"Decades-old dream" realised at Sausmarez Manor Tearoom

Wednesday 18 August 2021

The Sausmarez Manor Tearoom will be changing hands after being run for five years by Carolyn and Ian Marquis.

The iconic café sits in the old vinery and to run it has been a passion for Mrs Marquis, who said the experience has “been a dream.”

“I’ve wanted to have a little tearoom business since I left school, so it’s a decades old dream that was realised,” said Mrs Marquis.

“We had a contract to run the tearoom for five years, and five years is coming up at the end of this year,” she said.

Pictured: “I want to spend more time with family and do some other projects I’ve got building up at home,” said Mrs Marquis; she's standing beneath the one-hundred year old vine that takes grows through the wall.

The café has operated beside the Manor for the past 20 years, which has been standing since the late 12^th century.

Mrs Marquis said the decision to leave wasn’t an easy one.

“We thought about it, and I’ll miss it desperately – Sausmarez Manor is such a lovely place to work, there’s a real community here.

“[But] I’ve completed that dream, I’m really happy to have done and it has been great,” she said.

Pictured: The business has been put up for sale on Facebook, with a couple of people interested already.

“You get so involved with people’s lives who come in, you get to know what’s going in in their lives – this is something I’ll really miss,” said Mrs Marquis, who not only serves the regulars, but meets hundreds of tourists each year.

“Meeting the people from the cruise ships, talking to them about where they come from, and what they think of the island. That’s really interesting.”

The process to find a replacement is ongoing, but Mrs Marquis assured us that it’ll continue to be run well into the future.

“We’ll be making sure to leave it in really safe hands,” she said.

The café season finishes later this year and the new proprietor will be taking over for 2022.