Cheers to the luxury village
DOWNSIZE your home, not your lifestyle, is the message from LifeCare Residences, which specialises in providing five-star retirement villages for the over-65s. And it’s not the only firm aiming to offer homes that focus on the individual; there are small developments all over Britain if you know where to look for them.
LifeCare Residences’ newest luxury retirement community is at Grove Place in Hampshire, where Tricia and Neville Caffyn are enjoying a new-found independence after selling their seven-bedroom home in the nearby countryside.
Their three-bedroom apartment in the converted Grade II listed manor house at Nursling, set in 27 acres, means they still have plenty of space.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better location,” says former nurse Tricia, 75. “Our sons are less than an hour’s drive away and many of our friends live locally, so life really does carry on as normal. We keep our cars at the property, so are as mobile as we were in our old house. We go to the same pub every weekend, just like we always have!
“Neville still goes to his old golf club, I still attend the same Pilates class in town and we both still watch the cricket at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The only thing that’s changed for us is our address.”
Downsizing gave the couple a chance to sort through their belongings and Tricia says: “We’ve made our new home into a condensed version of the old house.
“We’re still in charge of our own routine, whether we have guests for Sunday lunch in our apartment or visit the restaurant with other residents. Our grandchildren stay with us regularly and last Christmas we were able to gather the family together for a big meal in our apartment.
“Grove Place has enabled us to enter into the next stage of our lives with the confidence that our lifestyle doesn’t have to be compromised.”
People are increasingly retiring within the community where they have lived and made friendships.
This is also true of Londoners – although downsizing in the capital does not always mean releasing capital. Auriens, a new luxury development near the King’s Road in Chelsea, for instance has one-bedroom apartments starting from £3million. It is aimed at people looking to upgrade in later life while also downsizing and its 55 one and two-bedroom apartments will have 24-hour care provided by Draycott Nursing, a world-class restaurant led by consultant Seb Fogg and interiors by Richmond International who designed The Langham Hotel’s decor.
The communal gardens will be designed by RHS Chelsea Gold winner Andy Sturgeon, and among the facilities will be a spa, pool, gym, cinema and pet parlour.
Far more affordable but also far from London is Scalesceugh Hall & Villas in the Lake District, where Bruno and Dr Anita Herdeiro have created a “later-living development” in the grounds of an Edwardian mansion. The hall will have nine apartments as well as communal rooms such as a ballroom and library and will be priced from £250,000 to £350,000.
The couple hope to build more complexes around Cumbria and have deliberately avoided the “retirement village” tag. Anita says: “There will be a mixture of people as many do not retire until their mid-60s or 70s. We hope to create a mixed community.”
She adds: “We are very lucky in Cumbria. People here have not lost those community values.” INFORMATION:
LifeCare Residences: 02380 743595; groveplace.co.uk Auriens: 020 3870 7970; auriens.com Scalesceugh Hall & Villas: 07888 896902; scalesceughvillas.co.uk