Liz and Zoff and their creative journey leading to the conversion of Mill End Mitcheldean
Mill End: A Creative Retreat Born of a Bold Vision
Liz Lewitt, a force of nature with a passion for creativity, has always made things happen. Her partner, Zoff , turns her visions into reality. Together they have created a quirky and unique house. Their passions have always been the creative process and connecting like minded people and Mill End Mitcheldean is testimony to this. It is their respective journeys through band management, fashion design and retail, hospitality, a member’s only media and music cocktail bar on a boat and a love of listed buildings which brought them to renovate Mill End Mitcheldean.
Mill End Mitcheldean is not just a holiday house – it’s a living, breathing expression of creativity, hospitality, and reinvention.
Liz works hard to understand what your ideas, expectations and wishes are for your perfect gathering - the more details you can give her about what you want for your stay, gathering or event, the better she can help you co host, make suggestions and bring your vision in within budget. Mill End is not ‘just a house’. Mill End is a stage for wonderful experiences, photo opportunities and memories. Just add people!
Liz's Fashionable Beginnings
Liz, a fashion designer, theatrical costumier, stylist, writer, TV presenter, and academic, began her journey in the 1980s after completing a fashion degree then post-graduate degree in Bristol. Immersed in the post-punk and emerging hip hop scenes, Liz launched her own fashion label and opened a shop just off Park Street during the city’s cultural heyday. With Zoff, a former punk rocker and now a skilled builder and listed buildings specialist, she transformed an old car showroom into a fashion studio, retail store, and costume hire agency – a space that became a cultural hotspot in its own right hosting art shows along side fashion sales.
The Journey of Liz & Zoff: From Punk Rock, Hells Angels & Fashion to Gatherings & Feasting
Their energy spilled into nightlife and media: they promoted one of Bristol’s longest-running independent club nights, SPANK, which featured fashion shows and themed visuals. Liz’s talents took her into freelance lecturing in fashion and contextual studies, casting, styling, and prop work for TV and advertising, collaborating with BBC, HTV, MTV, and more. She also co-presented a live TV show for Wire TV and regularly contributed fashion articles to magazines, with her lingerie even selling through Agent Provocateur. Her work is now archived in the V&A and Bath Costume Museum. Her designs featured nationally on Jean Paul Gaultier’s Eurotrash and Janet Street Porter’s Youth TV show and in The Face and iD magazines.
Il Bordello: A Floating Haven for Creativity
In one of their most ambitious ventures, Liz and Zoff bought a 100-foot Dutch barge from the Bristol Hells Angels and transformed it into Il Bordello, a floating arts bar and creative venue. This eccentric members-only hub hosted a who’s-who of the city’s cultural elite: Massive Attack, Banksy, Portishead, Nick Walker, Roni Size, film & TV actors, poets & writers and creatives from Aardman and Bolex Brothers. From burlesque supper clubs to poetry nights, product launches, and cocktail soirees, Il Bordello embodied their flair for bringing people together in extraordinary settings. Notably, it was the first UK bar to sell vapourised alcohol, garnering media attention as far as Japan and Australia.
Mill End: A Fusion of Urban & Rural
Medieval Mill End Mitcheldean was a 600-year-old mostly derelict village shop, pub, and barn, now lovingly restored into a characterful holiday home that sleeps and seats up to 40 guests (if booking Zoff’s cottage next door). This space carries layered textures of reclaimed wood, bespoke interiors, graffiti murals by Jody and FLX of Children of the Can, and a curated mishmash of art, books, cookware, vintage toys, and musical instruments.
Your Mill End Experience Awaits
Whether you're planning a family reunion, a corporate retreat, a hen do, or a relaxing getaway, Mill End has something to inspire.
With years of experience in hospitality and promotion, Liz can help you co-host your perfect gathering - making it more than just a weekend away - but a totally unique, stand out from the crowd immersive, fun stay away with family and friends. Wow factor graze tables on your night of arrival so no-one has to cook or have themed table scapes and dress up dinners to celebrate milestone birthdays and anniversaries.
Visit Bordello Banquets gallery page to see what can be yours to enjoy.
Central to the Mill End experience is Bordello Banquets, their in-house catering and events small business inspired by their earlier ventures. It brings the spirit of Il Bordello to the Forest - whether you're here for a hen do, family celebration, corporate retreat, or creative workshop, every gathering is enriched by the same thoughtful, irreverent energy & flair.
Mill End is more than a place to stay; it's a journey through a shared creative legacy. Every beam and floorboard whispers stories of club nights, fashion shoots, floating supper clubs, and rebellious reinventions. It’s a space for connection, imagination, and celebration – and a fitting tribute to a lifetime of living creatively.
