Most teenagers dream of a room where they can put up posters, hide a PlayStation, and finally get some privacy.
George Lowsley-Williams, however, spent his formative years sharing a bedroom with resident spirits.
“I spent the first 17 years of my life living in a room that had to be exorcised twice,” he recalled on Saving Country Houses (More4).
While a haunting might sound like a plus for a grand country house, the current caretakers of Chavenage in the Cotswolds seem less enthusiastic about their spectral tenants.
The Chavenage Dilemma
James Lowsley-Williams, George’s son, runs the estate with his wife, Emma.
Their plan to keep the historic house afloat financially? Open a yoga studio in one of the barns.
With annual upkeep costs nearing £400,000, yoga alone seems like a stretch to cover the bills.
A much more obvious solution, as any fan of haunted estates might suggest, is to embrace the ghosts instead of ignoring them.
Ghost Tourism Is Booming
Haunted homes are hot right now, particularly with international visitors.
Americans adored the BBC sitcom Ghosts so much that they’ve churned out over 80 episodes of their own version.
British ghost-hunting shows like Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper’s Nightwatch and Yvette Fielding’s Most Haunted (which has been going strong for almost 25 years) have turned paranormal tourism into a cultural phenomenon.
Yet James and Emma seemed hesitant to capitalize on their own supernatural residents.
During a tour for the cameras, they almost apologized for showing the “ghostly part of the house.”
Rooms Frozen in Time
One of the more chilling rooms featured in the show had faded tapestries covering every wall.
“No one has slept in here for 200 years,” James explained.
The tapestries depicted a mix of faceless Greek goddesses, a hooded monk, and other shadowy figures that blurred the line between art and apparition.
Another room looked like it had been hit by a poltergeist, chairs stacked chaotically as if in rebellion.
Upstairs, Emma showed a straw doll in a cradle — her “worst nightmare” — missing a nose and staring blankly.
History Meets Opportunity
The episode also highlighted other stately homes, including Ashby Manor in Northamptonshire, linked to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Penelope Keith narrated, lending her voice but keeping a safe distance from the chaos of Chavenage itself.
The tour ended in the attic, where a decaying model train layout twisted through cobwebbed rafters.
As bats flitted overhead, James and Emma contemplated restoring it as a visitor attraction.
Raise the Dead, Not the Roof
The takeaway was clear: the real money at Chavenage isn’t in yoga classes or painstaking restorations.
It’s in leaning into the house’s eerie character.
List the haunted rooms on Airbnb, let amateur paranormal enthusiasts tremble at night in the tapestry-filled chambers, and turn Chavenage into the spooky destination it was practically born to be.
Renovate the ghosts, not the estate — sometimes, the past is your most profitable asset.
What’s Next
Chavenage may yet become the next big attraction for thrill-seekers and history buffs alike.
With ghosts, bats, and creepy dolls on the roster, all that remains is for James and Emma to stop apologizing for the past and start marketing it.
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