Developer creates large luxury homes for people who don’t like gardening

Sun 15 Nov 2020

As homeowners reassess their lifestyle priorities during the pandemic many observers are noting that alongside the desire for more internal space a bigger garden is on the wish list.

But for some people, while extra indoor space for home working is essential, a large garden is an absolute no-no.

And for these buyers – the seekers of quality design, plenty of space, architectural style and every imaginable feature to maximise home comfort – a developer has created homes which tick the boxes without the nightmare which is a sprawling garden in need of tending.

The mega-pads have been created by a globe-trotting property developer for whom European cafe culture (when it resumes) is the way to live. They have the added bonus of being within easy access of a railway station offering a comfortable commute both to the capital and England’s second city if, post pandemic, a mix of home and office working is required.

The homes lie in Warwickshire’s Leamington Spa – a Regency town named a few years ago as the happiest place to live in the whole of Britain!

Gary Kedgley, a veteran of the international travel scene and a fan of Scandi living has created the kind of house he adored when he lived in Denmark. He believes many share his desire to be surrounded by beautiful historic architecture without the responsibility of living in it.

“Leamington is a stunning place architecturally. It’s full of grand Regency houses with high ceilings and huge windows which let in plenty of light. They’re very popular – but with history comes responsibility. And looking after a house which was built 200 years ago isn’t easy or cheap. They’re not very energy efficient, they can be draughty, and they have all sorts of creaky bits. What I’ve done is taken all the great features of that era – the light and the space and the high ceilings - and included them in easy to maintain, super energy efficient non-estate new-builds which contain everything you need for modern life.

“For me, life in Denmark epitomises everything that’s good about how we live now. We want to live in aesthetically pleasing spaces – with a grand space for cooking, relaxing, eating, entertaining and plenty of light. Always light – especially important for the Danes whose daylight hours are limited for much of the year. And flow – I like the spaces to flow into each other. So the living area flows into the garden. It flows into the bedrooms and the bathrooms. There’s space for everyone to be private and then somewhere the whole family can come together and be convivial.”

The quartet of four storey townhouses he has created under his Space GK brand are appended to one of the town’s famed Regency villas – a stone’s throw from the bustling café filled Parade, but hidden from the public’s view.

They are light and airy and provide a seamless transition from the main living area into a compact walled balcony garden – thus providing sufficient outdoor living space for breakfast, pre-prandial drinks and entertaining (remember that?) without the headache that comes with endless mowing and weeding.

Each home at Victoria Court in Kenilworth Road offers well over 2,500 sq ft of space over four floors, including a bright, light-filled 33-foot long living dining kitchen area, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large media room. They also each have a cloakroom, utility room, double garage and CAT6 wiring throughout to enable home working.

They are finished to an exceptionally high specification – with Duravit bathrooms, Hansgrohe taps, Matki shower screens, Miele appliances, Quooker taps, Hulsta wardrobes and high-speed broadband via Virgin media fibre optic cables. The lower ground and ground floors have wet zone under floor heating.

Prices begin at £899,950.

• (caption) Gary Kedgley at the contemporary townhouses in Regency Leamington Spa which offer every conceivable modern comfort and plenty of space without the gardening headache usually associated with this much interior accommodation.