Some things are written in the stars and for a young couple, discovering their perfect family home at Bewley Homes’ Watership Place in Whitchurch, it was love at first sight.
Dipesh and Sonal Bhundia have reserved The Shalford, a four bedroom detached family home priced at £594,950.
The couple, who have a two-year-old son, have been living in Hayes, Middlesex with Dipesh’s parents. Whilst owning some investment properties, the couple had yet to buy their first family home.
However, they decided to start their property search when the Government announced the Stamp duty holiday. Dipesh, 30, knew it was the just the incentive they needed and the IT software consultant and his wife Sonal, 28, a primary school teacher, knew it was the right time.
The Bhundias had started to scour Rightmove with a budget in mind and agreed that their must-haves were: four bedrooms, a large open plan kitchen/diner and generous living room, as well as a really good sized garden.
Bewley Homes kept coming up on their on-line searches, so Sonal arranged a viewing at Watership Place.
Sonal Bhundia recalled: “We didn’t know much about the Whitchurch area, but we wanted to move away from a built-up, busy area like Hayes and start a new life in the countryside. My husband works in the City, so we were focusing on places that had a railway station and excellent links into London Waterloo.”
“Whitchurch is such a beautiful area,” said Dipesh. “We drove up to Watership Place and it felt so homely and peaceful. As soon as we walked through the front door of the showhouse, we knew it was going to be the style of property for us and we fell in love with the house. The beautiful finish, the tasteful colour palette of greys and whites was exactly what we would choose.
“Not only does the layout have a big open plan kitchen/dining area and really well thought out storage and cupboard space, but the living room is equally large. Upstairs, we were thrilled to discover that two of the four bedrooms have en suite bathrooms. Outside, the garden was a great size exactly what we were looking for.”
On a practical level, the couple loved the fact that the showhouse gave them a template to see what would work well for positioning furniture and creating and fitting the storage options that would give them the uncluttered, savvy use of space, they like.
Watership Place is situated on the edge of a forest and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Sonal’s teaching background has involved working with forest schools, so the potential to make that transition from an urban school field to an authentic real-life forest setting with Whitchurch’s local primary school is revelatory.
Whitchurch is a historic town with an active community and excellent amenities including good primary and secondary schools with a fine selection of independent and other state schools within a 20-minute radius. The railway station and nursery are both around a 10-12 minute walk from Watership Place.
Sonal added: “We cannot praise Emma and Roisin in the Bewley Homes’ sales office enough. They have always been prompt to get back and answer any questions and are so helpful and professional. We can’t wait to move into The Shalford in January and put our own stamp on the home with our personal finishing touches.
“We worked out that if we bought a second hand property, we would end up spending more of our budget on repair and decoration work. Our new build home will not need a penny spent on maintenance, so we are saving money as well as the stamp duty! We can’t wait to explore the fantastic walks and places of interest on our doorstep.
“It’s a great location for us to raise a family. This move was meant to be!”
Elaine Stratford, sales and marketing director at Bewley Homes, commented: “I’m so glad the Bhundia’s have found their perfect family home. It’s always a thrill when you can match what a buyer is looking for. It’s such an important decision and we delighted they have chosen Bewley Homes. The Shalford is a stunning family home which offers everything on a buyer’s check list.”