Three-Storey Heaven for First Time Buyers Leah and Danny

Leah Brown (24) and partner Danny Hobbs (30) remembered one piece of family advice as they began their hunt for their first home together – ‘make sure you get a house you can grow into’.

 

Keen to stay in the vicinity of their childhood village of Cam in Gloucestershire, the couple had visited some new build developments and were feeling underwhelmed by the choices on offer.

 

That was until a visit to Wain Homes’ Lister Gardens development on Box Road in Cam changed their outlook completely.

 

Leah explains: “We loved it as soon as we saw it, simple as that. Walking around the estate, it felt spacious and open, unlike many of the tightly packed, enclosed developments we have previously visited.

 

“And then we saw the house. An attractive exterior to a property is really important to me and one home really stood out to us. I wanted a home which looks good from the outside to make me feel happy when I arrive home and this property looked very traditional and oozing with character and the dormer window hinted at the space inside. When something looked so perfect, we felt it just wouldn’t be possible for us to own it."

The house in question was the four-bedroom, three-story end terrace Jenner. Finished in Cotswold stone with a contrasting red brick garage, it looked from the outside like the couple’s dream home. Featuring a spacious open plan kitchen diner with contemporary dark navy kitchen units, a large lounge and downstairs cloak room, three good sized bedrooms and family bathroom to the first floor and a showstopping principal bedroom suite with en suite to the second floor, would the interior live up to expectations for a couple who enjoy socialising and entertaining?

 

“Entering the top floor bedroom suite was breathtaking” says Leah. “We never set out with the intention of choosing a three-storey house but as soon as we looked around, that piece of advice we’d been given about buying a home you can grow into became obvious to us. This was a home with the space and versatility that you could adapt it for every stage of your life. I don’t think anybody wants to have to move house if they don’t need to and looking around the Jenner we immediately realised what great advice we’d been given; we feel we could stay here as long as we wanted.

 

“We currently use the entire top floor as a luxurious bedroom suite, meaning there are three spare bedrooms on the first floor which gives visiting friends and family privacy on a separate floor. Our en suite basically functions as the main bathroom and it feels almost quirky with the slanting ceiling giving it real character. Having the additional floor also gives us some great views; from one side we can see Cam Park and from the rear we look over open green fields. Three storeys really opens up views you simply wouldn’t enjoy in more traditional two storey homes.”

It was during the first visit to a Wain Homes show home the couple had the confidence to take the plunge in buying their first home together.

 

Leah says: “Danny is a carpenter and was immediately impressed by the standard of all the workmanship that had gone into the property. Danny has two brothers who have both bought new build homes and when they visited, they agreed the quality of the Wain Homes construction was much higher that others. We knew Wain had a good reputation locally anyway, so that put us at ease, but seeing the quality first hand was reassuring and left us in no doubt that a new build home would be a good option.”

 

The couple have now been in their home for nearly three months and, along with their three-year-old Tibetan Terrier dog Percy,  have settled in well.

“Buying your first home can be a daunting prospect but everyone at Wain was so helpful, friendly and supportive” said Leah. “We never felt like we had a silly question and we were guided throughout the whole buying process and even after we moved in, the site team have been brilliant; it feels like they’re only got our interests at heart and go out of their way to make sure we’re happy. What we know can be a stressful process of moving into a new home was made really easy and totally stress-free.”

 

The couple have also noticed another benefit to a new build property. Leah explains: “We were conscious, as first time buyers, of the impact of household bills but our first few gas and electric bills have been so low due to the heat retention, insulation and energy efficiency of this property.

 

“We didn’t want to get into the position of pushing ourselves too far financially, so to see how efficient and cheap it is to run this house has really helped with the finances.”

 

 So no regrets then?

 

“Absolutely not” says Leah. “It’s a lovely area, great for walking Percy and we are just minutes from the train station which takes us directly into either Bristol, Cheltenham and Gloucester, which is great for socialising, shopping and work.

 

“We’ve certainly got the house we can grow into and me and Danny, we both love it; in fact, we could stay here forever.”