Journal
Notes from Tarrant Place
For households and for the staff we place: practical notes, news of the agency and, now and then, a statement.
2026
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Planning for the holidays
Temporary staff for December, travelling with staff over the winter, and the office’s closure between Christmas Eve and the new year.
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A house manager’s first ninety days
Every household is a small institution with its own history. Notes for the house managers we place on how to join one without breaking anything.
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The Residence Code, fifth edition
The fifth edition of the Residence Code takes effect on April 1. What has changed, and what has not.
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Will machines run the household? Our clients say no
Robot vacuums, voice assistants and refrigerators that order the milk. What the households we act for have kept, and what they have quietly unplugged.
2025
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A statement
On the nanny who left a placement with a family in Medina on September 9 and has not been found.
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A statement concerning a claim
A former house manager has brought a claim against a household and against the agency concerning hours she says she spent on call while living in.
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Why our confidentiality agreements run for twenty years
Every member of staff we place signs a confidentiality agreement with a term of twenty years. Candidates ask why. This is the answer.
2024
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Companions: what families ask us
A companion is not a nurse, a housekeeper or a minder. What our companions for older clients do, and what we tell families who are thinking of one.
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The Register: your placements online
From this month households and placed staff can sign in to the Register to see their placements, agreements, invoices and hours.
2023
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A change at Tarrant Place
From July 1, Caroline Rendle becomes managing director of Larchcombe, the third generation of the family to run it. Joan Rendle becomes chair.
2022
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Booking summer staff for the islands
Ferries, housing and the third week of June: what to settle before you ask us for seasonal staff in the San Juans or on Bainbridge.
2021
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Sixty years on Queen Anne
The first card in my mother’s index is dated September 4, 1961. A note on sixty years, and on the household that started it.
2020
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Households in residence: our advice for the coming weeks
How we are helping households whose staff will stay in residence while the stay-at-home order lasts, and what we are asking of everyone.
2019
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What we mean by live-in
A live-in position is a residence, not a shift. What that means for the staff we place, and for the households they live with.