Luxury Hospitality Blog

What Is the Role of an Estate Manager?

The estate manager’s role can refer to a variety of domestic management responsibilities. The experience of an estate manager in managing many homes and properties will be one of the critical factors when trying to find the right person for this role. Qualified managers will have experience working for families with three or more properties in one country or internationally.

Typically, the Estate Manager is the head of the employees in the house and is in charge of property administration. He or she will be flexible, organised, and highly competent in dealing with many properties if they exist. Many will have experience managing several residences, often in different countries, providing excellent international expertise. The estate manager will often live on the estate and have overall responsibility for it. In some cases, owners might be living away. On the other hand, it can also be their primary residence.

Estate managers can also be in charge of hiring and training new employees and overseeing ongoing personnel management. Depending on your demands, some Estate Managers have a more “hands-on” role, but their principal responsibilities include the direction and supervision of other household workers.

Which are the responsibilities of an Estate Manager?

Many of the responsibilities of an estate manager are also performed by a house manager. However, they are differentiated by their independent roles in the household.

At Melissa Offer, we only consider a candidate for the estate manager position if they have experience managing two or more properties. There are various properties like mansions, estates, townhouses, large luxury lofts or apartment buildings with at least two housekeepers and five full-time domestic employees.

An estate manager is usually responsible for 5-15 housekeepers, 2-3 chefs, 1-4 nannies, groundskeepers, maintenance personnel, a personal assistant, and a personal driver. The number of properties and employees an Estate Manager is expected to take care of may differ depending on your needs.

An estate manager is responsible for overseeing and managing properties, although not to the same extent as a property manager. An estate manager’s responsibilities include overseeing and managing budgets concerning the family office or finance/business office, and they will typically work closely with the personal assistants. They’ll be in charge of overseeing and managing employees, particularly hiring more household staff. An estate manager will be responsible for different projects. Therefore, they are expected to have prior project management experience. 

The estate manager may have to manage the family home depending on their household duties. If this is the case, they will have responsibilities similar to those of a home manager. On top of that, the estate manager is responsible for all the property, including building and land. They could also be in the order of the family’s household employees like nannies, personal assistants and housekeepers. 

On the other hand, some estate managers will control everything but the family home. The estate manager would manage the outside domestic staff in this situation, such as gardeners, farmworkers, and cleaners. Their responsibility is to guarantee that the property is always in good condition.

What Is The Difference Between An Estate Manager And A Household Manager?

There is a clear difference between these two roles. A household manager takes care of the property or house. On the other hand, an estate manager is responsible for the entire estate or more than one property. There are also some differences, such as being responsible for different tasks in the household and having a different employee relationship with household staff.

There are some similarities too, and tasks and responsibilities might sometimes overlap, such as overseeing staff members. However, both roles are different but equally important if you want to have a smoothly running household. It is necessary to understand both positions to be able to choose the right people for the job role. 

Finally, it is crucial to determine the tasks they are expected to complete.

While an estate manager and a household manager’s responsibilities may appear to be similar, household managers are often more “hands-on,” performing service activities rather than delegating them to other employees. 

The household manager is similar to the estate manager for a single-family home or a smaller estate/residence. They are in charge of training, supervising, managing, and assisting household employees. They’re flexible and always available, yet they respect privacy and confidentiality and remain professional on all occasions.

A household manager’s qualifications are similar to those of an estate manager in that both require a complex set of talents. Choosing a household manager with whom you are comfortable and confident is vital. Various experience in the hospitality and business environment is one of the main requirements when looking for a perfect person to fill an estate manager role.
Here at Melissa Offer, we understand how choosing the right person for an estate manager might be a complicated process. It can be much easier if you get in touch with professionals. Our team is here to help you choose the right role and the right person for it.