Revelling in the luxuries of lodge life
When a new home is built, it is unlikely to be surrounded by mature trees, plants and flowers.
The norm is for there to be only young specimens, and it will take years before the vegetation is seen at its best.
It’s the same for bricks-andmortar homes as it is with homes in residential or holiday parks. But one lodge park is bucking that trend. Palstone, in South Devon, has plots that have already been matured over a quarter of a century – because one of the owners has been planning the site for all that time.
Matt Morgan was brought up on the farm where the lodges now stand and, over the years, he planted more than 1,000 varieties from all over the world there. As a consequence, Palstone has honey Bee Friendly status and has won a David Bellamy Conservation Award.
Twenty-three new plots at the site, on the edge of Dartmoor, have just been made available. When the first tranche went on the market ten years ago, reservations were taken for every unit in under a month.
Lodges at Palstone, which start at £195,000 for a two-bedroom property, are made from cedar, and the annual service charge is £2,750 plus VAT. This includes upkeep of the gardens. But each property is free from stamp duty and council tax, as they are licensed to be holiday homes only and cannot be used as permanent residences.
Rebecca and Phil Grant, who have two children, Rory, seven, and Oscar, three, are delighted with the surroundings of the Palstone lodge they bought a decade ago. ‘It’s not set out in a grid pattern or in a way we might have expected from a holiday park – it’s natural and the site is planned to ensure each home feels private and secluded,’ says Rebecca, from harpenden in hertfordshire.
Secondary rentals or large parties are not allowed on the site. ‘It’s hugely comforting to know what to expect whenever we visit the lodge,’ Rebecca adds.
Retirees Peter and Yvette Cheeseman, from Wareham, Dorset, also have a lodge there.
‘We loved the concept and couldn’t quite believe that Matt had been planning the site for 25 years, planting unusual and exotic plants and trees over that period in readiness for the eventual arrival of the lodges,’ says Peter.
‘We love coming here throughout the year and look forward to seeing the seasons change.
‘In the spring and summer you’re surrounded by explosions of colour and a cacophony of birdsong.’
There are open days at Palstone on Sunday, June 25, and Saturday, July 29.
Other new holiday lodges just coming on to the market are available at Cider house Park, set around an ornamental lake near Uckfield in east Sussex. Properties are available from £250,000, and there are open days at the site on July 1 and 2.
If you are looking for a home on a park that you can make your permanent residence, rather than just a place for the holidays, there are a number of new locations coming on the market.
Starglade Park homes has new developments at Wisteria heights, near Chichester, West Sussex; Arch Grove, near Stowmarket, Suffolk; Castle View Park near Arundel, West Sussex; Stone heights on the hertfordshire/Buckinghamshire border; Stroud heights on the outskirts of Stroud in the Cotswolds; and Riverview Court, close to the coast at Sandown on the Isle of Wight.
And for those who love the sea, Parkdean Resorts has just unveiled two new seaside holiday lodges at two of its parks in Devon – Bideford Bay holiday Park and Ruda holiday Park, near Croyde Bay.
The Willerby Clearwater lodge at Bideford is brand new for 2017, and the Regal Symphony lodge, available at Ruda, has been redesigned for this season.