Couple Celebrate a DIY Free Lifestyle in Cranbrook
Mark (54) and Mel (49) are both local to Kent. They decided last year to sell up both their homes and purchase a home together. Mel had lived in Hastings in her quirky cottage for 17 years while Mark lived in the village of Hawkhurst for the past 19 years.
Buying a newly built home couldn’t have been further from Mel’s mind as she said goodbye to her seaside home and moved in with Mark in December. The couple were sure that Mel's house would take a while to sell but it was not to be, and the couple then had the challenge of selling Mark’s house before they could make any bold decisions.
It was during winter 2023 that they fell over Berkeley’s Farmstead in the attractive village of Cranbrook after agreeing they would not start looking for a home until Mark’s was under offer. The couple went to view the showhome out of curiosity over any desire to purchase the home.
This was a fatal error, as the second Mel and Mark stood in the showhome they were captivated. There was just one three-bedroom home left on the development and there was no way they were leaving without securing it.
Mel explains: “We just knew this was our forever home as soon as we saw it. The Herne house type was everything I wanted from a home. It was tricky as we still had one property to sell but Berkeley saved the day by allowing us to use their Assisted Move scheme.”
This scheme took all the stress out of Mark and Mel’s lives, as the Berkeley team got three valuations for the home, they were then responsible for the entire sale. Mark comments:
“It was brilliant, we didn’t have to pay any estate agent fees and they did the whole job for us. We moved into our new home 48 hours before the time was up on using Assisted Move – we were so lucky.”
Mel works as a conveyancer and added: “Working in conveyancing certainly was helpful. I knew when to put some pressure on, what to say and who to call.”
Mark works as a printer in East London and commutes by car into the office every day, he said: “My commute hasn’t changed since moving here but I come home to my new house with views across fields and its idyllic.”
The couple were drawn to the intelligent layout of the home. Mel said: “It sounds odd but I walked into the utility room and knew this was my home – it was exactly as I pictured it would be. The whole layout of the house is perfect for us. We have great space downstairs, a really large garden with beautiful views and three bedrooms, one of which is my office and one is a spare room.
For Mark, the lack of DIY needed was the thing that captured his heart. He laughs: “My dad was a DIY fiend and I think his passion for working all weekend every weekend rubbed off on me, so I am exactly the opposite. I don’t care if I never hold a paintbrush again in my life – and to be honest I’m not great at DIY so best left to the experts.”
Mel added: “We have friends that have just bought a new house and it needs a lot of work. Every weekend they are slaves to B&Q and working on their house, while Mark and I get to enjoy life – I know which I would rather be doing!”
Mel also enthuses about the storage: “I didn’t think that new build homes had good storage but that is not the case here. We have so many cupboards and space to store everything we need. And a loft for the larger items which is great. We are planning on putting a summer house in the garden as we have so much garden space and we can’t wait to be able to sit in the garden and just chill after a day at work.”
Like so many modern households, Mel and Mark have a dog who is also loving living at Farmstead. Eddie is a Pomchi and he loves the garden and the lovely walking trails which are accessible from the development. Mark adds: “Farmstead was previously a farm so there are stunning established trees and hedgerows on the development, Berkeley has preserved the nature and heritage of the site beautifully and we are very lucky to live here.”
Berkeley recently laid on a ‘meet the neighbours’ event which the couple enjoyed, Mel muses: “I know the names of all the dogs on the development but it was nice to put names to our neighbours. They are all extremely friendly and we are looking forward to making a life for ourselves here.”
Find out more about Farmstead today.
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