Home Is Where The Heart Is At Rushden Development
Elaine Byrne and Mark Dickerson, and their nine-year-old Cockapoo called Mungo relocated to the Norfolk coast after years of enjoying holidays there. But, after just 12 months away, they realised they were missing family and friends and returned home to Rushden.
Elaine, 61, a former House of Fraser manager, and Mark, a 43-year-old aerial engineer, moved into their new home – a three-bedroom ‘Hutton’ house type at Davidsons Homes’ Sanders Fields development in Rushden – in February this year.
“Being in a picturesque village close to the seaside sounds like you are living the dream, but it wasn’t for us,” said Elaine. “The village was lovely and the people were great but it was just so quiet, too quiet for me. To be honest, what I was missing was my family and friends being close by. In the winter I felt really isolated. It really did not work out for me and I needed to move back home.”
The couple sold their Norfolk home and moved into a rented two-bedroom static caravan just yards from the beach at nearby Caister-on-Sea while they researched their options.
“We were just yards from the beach and treated our stay there as an extended holiday because we started looking for a new home back in Rushden,” said Elaine. “We researched online what was available in the area and initially we wanted to buy a house at Davidsons Homes’ Diamond Heights development in Irthlingborough as it was as close as we could get to Rushden. But then we heard about Sanders Fields and knew that was where we wanted to be.
“We visited the site and I fell in love with it. The location could not be better. I had lived in Rushden for 20 years and call it home while Mark was born and bred in Higham Ferrers. This development is right in the middle of the two places, so it is perfect.
“As if that was not enough, I absolutely adore the ‘Hutton’ house. It is stylish and quirky and perfect for us. For me, it is one of the prettiest houses I have ever seen. There are two sets of French doors, one from the living room and one from the kitchen, into the lovely back garden which brings the outside in and helps make the spaces inside feel bigger. We can’t wait for the better weather and to have people round and get out there and have drinks and barbecues. The kitchen furniture is out there already and Mungo practically lives in the garden.”
Elaine and Mark paid £299,995 for their new home and are delighted with the property.
“This is the best house I have ever lived in,” said Elaine. “We bought off-plan so were able to pay that bit extra for a high gloss finish on the kitchen counters and opted for top quality tiles in the kitchen and bathroom as well as upgrading the carpets. The standard of finish you get with a property from Davidsons Homes is exceptional. Over the years I have bought five new-build homes from different housebuilders and Davidsons Homes are head and shoulders above the rest.
“I feel so lucky to actually live in this lovely house. Whenever people come over to see us I insist on giving them a tour of the whole house. I am so incredibly proud of the place.”
Elaine and Mark like eating out and going for drinks with friends and have a range of pubs and eating places they can walk to.
“Where we are is ideal,” said Elaine. “In one direction, we can walk for a quarter of an hour to meet friends at a pub in Higham Ferrers, while we can stroll 20 minutes the other way to see family in Rushden. It is great fun. It feels like we are discovering the area all over again.”
Elaine and Mark are such happy customers that they would not hesitate to recommend Davidsons Homes to family and friends.
“The entire home-buying experience with Davidsons Homes has been brilliant from start to finish,” said Elaine. “The sales advisors, Victoria and Alan, were lovely and Paul the site manager was a hero. There was nothing he would not do to help us out and one day he even offered to walk Mungo which must qualify as being prepared to go the extra mile.”
Elaine, who has three grown-up children and a granddaughter, says her door is always open to her family and friends: “We are delighted to be back where we feel we belong. Everything about the house feels right. There’s a bay window at the front of the house and Mungo likes to sit there and wait for his dad (Mark) to come home. When he sees him pull up he goes crazy. It’s really sweet.
“Like a lot of people, we fell in love with the idea of life in a quaint village near the coast but soon after moving there we realised that home is where the heart is. My home is in Rushden and that is where my heart is.”
There is currently a mix of three-, four- and five-bedroom houses available to reserve at Sanders Fields, with prices starting from £294,995. Find out more at davidsonshomes.co.uk.
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