Ate Home: seaside, countryside and everywhere in between… It’s up to you!
LOOKING for a stylish, contemporary and lowmaintenance home for your retirement? With McCarthy & Stone you won’t be short of options. The company currently has new properties on sale in more than 130 locations all across the country – from Milngavie in Scotland right down to Carlyon Bay in Cornwall and in literally dozens of places in between.
Some people pick a location that’s close to their current home, so they can stay close to friends and family while moving to an energy-efficient home that suits their latest needs. Others head closer to grown-up children who moved away for work. Some chase better weather, maybe heading south or east in search of sunnier days. Ask around and you’ll find that some retirees decide to leave the suburbs and head towards town centres so they’re closer to the heart of things. Some edge the other way, so they can live in the calm of the countryside. Many still follow another popular dream – of living in style by the sea.
Here’s how, why and where two recent McCarthy & Stone residents decided to start their new lives.
BESIDE THE SEASIDE
THE call of the sea was too strong for Anne and Deric Thomas, when they looked for a new home last year. The couple were actually house-hunting from afar – they’d retired to Australia some 20 years earlier. ‘We made that move to be closer to our daughter and grandchildren, who had already moved out there,’ says Anne. ‘But when the children grew up we started thinking about returning to the UK. We’d had enough of the sun – which sounds funny, when we always complain about the British weather – and were looking to downsize to a smaller, more manageable property.’ Their first choice was Surrey, where their other daughter lived with her three young children. But they weren’t convinced it was the right choice. ‘Surrey seemed too landlocked for us. We wanted to be by the sea, as we enjoy the beaches and going for long walks,’ says Anne. The couple’s daughter suggested Poole in Dorset, where the McCarthy & Stone development, Clarendon House, stands near to the stunning, cliffside Branksome Dene Chine Beach. ‘Poole itself seemed to tick all our boxes, and being so close to Bournemouth and the variety it brings – the shows at the Lighthouse in Poole, the stunning botanical gardens and the nearness to Surrey – makes it an ideal spot for the grandchildren to visit,’ adds Anne.
The company currently has new properties on sale in more than 130 locations all across the country – from Milngavie in Scotland right down to Carlyon Bay in Cornwall.
THE COUNTRY LIFE
BY contrast, it was the hills of North Wales that were the big draw for keen hiker Aubrey Beynon, when he looked to relocate in retirement after spending most of his career in the West Midlands.
‘My daughter lives in Liverpool and enjoys rock climbing and frequently visits North Wales in pursuit of the sport,’ he says. After visiting her to watch a few climbs, he fell in love with the whole area and decided to put down roots nearby.
‘I began following the progress of a proposed McCarthy & Stone Retirement Living development on Anglesey and became the first to reserve an apartment.’ One year after moving into Plas Glanrafon, Aubrey says he has rekindled his old love of the countryside and of the great outdoors. He has walked almost half of Anglesey’s coastal paths and takes regular trips to walk in and explore the Welsh hills – including a recent steam-train trip through Snowdonia to Porthmadog with his daughter at his side.