Home up for sale has own Christmas tree farm

CHRISTMAS could come early if you’re looking to buy a new home as a property has gone on the market which comes with its own tree farm.

The property, which is called Ty Cerrig and includes a family home as well holiday lodges along with the Christmas tree farm, is set over 27 acres and has the potential to offer immediate income.

Located in Bonvilston, the property is on the market with Herbert R Thomas for £1,475,000.

Ty Cerrig’s main building is a detached and extended barn conversion, with its own garden plot of about two acres.

There are eight acres of Christmas trees – with approximately 16,000 trees in total – and 8.5 acres of young developing woodland, complete with two high-quality holiday lodges.

The tree business was started by Andrew and Charlotte Lord who decided to start growing their own after struggling to find a fresh, locally grown one themselves.

Charlotte said: “Every year, we would drive for miles around the Vale of Glamorgan, and beyond, searching for a Christmas tree that had not been cut weeks earlier and transported for miles.

“We soon discovered that many of the Christmas trees being sold locally were being imported from Ireland and Scandinavia.”

The enterprising pair quickly went from a forest of just a couple of hundred to more than 16,000.

“We planted about 200 Norway spruce in the corner of a field behind our house thinking that would be plenty for ourselves, our family and friends,” said Charlotte.

“But then we thought that perhaps other families might enjoy coming along to choose their own locallygrown Christmas tree too, and, being a bit of an entrepreneur, Andrew worked up a business plan.”

As neither of them had experience of growing Christmas trees, although Charlotte had grown up on a market garden, they joined the British Christmas Tree Growers’ Association whose members were helped with the choice of which trees to grow and how to look after them.

Charlotte added: “We planted 5,000 trees annually in the first few years.

“We chose to grow the most popular variety, the non-drop Nordmann fir together with the traditional Norway spruce, but also to try out six other varieties including two pines, Fraser firs, blue spruces, Serbian spruces and grand firs, to see what would grow well here and to increase customer choice.”

The Christmas tree business was established in 2006 and a full list of equipment and accounts are available at request to genuinely interested parties following a viewing.

Don’t miss more hot properties in South Wales in today’s homes pullout.