A smart new development is rising out of the ashes of an arson-ravaged wasteland at Strensall. Brian Page reports.

WHEN David Wilson Homes launched their development at The Tannery, in Strensall, they were expecting some interest.

After all, this was intended to be a smart, select collection of homes in what is a well-served village popular with incoming commuters and longtime locals alike.

There are people here who can trace back their village lineage – and try saying that after a couple in either The Half Moon or The Ship – for generations.

But even DWH were taken aback by the numbers which swamped their sales office in the pre- Christmas launch.

More than 250 interested parties came along to take a tour of the new showhome and look at the development plans.

“I didn’t have time for a cuppa all day,” sales executive Sue says. “It was amazing.”

Sue and her colleague Rebecca make a good team. Rebecca knows the business inside out and Sue, who formerly worked for Hogg the Builder and has lived in or around Strensall all her life, knows all you need to know about what’s on offer in the village.

And it is clear both are hugely enthusiastic about the properties they are selling here.

“Just wait until you see the showhome,” Rebecca enthuses while Sue collects the keys to conduct the tour.

The showhome, a ‘Gilthorpe’ style, is a stunning five-bedroomed executive family home that not just impresses by size (it’s huge), but by style.

You are come into a spacious hallway and then step to the left into the main lounge. This is a great room, 18ft long and with French doors and deep windows to the rear letting in lots of light, offering a glimpse of a patio terrace and a landscaped garden beyond – and open countryside beyond that.

It is an elegant room, too, with a contemporary electric fire set into a decorative fireplace and, like the rest of the house, inventively dressed by the interior designers.

At the end of the lounge, a door opens through to a truly jaw-dropping wow-factor moment… the back of the house consists of a huge kitchen/dining/family area, a superb entertaining space with (in the case of the showhome) an added conservatory, sorry, orangery, as Sue quite correctly corrects me.

The kitchen is, as they say, to die for; a beautiful blend of high-gloss white wall and base units, granite work surfaces and a host of integrated appliances including fridge freezer, dishwasher, five-ring gas hob, separate double oven and microwave. And you can enjoy it all while having your cornflakes and croissants at the breakfast bar.

There is a utility room off, which has the back door and an area for leaving your muddy boots after taking a stroll along the many local walkways and footpaths.

That, you might think, is an impressive enough collection – but there is more to see, in the shape of a large formal dining room to the front and a spacious study/den.

The space and scope continues upstairs where there are five bedrooms dotted around a squared, galleried landing.

The master bedroom is another wow-factor spot, having a dressing area with built-in wardrobes and a super en-suite bathroom with both bath and walk-in shower. There is also a second en-suite to a guest bedroom and a smartly-fitted contemporary bathroom. Impressive indeed…

The Gilthorpe is one of a number of five-bedroomed house styles on the development, along with a range of four, three and two-bed properties.

And that’s something else we were taken with at the Tannery. Altogether there will be 53 new homes here but not many will look or feel the same, thanks to a mix of different designs and styles.

There are, for instance, four separate and very distinctive styles for the four-bedroomed range.

Work is now moving on apace and the first phase should be completed by June – as should a new footbridge connecting the development to the main village.

It should all look very impressive indeed – and a distinct improvement on the original 19th century Tannery building which, gutted by a spate of arson attacks in 2008, was left as a skeletal shell in a sprawl of scruffy wasteland.

Now, out of the ashes, as it were, comes a smart new set of homes.


FURTHER INFORMATION

Prices at The Tannery range from £610,000 for the showhome to £179,995 for a two-bed terraced home.

The Government-backed Help to Buy scheme is available at and there are a number of properties allocated to affordable housing.

For details, contact the David Wilson Homes sales team on 0771 742 2522 (10am-5pm).