they had no previous hospitality experience, the couple committed to raising their own finances for a ‘back to basics’ guesthouse and struck up a relationship with the local Deqing government. Eventually acquiring and renovating eight farmhouses, they opened Naked Home Village in 2007 with 21 rustic rooms. Here was the chance to test out their theory that the stress, noise and pollution of city life was creating a need
n Hong Kong-born architect Delphine Yip and South African entrepreneur Grant Horsfield are behind the retreat
for accessible retreats that would allow people to return to nature and regain balance. They chose the name ‘naked’ because it encapsulated their philosophy of temporary retreat from an urban lifestyle to a more elemental rhythm. Foreigners reacted well to the simple
offering but the Chinese weren’t so positive. “Our Chinese guests weren’t as excited by our rustic style,” confirms Delphine Yip-Horsfield. “Since their grandparents and parents had grown up in village settings, the farmhouses weren’t considered ideal holiday destinations. They longed for more luxury amenities. They wanted fewer stairs to climb in their high heels, air-conditioned rooms, more activities including a spa, and F&B choices.”
©CYBERTREK 2015
spabusiness.com issue 1 2015 55
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