Escape To The Country With The City In Sight 

The three-bedroom ‘Claydon’ at the housebuilder’s Churchfields development in North Yorkshire ‘ticks every box’ according to chartered surveyor Steve.

Steve, 63, explains: “We wanted to move for a number of reasons. Although I still have an interest, I had sold my business and we no longer had family ties to Bingley where we previously owned a four-bedroom barn conversion.

“We wanted to live somewhere more ‘countrified’. We travel quite often to Newcastle to see my son, George, and every time we came back before we’d say how nice it would be to live in North Yorkshire.”

Steve and Linda undertook huge amounts of research when looking for a home and while they would have considered an older property in need of renovation, they soon realised that they were either very expensive or too remote.

“We wanted somewhere that got us into the countryside,” adds Steve, “but which allowed us to keep in touch with civilisation.

“We started to think about something more modern and about energy efficiency and cost, and that was when we were driving along the A59 one day and saw Redrow’s flags outside the Churchfields development, called in and really liked the look of it.”

Green Hammerton is a charming village midway between York and Harrogate with its own primary school, pub, post office community hall and doctor’s surgery. With a train station just a mile away and the motorway network close by, cities like York, Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate are easily accessible by rail or road.

The development has a range of two-, three- and four-bedroom properties to appeal to a host of people, from first-time buyers, to families and ‘right-sizers’ like Linda and Steve.

Steve continues: “We wanted somewhere smaller that was easier to manage so we chose a three-bedroom detached Claydon property which suits us ideally. We liked the symmetry of the house with the lounge to one side and the kitchen/diner to the other. We loved the master bedroom with its en-suite and the fact that we still have a guest bedroom for when friends and family come to stay and a third bedroom that we can use as an office.

“The village is excellent with the post office and shop. We have the pub and village club, and the villagers formed a charity to build the village hall and the football and cricket pitches.  For us it fits the bill. We moved in two months ago and we love village life and our new home.”

Steve says the service he has received from Redrow has been excellent too and, though parts of the development are still being worked on, it is kept clean and tidy and is clearly well managed.

  For more details about all the homes available at Churchfields in Harrogate Road, visit the show homes open from Thursday to Monday inclusive from 10am to 5.30pm, or call 01423 586905.