When I found out I'd won an overnight stay inside Cathy Earnshaw's flesh-flocked bedroom at Thrushcross Grange, I had to read the email twice.
I've been fixated on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and its characters since I was eight years old, when I spent an entire lunchtime squirrelled away in the school library trying – and failing – to wade through the Yorkshire dialect in Chapter 1 (sadly, I was that annoying).
While I may not have understood the lyrical prose, I came away with an insufferable obsession that would last a lifetime. To this day, I have a portrait of Emily Brontë up in my bedroom, but I could never have imagined winning an entire experience inspired by the story.
Created to celebrate Emerald Fennell’s controversial new adaptation, which saw Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the ill-fated protagonists, Airbnb partnered with Holdsworth House in West Yorkshire to give fans a taste of Cathy's world – as it appeared in the film.
When I found out about the competition, I promptly set an alarm for five minutes before the listing went live.
Soon after receiving my winning email and pinching myself once or twice, I rang up a friend I knew had loved the film (and had the silliest, period drama-inspired wardrobe) and we got packing.
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Greeted at the hotel by the sharply dressed general manager, Chris, we were guided to an unassuming barn opposite. A wry smile on his face, he and one of the project's set designers opened the doors to a huge scarlet hallway, lined with dramatic hanging lanterns, a plush red carpet and two ominous double doors as red as the rest of the space.
Through these doors awaited Cathy’s bedroom. Transformed from a derelict barn for the stay, the walls and carpet were a perfect plaster pink that echoed Margot Robbie's skin tone, with panels covered with realistic veins and moles (one of which had a hair sprouting from it – a touch that brought the pair of us endless amusement).
The furnishings and antique props fused Versailles with Barbie – all awash in pink and with ornate details, heavy fabrics and plush finishes. I was most captivated by the braids of hair (in Margot's signature dirty blonde) woven along the bed frame, up the bed canopy and suspended from a table topped with red apples.
In another corner was a record player, beside which were two signed Wuthering Heights records by Charli XCX. From the pink cornices to the fireplace, every detail had been immaculately designed – it was all I could do not to hug the set designer and applaud the entire team for pulling off such an impressive replica.
Elsewhere in the house, the experience continued. One of the house's oak-panelled dining rooms had been transformed just for us to resemble Thrushcross Grange, with velvet curtains and seat cushions in sparkling silver, and a table piled high with decadent jellies, fish in aspic and fussy multi-tier cakes imitating those in the film.
At the head of the table, a glowing, blue doll's house presided over us while we ate – a tongue-in-cheek reminder of the plot. It was here we enjoyed a traditional afternoon tea and later, an indulgent three-course meal by head chef Matt. From the swan-shaped butter to the roaring fire behind us, it's a dinnertime I'll be dreaming about for decades to come.
Later in the evening, we had a boogie in the boudoir while listening to our records, setting us up for a peaceful night's sleep before a visit to Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage Museum, where we paid our respects to the late, great Emily B, the next day.
More than just a themed stay, the experience felt like teleporting briefly into another world – one that captured the enduring lure of one of literature's greatest stories.
Let's just say: Brontë Country still knows how to inspire a little yearning.
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