Bradley Budd (34) and his partner Lauren Roth-Brown (33) have been searching for the ideal country home for 3 years since 2021. Originally settled in close-by Marlborough, the couple found City & Country’s Burderop Park development ticked all the boxes, making their just out of reach of rural life a reality.
Moving from a four-bedroom 350-year-old Victorian town house in the market town of Marlborough, Bradley and Lauren purchased a three-bedroom terrace/semi-detached new build home 15 minutes up the road without compromising on space or character.
Bradley commented, “Although Marlborough is still considered rural, being in the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, we really wanted to be surrounded by the countryside. That meant we started looking further afield to smaller villages like Baydon and Chilton Foliat.
He continued, “We came across Burderop Park by accident after originally putting in an offer for a new barn conversion property just over the road. Unfortunately, it fell through and in hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise. After doing some more research on Burderop Park we instantly fell in love with the location. The amount of green space we could benefit from as residents while still having access to everyday amenities meant Burderop Park put us in a nice, sweet spot.”
Before putting down a £1,000 reservation fee for their new home, the couple were sceptical about new build homes as they were quite boring and had no character. Bradley adds, “We had always agreed that we would never buy a new build because we didn’t believe they were particularly interesting. However, after visiting Burderop Park, we didn’t feel like we were sacrificing any of the heritage or space we had been used to in our previous period home. The Burderop Estate is a nice reminder of the history on site and it’s one of the reasons we decided to buy.”
After multiple viewings at Burderop Park, Bradley and Lauren decided to put their period home on the market. The proceeds from the sale enabled them to purchase a £540,000 The Pine home.
“You would think moving from a four-bedroom period townhouse to a three-bedroom open plan new build home would be downsizing but that isn’t the case. Our old home had one more bedroom but a closed-plan layout, which made it difficult for us to entertain when guests came to visit. The open-plan layout and large communal spaces is something we’ve always wanted and knew it was a must-have when we moved.” Bradley said.
Lauren added, “Bradley and I are both big entertainers so we wanted a space that would make hosting easier. We really didn’t need four bedrooms with just the two of us in the house, but we love having family and friends come to stay and when they do, we wanted the space to host them. The difference between our previous property and our current, is definitely the flexibility of living.”
The couple are now able to socialise wherever they are in the house. The Pine benefits from an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area on the ground floor, with three large double bedrooms on the first floor. The master bedroom even benefits from an ensuite.
Bradley says. “I love to cook and socialise at the same time but the great thing about our new home is the L-shape layout. Now, when I am tired or need to concentrate, I can hide behind the corner and get on with the cooking!”
The bedrooms are massive. We both wanted desks for when we work from home, but we didn’t want to give up potential bedrooms for family members to have when they come to visit. We decided to set up desks in the corners of our larger spare room, this managed to fit in, even with a king bed which also ended up being the perfect work from home set up!”
The development itself is very open and well-spaced out. The finishes are incredible. The thing that annoys me about most new builds is when you look around the property, there were always add-ons that aren’t included in the price but with City & Country, we could purchase knowing we would have the very best specification included. This helped us enjoy the benefits of our new-build home immediately rather than feeling like we were in a concrete-jungle complex.”
What’s more, with energy savings in their previous home being non-existent, the superior specification at Burderop Park offered the couple modern technological solutions.
“Our period home was an absolutely beautiful place, with lots of character and charm, but that also comes with a lot of upkeep and took up a lot of our free time keeping up with maintenance. Moving from old to new, we found that we are saving £250pcm in energy bills alone, this isn’t taking in to account the savings we are making on maintenance costs!” says Bradley.
Adding to their savings, Burderop Park is situated a 10–12-minute drive away from Swindon Station and is less than an hour’s commute into London Paddington. Both Bradley, working in finance, and Lauren in real estate, still need to work in the city so convenient travel was paramount.
“The line is really reliable and saves us a lot more time in the mornings – despite its expense! Whereas before, we were using Bedwyn Station by Marlborough which wasn’t very reliable and took much longer.” Bradley adds.
Over the last few years, the couple have welcomed two dogs, Leia and Nala, and thanks to Burderop Park, rediscovered their hobbies prior to city-living.
“Lauren is really into horse riding, and she has now joined a local riding school which is what she has always wanted to do. I have joined a local shooting club which is a three-to-four-minute drive from Burderop Park; we both go out cycling and there are great running routes around here.”
The savings Bradley and Lauren have made through buying new, have allowed them to live their country life to the full.
Bradley continues, “The location is just awesome. You feel like you’re in the depths of the countryside here and we can do all of these ‘country’ activities with five to fifteen minutes of your doorstep without going into a city – yet you can be in the middle of Swindon in twelve minutes, it really is the perfect place.”
Burderop Park is now 90% sold with a handful of two and three bedroom homes remaining. Prices start from £350,000 for a two bedroom coach house.
To find out more about Burderop Park, please visit www.cityandcountry.co.uk/ or call 01793 384 621.