THE COMPLETE OCTAGON PACKAGE
Keen travellers and with family in Australia and New Zealand, Sharon and Chris traded in their large rural home and moved abroad in 2004 keeping just a ‘lock up and leave’ apartment in Esher, Surrey.
Finding themselves overseas as the pandemic began, and finally returning to a lockdown in the UK in late 2020, the ‘lock up and leave’ apartment suddenly felt very small.
Sharon explains “We had lived in and around Surrey for most of our adult lives before we went to live abroad, but it was when travel became much harder, and we had to spend more time in our apartment each time we visited that made us realise we needed somewhere bigger – so we used our walks during lockdown to explore the local area.”
Chris continues “We were looking for a new build or a renovation and were keen to stay in the local area. Having already completed two self-build projects in Spain, we considered going down the self-build route with Octagon Bespoke, after seeing their hoardings, but finding a suitable plot in a reasonable time frame was always going to be a problem.”
Turning their attention to the property portals, the couple came across Broadoaks Park in West Byfleet, and the fact that Octagon was the developer encouraged them to take a look.
Sharon recalls “We wanted something manageable and modern in an accessible location and part of a community. Broadoaks Park ticked all the boxes, and we were prepared to wait.”
They opted for a four-bedroom detached home which completed a year later in Autumn 2022. Sharon & Chris wanted to be able to move in on completion, and had a significant increase in square footage to fill with furniture, so appointed Octagon Interiors to furnish and decorate the house.
Sharon continues “We were overseas for the majority of the build and fit-out period – it would have been extremely difficult to do ourselves and we really liked the examples of current projects that the interiors team were working on. We gave them a brief that essentially asked them to stick to a modern blue and grey palette, and really from there they had free rein – we love the result. There is a real sense of flow and cohesiveness to the design.”
Travelling led them on a variety of adventures which Sharon documented along the way via photography, and an aside to the interior design team about their existence led to a gallery wall in the study.
Reflecting on the aftersales process, Sharon and Chris only have positive comments to make.
Chris concludes “From the day we completed, we’ve been extremely well looked after. Nothing has been too small a job and the attention to detail and respect from the various contractors who have come to commission the equipment and fix the snags was so comforting. We are very pleased with our new home – it’s just what we needed in terms of space and just what we wanted in a location. We will continue to spend time overseas and travel to see family and friends, but we will be spending more time here in the future, and the nature of a new build in a community environment like Broadoaks Park makes that a much easier thing to do.”