Luxury eco-houses: the ultimate high-tech homes hidden in the Cumbrian wilds

Peaceful Viver Green offers sustainability, thoughtful architecture and luxury living in a location perfect for active families.
Gentle walking option: head 1,000ft up Loughrigg Fell for stunning lake views
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Cathy Hawker11 April 2016

We are in the middle of exceptional countryside between the Lakes and the Yorkshire Dales,” says Ashley Reece, co-founder of luxury eco-homes builder egg Homes, who lives in Cumbria.

“The sea is one mile away and the M6 is within 15 minutes. The location is perfect for active families. There are plenty of good schools nearby, many of them undersubscribed.”

Sustainability, thoughtful architecture and luxury living do not always go hand in hand with a rural setting but get it right and you are on to a winner. That’s what egg Homes discovered when it launched on a 12-acre site in Viver Green.

Phase One properties sold out within a week last year with those six buyers, all full-time residents, due to move in this summer. Now Phase Two is released, for October delivery.

From £445,950: six house styles are available at Viver Green near Kendal


Peaceful Viver Green will have 19 four- and five-bedroom freehold homes on generous plots priced from £445,950 to £800,000, mostly detached and in six styles.

All have balconies, garages and attractive finishes including top-grade Burlington Slate and A-rated eco-credentials.

The site is 10 minutes’ drive from Oxenholme station where trains connect directly to Euston in two hours and 40 minutes. Kendal, gateway to the Lake District, is 10 minutes away and Windermere is within half an hour.

Homes will have superfast broadband, solar panels, solid upper-floor insulation, intelligent controls and a high thermal envelope.

All this comes at a higher than normal buying cost for the area — Rightmove puts the average detached Kendal house at £313,250 — but these should be maintenance-free homes with low running costs. The developers are aiming for accreditation through the independently assessed Home Quality Mark, a new national standard for well-designed, well-built, healthier, energy-efficient homes.


‘WE LOVE THE DESIGN AND THE GREEN SIDE IS IMPORTANT TO US’

Moving in: Viver Green buyers Sam and Nathan Sayers, with son Isaac


Sam and Nathan Sayers, a school secretary and company MD, say: “We couldn’t find anything we liked locally — then we saw Viver Green. We thought there must be some mistake. You just don’t get homes like that around here. We love the design and the eco-side is important to us.” They bought a four-bedroom house and move in with son Isaac, nine, and five-year-old daughter Daisy in June.


STRONG RENTAL RETURNS
The Lake District in Cumbria is England’s largest National Park. Established in 1951, it is a walkers’ paradise, boasting 244 fells within 885 square miles stretching up to Scafell Pike, England’s highest peak at 3,208 feet.

The wettest part of the UK, it still attracts 16 million visitors a year, according to Cumbria Tourism — enough to ensure strong rentals of up to 40 weeks for the best properties. Many local families choose to live in or close to Kendal, outside the National Park with good local facilities.

Local agent Arnold Greenwood has a handsome five-bedroom stone townhouse in central Kendal for sale at £390,000, while Savills is selling an eight-bedroom house in 12 acres of outstanding countryside at Staveley, Kendal, for £895,000.