Sharlit and Charlie’s backstory
“We spent 10 years co-living in London, sharing houses with a multitude of characters, from a 24 person Warehouse on an industrial estate to a 9 bed townhouse in the quaint suburbs. Like us, the people we lived with juggled several creative (and not-so-creative) jobs in the entertainment and hospitality industry. Sharlit made theatre shows and ran a european theatre festival, whilst Charlie made films and greenified the city with designed plant installations. We lived with photographers, shoemakers, academics and improvisors. For us it was a candy shop of craft.
Our favourite part of living in house-shares was the sheer volume of opportunity and connections that would arise from individuals living and working alongside each other. The possibilities were endless, and the network had huge potential. We observed brilliant communal efforts, illuminated ideas made real, late night chats becoming long term project partners, hints at a vision becoming a full blown reality. We witnessed supportive chats, shared fails and highly celebrated joys, kicks in the butt for procrastinating and delightfully creative ways of finding out who ate all the biscuits…
We loved house-sharing…
Though in London, we began to see how stressful it was to find the time and space to really get anything done!
Our time in a city made us realise that we wanted to start another adventure and keep that same connected feel we loved so much. This time in the countryside, with more greenery, more space, and with a host of fascinating creative people to share it with. Working and creating alongside them.”
Why move to the Court?
It’s May 2016, a vote for Brexit hangs in the balance, Charlie and Sharlit stand alone in a field in the middle of England with a handful of coloured markers and a long roll of paper. They are reaching for the stars and dreaming up a direction the two of them want to go together in life.
The winning combo was:
Make our jobs remote - Leave London - Buy a house in the country - Host a creative tribe - Be our own bosses
The big question was… where?
Our neighbours still like to ask us this question, Why Paço De Sousa? The three year search took us past Canada and France. Like Goldilocks, we didn’t know exactly what we were looking for but we knew it needed to be just right. So when we arrived in a land covered in family farmsteads. Hilly, green and rivers everywhere. We decided then to look for two things - a courtyard and a waterfall. And so we were led to The Court of Cavalum.
SHARLIT
travelled the world as a kid and always loved being around people, talking in multiple languages and learning about new cultures while tasting their food. As an avid storyteller, Sharlit draws inspiration from others, whose personalities and quirks appear in the roles she takes on as an actor and voice over artist. She’s been lucky enough to create theatre plays, films, festivals and social events with other inspiring cultural workers around the world, and never ceases to be amazed by the dedication artists and entrepreneurs have for their projects. Ever the optimist, Sharlit focusses on the positive and believes there’s a solution to most problems, and enjoys mapping out the journeys ahead…
The thing she’s most proud of is her musical playlists for any occasion!
Good courtmate because: Amazing cook. Party starter and super attentive.
Bad courtmate because: unlikely to take out the compost.
CHARLIE
has spent a long time pretending. Pretending to garden, pretending to act, pretending to farm. Pretending his name is Charlie (it’s really Rob). Somewhere along the line he got better at the things he pretends to do. He loves projects, making things and working with lots of people. Often the ideas are bigger than his ability. Sometimes he’s able to learn how to do it. Sometimes not. He still has an overly ambitious film project that he dreams of finishing editing at some point!
You can see his work with plants here www.robandtheplants.com
What started out as guerilla gardening in Tottenham, grew into a wild urban landscaping business - designing rooftops, restaurants and residences across London. True to his roots, he managed to sneak fruit trees into all of his designs. He’s quite proud to have gotten his name in the pages of Time Out for his work as an actor, a garden designer and a short stint as a theatre photographer. The thing he’s most proud of however is teaching his dog to roll over.
Good courtmate because: will fix things, …
Bad Courtmate because: slow to think of food to cook
COBIE
Newest addition to the workforce. Deep sleeper, big dreamer and chief winemaker.
GIN
The Court doesn’t have a ruling monarch, we like to think the weather’s in charge, but if anyone took the title it’s this guy. A street-dog born in the farmland, named after a pig and raised into nobility, this young pretender has the right of soil and origin story to prove his case as rightful heir. Will roll over for food.