Relocating to the idyllic Devonshire countryside, to a small rural village surrounded by spectacular views is a dream for many. For John Greatwood and his family, it’s now reality.

John and his wife Phillipa lived and worked in Carshalton in South London with their four-year-old twins, Finley and Imogen. When it came to deciding where they wanted their children to go to school, the couple decided to pack up and move to the mid-Devon village of Hemyock.

With a clear vision for the home and location they wanted to live in, as well as a firm deadline for when they needed to be moved by in the country, John and Phillipa searched Rightmove and found the Cavanna Homes Oak Mount development in Hemyock.

“The area and its amenities were the biggest selling point for us, particularly as the local primary school is within walking distance of Oak Mount,” explained John. We also wanted to be within a 15-minute drive of Honiton as we have close friends who live there,” he added.

Oak Mount is within the Blackdown Hills National Landscape with some of the homes benefiting from views over uninterrupted countryside. The three and four-bedroom family homes are within walking distance to Hemyock village with local amenities on the doorstep, including a shop, pub, post office, a doctors’ surgery and pharmacy.

“We wanted a house with four bedrooms, a garage, space for a home office, and an open plan kitchen with dining space for family mealtimes”, said John. “We looked through the different house types on the Cavanna Homes website and found one that ticked all our boxes – the ‘Hockinston’!”.

The couple then booked to visit the Oak Mount Marketing Suite to find out more about buying with Cavanna Homes and to explore the area.

John said: “As the development was still in its early stages, not all the homes had been built yet, so the Sales Advisor arranged for us to see the same house type at one of their developments in Exeter whilst we were down visiting.

“We fell in love with the Hockinston and set the wheels in motion to reserve our brand-new family home at Oak Mount.”

As a Carpenter, John was able to easily visualise how their finished home would look, but to put Phillipa’s mind at ease, the couple booked a second visit to Oak Mount to look around the newly opened ‘Hockinston’ show home.

“We’d never reserved a home off plan before, so I was keen to visit the show home to see the build quality and layout of the house, and we weren’t disappointed”, said Phillipa.

She was also able to envisage where she could create an office to enable her to comfortably work from home as a Travel Consultant.

The idea of a new-build property enticed John and Phillipa because there would be no need for renovations or costly improvement works. New-build homes also have excellent energy performance ratings, making them cheaper to run than older properties.

Every home at Oak Mount is built with greener living in mind and is installed with high-quality wall and loft insulation, double glazing and an air source heat pump, which provides a low carbon heating alternative to gas.

“The Sales and Site team were great at introducing us to our air source heat pump, showing and advising us how to use it most efficiently,” said John.

The family collected the keys to their new home on 26th July and moved in two days later.

Finley and Imogen started at the local primary school in September; “We can do the school run in under 5 minutes with no need for a car, which is fantastic. It’s been a big change for the twins, but they’ve really embraced it and are settling in well”, said Phillipa.

“We love our new home and we’re living out our countryside dream”, added John.

Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals