Ashtav members were able to view English Courtyard’s development in Fordingbridge which is sited on brownfield land, formerly a timber mill.


ENGLISH COURTYARD GRACE THE ASHTAV AGM


Housing the over 55’s has had an unglamorous image of cheap, tiny flats and cottages, affordable, perhaps, but places oozing reduced circumstances and low expectations. Homes without style or substance, mere ante-rooms to extinction.


The keynote talk at ASHTAV’s AGM was given by Victor Kidd, chairman of English Courtyard assisted by Lynne Bower


The company,English Courtyard Developments Ltd, is twenty five years old. Its philosophy has remained constant and distinct:


To provide retirement homes,


To produce spacious properties, adaptable to the developing needs and changing aspirations of older people,


To provide a shared garden setting that is fully maintained,


To espouse good design and construction,


To insulate residents from spiralling costs through careful,


sympathetic and economic management.


English Courtyards is an appropriate brand name capturing its relation to the vernacular and suggesting a graceful, elegant style of living. Its first development was Manor Court in a picturesque riverene setting by the Avon at Pewsey in Wiltshire.


There are two faces to English Courtyards. Outwardly the morphology of these groups of properties has a timeless feel that comes from adopting the local style and placing the dwellings in a garden context that is imaginatively crafted to link to the wider landscape.


Internally, the dynamic responds to the changing market trends and feedback from customers. Underfloor heating provides economical delivery of uniform radiant heat across all parts of rooms. Bathrooms are larger than usual, not to provide a “mirror on which to dwell” but to allow space for a second person to assist.


English Courtyards research suggests that a prime motivation in moving to a smaller home for the third age is an unkempt garden.


English men and women can live with dust and clutter within a


2


house that is too large, that’s a manner easily kept private by raising the castle’s drawbridge. No, the mote that so often promotes a move is an unkempt moat outside. The garden that reverts to nature is regarded as unnatural, an eyesore; paradise lost may suggest to neighbours living hell, inside. English Courtyards ensure kempt surroundings and the smaller home allows a fresh chance to restore order and pride within. Key to its success is a separation between development and sustenance. English Courtyard Developments (ECD) is the risk- taker, identifying suitable sites, generating creative designs and su- perintending the building phase. Their profit ceases when the properties are sold. The entity that manages the properties, security and the environs is a not-for-profit company. That’s important for its emphasis is providing care not maximising profit. Thus, annual charges to the occupiers are kept low yet the resale value of the properties is sustained.


STOP PRESS It’s worth having a look at English Courtyard’s


internet site: www.englishcourtyard.co.uk


It has been awarded a prize as the best internet site of 2005 by


magazine. The judges praised the site:


“This sophisticated but easy to navigate site sits well with its target audience. Well laid out and stylishly designed, it promotes its independent retirement living developments well without shouting to the viewer.”


ASHTAV congratulates English Courtyard and its web designers:


Kall Kwik of Winchester.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24