Cheers to a new home
IF YOU’RE in mourning for this year’s largely cancelled Oktoberfest then it’s time to start thinking outside the box, or at least outside the home brew kit in your box room. Sales of home brew were up by 500 per cent during lockdown but if you’d rather use your bedrooms for sleeping or working, moving near a craft brewery makes sense.
Although coronavirus has badly affected breweries and pubs, if you live near a craft brewery the chances are you can get free deliveries to your door.
At Barratt Homes’ Chilmington Green development in Kent, the sales team organises welcome hampers for new residents put together by Curious Brewery, UK Brewer of the Year in 2019 and an offshoot of one of England’s leading winemakers, Chapel Down.
“It’s fantastic to have Curious Brewery so local to us at Chilmington Green,” says new resident Sarah Horvah, 53, who downsized to a three- bedroom end- of- terrace house at the development near Ashford with husband Geoff, 56.
“We have bought their cider, lager and IPA – we love them – and in fact we are always telling people to purchase from them. Our Curious Brewery moving- in hamper from Barratt was excellent and we really enjoyed having a local tipple on our lovely new balcony.”
The couple decided to start a new chapter in their lives after their four adult children left home. They sold their fivebedroom townhouse in nearby Singleton to move to the more energy- efficient smaller home at Chilmington Green, which is part of Ashford’s new Garden City. “We loved Ashford so we were keen to stay local. Also, we wanted to stay close to where the children are living now, just in case they need us,” says Sarah, a teacher.
Their three- storey Fern design house has a large master bedroom with ensuite plus two more bedrooms and a family bathroom on the top floor, a first- floor lounge with French doors to a large balcony and an open- plan kitchen- diner and family room on the ground floor.
Nature
“We have enjoyed long summer evenings on the balcony,” says Geoff. “We really love the layout and design of the home and this was one of the big appeals of the property.”
Its position, surrounded by open countryside including protected woodlands, is also important to the couple, not least because they have two dogs.
“Being close to nature was a draw for us. The area is green and peaceful,” says Geoff, a product quality controller who commutes to Ashford by car in just 10 minutes.
Community facilities including a GP surgery, library, post office and village hall are a 10- minute walk from the homes, with three- bedroom houses from £ 364,995
( 0333 355 8502; barratthomes. co. uk).
Eventually Chilmington Green will feature around 5,750 houses, delivered by a number of developers, with plans for schools, more shops and a country park.
Maidstone in Kent, a town with a history of commercial brewing dating back to before 1650, is home to the craft brewery Goachers Ales, not far from the new Dandara development Willow Grove.
Two, three and four- bedroom homes at Willow Grove, in a rural setting near villages including Yalding and Marden, have been built in the local Kent style but with contemporary interiors and cost from £ 450,000 ( 01892 730695; dandara. com).
“Kent has a long tradition of growing hops for commercial brewing, with Maidstone in particular dominating the market thanks to the authentic micropubs and alehouses that are still thriving here,” says Louise Norman, associate sales and marketing director at Dandara South East.
“When swapping the German beer hall for the kitchen table, the rural setting of Willow Grove is the perfect backdrop for a Kentish twist on the Bavarian festival.”