Housekeeper/cook in a private home - united kingdom, chard, somerset

a couple living on an country estate are looking for a housekeeper/ cook, to take care of their home and assist with light lunches, dinners and some entertaining.

they are ideally looking for live-out, but can find a live-in solution if required.

hours: typically, monday – friday, 10 - 6pm daily – but flexibility required for weekends or dinner parties, when they might request split shifts

salary: in the £30,000-£40,000 range dependent on experience

the family: husband and wife

the house: 9,000 sqft, 5 bedrooms. plus a lodge with 3 bedrooms

the staff: gardener, groundsman, estate workers, and 2x week daily housekeepers

start date: flexible

duties:

household cleaning

cleaning & organizing the house, taking good care of any antiques and artwork around the home
working with the housekeeping team (dailies twice a week) to ensure they are cleaning effectively and appropriately
arranging professional cleaning of furnishings as needed, liaising with the family to ensure timings are appropriate

cooking (likely 35% of the role day to day, a little more when there are guests)

cooking for the family, no breakfasts required but light lunches (soups and salads etc.), and dinner, to include some batch cooking for dinners - not cooking full dinner from scratch every day
cooking when guests are over, to include dinner parties
table setting and clearing – formal training not required
working with the gardener to see what can be used from the garden in cooking
should be comfortable with traditional dishes as well as healthy cooking

laundry & clothing care

managing all laundry – clothers, linens and towels
all ironing, hand washing and orgnaizing dry cleaning
managing wardrobes
some small repairs, e.g., sewing a missing button

contractors & vendors

greeting guests, couriers and tradesmen at the door and overseeing appointments when necessary
checking all items in the home are in good working order and reporting problems
arranging appointments with contractors

supporting the family & team

ensuring all guests are always excellently looked after
preparing for family travel, assisting with packing and unpacking luggage
currently no family dogs, but should there be in future, checking in on them when the family is away – feeding, walking etc. day to day nothing required
being security-aware, appropriately overseeing contractors and tradesmen to ensure the property is secured/ checking house and garden in family’s absence

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