Household governance & private staff
The human structure and the quiet order of your house.
This is not a question of adding people. PRAESTANTIA designs, structures and maintains the bespoke ecosystem of your property. A single role, an existing team to bring on, a whole new organisation, or several properties at once—we build the operational governance your life actually requires.
Looking for one particular role?
The standalone roles and the specialist skills that keep a house running day to day.
See the rolesWant to put your house in order?
A new organisation, a second home, or several properties at once—let us define the right structure.
Structure my organisationWant to get more from the team you have?
An audit, roles clarified, practice brought into line, and standards raised across an organisation already in place.
Assess my organisation
Dedicated staff
The six roles in this domain
Residential oversight
- 01
House manager
Overall view, coordination and day-to-day running of the house.
Set out a house manager brief - 02
Head housekeeper
Organises and oversees how the house runs from day to day.
Set out a head housekeeper brief - 03
House steward
Day-to-day oversight of the property, its suppliers and its systems.
Set out a house steward brief
Specialist skills
- 04
Linen & wardrobe keeper
Fine care of textiles, wardrobe and household linen.
Set out this brief - 05
Housekeeper
Deep care of interiors and the preservation of fine surfaces.
Set out this brief - 06
Factotum
General practical support, logistics and first-line maintenance.
Set out this brief
A team, not a stack of posts
A house does not work as a set of separate jobs placed side by side. PRAESTANTIA coordinates how the oversight, the household skills and the outside specialists work together, so that nothing catches.
Private dining, service and reception, personal assistance, family, property and residential security belong to the six other domains of the ecosystem.
Residential continuity
What happens to your property when you are not there?
- 01
Before you arrive
Aired, heated, fresh supplies in, the suites made ready.
- 02
While you are in residence
Daily service, governance in force, receptions and concierge.
- 03
While you are away
Operational watch, preventive maintenance, regular visits and checks.
- 04
After you leave
Inventory, deep care, the house closed down safely, supplies replaced.
Presence & watch over the property
Coordinating a caretaker or caretaking couple, monitoring the residential presence, managing access and ventilation, preparing the house ahead of storms or severe weather, and supervising craftsmen during works while the owners are away.
Strictly within the organisation and operational coordination of the property, to the exclusion of any regulated private security activity.
Secure the continuity of your propertyProperties
One household, several residences, one standard.
- Principal residence
- Second home
- Holiday villa
- Seasonal property
- Château & estate
- Hôtel particulier
- Mountain chalet
- A portfolio of properties
Standards and protocols brought into line—without flattening them, and without any house losing what makes it itself.
Organise several propertiesHow we work with you
One role or a whole organisation, set to the rhythm your house actually keeps.
Rhythms
- Permanent
- Regular
- Seasonal
- Occasional
When it applies
- Reinforcement for receptions
- A role covered temporarily during an absence
- Moving from one organisation to the next
- Preparing a newly acquired property
- Support through a holiday season
Organisation & handover
Build it, take it over, or bring it on
An existing team
Observation, roles clarified, the team added to, instructions set down.
A new organisation
Designing the whole scheme, identifying the skills needed, drawing up role descriptions, and handling induction.
Several sites
Shared standards, coordination between sites, central reporting, mobility.
Audit & raising standards
A team already in place can also move forward.
If your staff satisfy you but you notice friction, a loss of fluency, or service that has slipped, we intervene without calling the existing team into question. Through discreet observation on site—expert immersion, or Mystery butler—we set out a precise assessment and support the team in raising its standards.
- Service practice and cleaning protocols audited.
- How the workload falls, and the rotas improved.
- Reporting lines and how people communicate, clarified.
- Stock, consumables and quotations handled better.
- Etiquette and residential bearing brought on.
Coordinating suppliers
We coordinate the ecosystem of your property.
PRAESTANTIA coordinates
- Scheduling
- Access
- Quality followed on the ground
- The point of contact for owners
- Reports on progress
Qualified professionals carry out the work
- Electrical work
- Plumbing
- Pool and HVAC servicing
- Services falling under regulated private security activity
- Complex tree surgery
- Engineering
PRAESTANTIA carries out a coordination and operational oversight engagement on behalf of the owner. Regulated technical work, and work requiring specific certification, is performed under the sole responsibility of certified firms or craftsmen. PRAESTANTIA acts in no capacity as project manager, chartered accountant, statutory technical inspector, or private security operator.
Receptions & the art of hosting
A reception never calls on one role alone.
- House managerSchedule & quotations
- Head housekeeperChina & linen inventory
- House stewardDrinks deliveries & access
A single requirement can draw several roles together. PRAESTANTIA coordinates how they work together, around one house and one occasion.
Method
Seven stages
- 01
Selection
Identifying the skills, the experience and the human fit that the structure defined for the property actually needs.
- 02
Forming the team
Skills assembled coherently, according to the property.
- 03
Induction
First immersions, and the rituals of the house passed on.
- 04
Structure
Role descriptions, rotas and protocols drawn up.
- 05
Coordination
Day-to-day direction and operational adjustment.
- 06
Continuity
The standard held through the seasons and the absences.
- 07
Bringing on
Immersion, audit and continuing training for the teams in place.
Frequently asked
What people ask us most
Do you provide one person, or build a team?
We answer a search for a single role—a head housekeeper, say—as readily as the forming, reshaping or running of a whole team.
Can you work with a team already in place?
Yes. We fit into the organisation as it stands, to coordinate it, give it structure or improve it, without requiring that anyone be replaced.
Can a single role be set up on its own?
Certainly. You can come to us for one specific requirement and still have the rigour we bring to structure.
Can you work in a second home?
Yes. We set the presence and the running of the house to the owner's calendar of stays and absences.
Can you coordinate several properties at once?
It is one of the things we do best: bringing standards and coordination into line across all of your residences.
Can this be seasonal?
Yes. Our arrangements include reinforcement for high season and for holiday periods.
Can you arrange short-term reinforcement?
For receptions, works or events, we bring in additional teams who are operational from the first day.
How are outside firms coordinated?
The house steward or the house manager handles the schedules, opens the doors, follows the work on the ground, and checks that quotations and invoices submitted are complete and consistent.
Who carries out regulated technical work?
It is entrusted to approved firms and craftsmen. PRAESTANTIA handles only the scheduling and the operational coordination.
Can you coordinate a caretaker, or a presence on the property?
Yes. We direct the residential presence and the protocols followed while the house stands empty, within the organisation and operational coordination of the property, and to the exclusion of any regulated private security activity.
Can you bring household staff and a private chef together?
Yes. We keep the kitchen, the service at table and the general upkeep of the house working smoothly with one another.
Can you work alongside a family office?
Readily. The house manager becomes the family office's technical contact on the ground, and reports to it clearly.
Can you audit or bring on a team already in place?
Yes. Through our immersion and audit service—Mystery butler—we support the raising of standards and bring service into line.
How does the first conversation work?
A first confidential conversation lets us study how your properties are set up, and put forward an organisation that suits them.
What organisation does your house actually need?
Tell us where you stand. A few details are enough to begin. Together we will settle the organisation, the roles and the level of coordination your property requires.
Describe your requirement