All Wells and good
CONVENIENT: The Windsor Suite at Molyneux Place is just a short walk from Royal Tunbridge Wells’ town centre
WHAT would newspaper letter writer Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells think of the Kent spa town in the 21st century? Would they approve of the plans to build a new theatre or hopes to redevelop the old cinema site into a new cinema with shops and restaurants?
Would Disgusted still be harrumphing about the commuting time to London Charing Cross – less than an hour – or the standard of schools – mostly grammar schools and outstanding-rated comprehensives?
And what about Rightmove’s survey last October that named it the happiest place to live in Kent and the fifth happiest place in Britain?
Royal Tunbridge Wells, to give it its full title, has a lot to be happy about. Sitting on the Kent-Sussex border about 40 miles south east of London, the heart of this historic town is the elegant Georgian colonnaded walkway The Pantiles. The area started attracting royal visitors after a spring was discovered in 1606 – the iron-rich spring water was considered a health tonic – and became hugely popular in 1735 when Richard “Beau” Nash, who had elevated Bath to Britain’s most fashionable city, became its Master of Ceremonies.
Now The Pantiles is home to independent shops, galleries, cafés, bars and restaurants and the town has a leisurely atmosphere thanks the enormous Tunbridge Wells Common and the more formal Calverley Grounds park – overlooked by grand houses designed by Decimus Burton, who was responsible for the Palm House and Temperate House at Kew Gardens and the layout of Hyde Park.
Ian Wilson, assistant manager at Andrews estate agents, points out that although the Burton-designed homes sell for well over £1million, there is a wide range of properties and prices in the area.
“There’s a good mix, from city properties to big country houses,” he says. “Probably a lot of people just step up from one level to another.”
Studio flats start at around £125,000 with one-bedroom flats at £175,000 and houses starting at £250,000 to £300,000, says Wilson, with prices rising the closer you get to good schools.
Andrews has a studio flat for sale at Upper Grosvenor Road for £170,000 leasehold, which has a high-ceiling, open-plan living space, a conservatory used as a bedroom, residents’ parking and a communal garden (01892 515144; andrewsonline.co.uk).
It also has a Victorian detached family house in Dorking Road with an open-plan kitchen/breakfast room, log burner in the living room, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It is for sale at £600,000.
The town is a popular place for downsizers, too, often selling large homes in the surrounding villages – which tend to be more expensive than the town – to move closer to facilities.
“If you are downsizing into town you will save money,” says Wilson. But he adds: “You can still buy a £1million flat in certain developments. When people downsize they want to lose bedrooms rather than living space.”
Batcheller Monkhouse estate agents has a penthouse apartment that would fit the bill called The Windsor Suite at Molyneux Place, in Molyneux Park Road, for £895,000 (01892 512020; batchellermonkhouse.com).
The two-floor apartment is a short walk from the common and town centre and has a roof terrace and galleried sitting area, a large living space and two bedrooms.
There are also new developments outside town, with Dandara’s Knights Wood in Knights Park the biggest. There is one two-bedroom house still available at £369,000, with three-bedroom semi-detached houses from £466,000 (01892 800580; dandara.com). Phase Two will launch in September and the area already has a new primary school.
Tunbridge Wells may once have been known for its stuck-in-the-mud residents but in 21st-century Britain they surely have a lot to be happy about.