As his family outgrew their lodge in a caravan park, Anthony Mills began the search for a new house in the Welsh countryside. Anthony and family found their perfect property at Anwyl’s Glyn Farm development in Colwyn Bay, where they plan to spend as many weekends and school holidays as possible, with their dream to make the move permanent in a few years’ time.
Anthony, 54, and partner Emma, 44, bought a four-bedroom Cheltenham townhouse at the Valley Road development for themselves and their two boys, 12-year-old Lucas and Jacob, who’s seven. After getting the keys in September, Anthony, who owns his own heating company in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said:
“It’s great. We’ve got fields at the back of the house and we’re in walking distance to the sea.”
The couple – Emma is a practice nurse in a GP surgery – have been holidaying in North Wales for many years, first buying a caravan and then a lodge which they loved, but as the children got older, they ideally needed something bigger. When it came to where, Glyn Farm ticked all the boxes, close to the town centre shops and the beach and promenade, and with great access to the surrounding countryside. Anthony said:
“We’re pretty much here every weekend and kids’ holidays and, when the youngest starts secondary school, we’ll probably move over here. We spend as much time as possible in North Wales as we really like it. It’s a nice place to live, so that’s the intention in the future.
“We had the lodge for five or six years, and we were wondering ‘what’s the next step?’ if we are thinking of moving here. “We thought if we bought a house, it would be ready to move to when we wanted and, for now, we can come here anytime throughout the whole year, we’re not paying site fees, and the kids aren’t sharing a bedroom now, they’ve got their own rooms.”
The couple decided to buy a brand new home because they didn’t want to have to carry out maintenance work when they came to relax and enjoy quality time together. They chose Anwyl because of the quality of build and good reputation as a ‘home-grown’ Welsh company. And they chose the Cheltenham design because they loved the style. The living room is at the front of the three-storey property, and there’s an open plan kitchen, dining, and family area at the rear, that will always be the hub of the home. On the first floor there are three generously-sized bedrooms, one with en-suite, and the family bathroom. The main bedroom, which has an en-suite and fitted wardrobes, encompasses the entire second floor.
“The Cheltenham is a really pretty home and it’s been carefully configured,” said Anthony. “All the rooms are a nice size, bigger than you see in other houses, and it doesn’t feel cramped. “We have the master bedroom on the top floor so it’s nice that we are on our floor and the kids are on their floor.
Downstairs, the living room is great to chill and watch a bit of TV and relax perhaps in the evenings, and the open plan living area at the back of the house is a really good size; you have the kitchen and the dining room, and you can even put a sofa in there.”
Once they’d reserved the house, Anthony and Emma were delighted to be able to choose all the fixtures and fittings, including the tiles and carpets.
“Having never had a new house before we didn’t know the process of what you could choose so, to be honest, we went a bit mad,” admitted Anthony. “We upgraded the kitchen, we added the quartz work surfaces, and we upgraded the tiles and opted for chrome sockets. “When we moved in, all we had to bring was our furniture, and everything was just as we wanted it.”
The family loves every hour they spend at Glyn Farm:
“We didn’t want to be on a massive housing estate where the houses were looking into one another. We’ve got fields at the back and it’s pretty open at the front, and we can actually see the sea! “There’s nothing negative at all. We made a wise decision. We are so pleased we’ve done it – we should probably have done it five years ago when we bought the lodge!”
Prices for the final handful of homes at Glyn Farm are from £379,995 for a four-bedroom detached Cheltenham style home. Just a short drive from the A55, it offers easy access to the whole of the North Wales coast, as well as Chester to the east. Colwyn Bay train station offers regular services to a number of destinations including Crewe, Chester, Bangor and Holyhead. For more information, visit Glyn Farm or call 01492 411218.
