After inheriting a large but rundown country house, David Robinson suggests turning it into a summer home for the children of the wealthy, hoping to expand their family after several failed ventures. His wife, Catherine Robinson, is cautious but ultimately agrees to the plan. They recruit a Matron and a Cook to run the place and place advertisements in The Times to attract paying families. Yet their budding enterprise immediately clashes with Mrs Spicer, a local councillor who intends to press the council to seize the house for her own project.
As the summer draws on, a varied group of children arrives: some are polite and helpful, others frightened, some boisterous and spoiled, and a few rebellious. Among them are an American brother and sister, alongside an English girl who insists—falsely—that she has been mistreated by her parents. The mix tests the Robinsons and their staff, who must navigate unpredictable moods and power plays, all while keeping up appearances for the paying families.
The situation grows tenser as the children’s behavior becomes more unruly. David pushes for a strict, disciplined approach, arguing that structure is the key to order, while Catherine believes in giving the children more freedom and room to grow. The pressure is amplified by the constant challenge posed by the drunken cook, whose unreliability undermines every attempt at control. The matron and the staff do their best to hold things together as tensions simmer beneath the surface.
A clandestine midnight trip to a nearby café leads to consequences: the children are grounded for two days, and the staff brace for the arrival of a local inspector who could determine the future of the holiday home. Mrs Spicer’s stance hardens and then softens, depending on how well the test goes, and she and the inspector finally arrive to observe the children’s behavior. The group cohesively behaves, and the test appears to go smoothly, reshaping the power dynamic on the property.
When the time comes for the parents to collect their children, David tells them that the children refuse to leave unless their parents pledge to spend more time with them and to stop sending them away to holiday homes and boarding schools. After the parents agree, all the children depart. Impressed by what she has seen, Mrs Spicer states she will no longer oppose the holiday home business. As the carriages pull away and the last echoes of the summer fade, their son, Angus, protests the loss of his playmates, prompting Catherine to suggest that perhaps they should consider having more children of their own.
