The gold award for Best Small Housebuilder, sponsored by Hometrack, was won by the City Country Group, while Stone Homes took the silver. The bronze award was jointly awarded to Abel Homes and Hill Residential.
Gold – City Country Group
Essex-based City Country Group, which specialises in the restoration and conversion of historic and listed buildings into luxurious new homes, won a gold award for Best Small Housebuilder for 12 Kendall Court at The Galleries development in Brentwood. The company was also awarded gold for Best Starter Home.
The What House? Awards, presented by comedian Hugh Dennis and held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on 18 November 2011, saw City Country recognised as the “deserved winner” of the Best Small Housebuilder accolade, after having won silver in this category for two consecutive years.
Having previously operated in an Essex and Hertfordshire heartland, the last 18 months has seen City Country acquire historic projects in Stanmore, MOD Caversfield in Oxfordshire, King Edward VII in West Sussex and Bristol General Hospital, with a view to transforming properties that would otherwise be demolished.
What House? judges commented: “City Country may be approaching its 50th Birthday, but it is used to working with buildings much older than that. Its portfolio of restorative work in sensitive conservation areas or around listed buildings is deeply impressive and its thirst for knowledge of the architectural history around which it might be working is insatiable, meaning it offers creative, new designs in keeping with their surroundings, whatever the weight of heritage around them.”
The judges continued: “You only have to [see] stunning projects such as The Galleries in Brentwood, Balls Park in Hertford and Old Saint Michaels in Braintree to realise the scope and scale of its restorations. Architectural conviction and enthusiasm clearly resonates throughout the business.”
Helen Moore, managing director for City Country Residential, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this ultimate recognition for our whole team, for whom it is a labour of love and a privilege to rescue and revitalise some of England’s dilapidated historic assets by turning them into unusual and sought-after properties. City Country Group is a very special business and it is always very rewarding when external industry experts concur with that view.”
Silver – Stone Homes
Alnwick-based Stones Homes picked up a silver award for Best Small House Builder. It’s not the first time that Stone Homes has been triumphant at the What House? Awards, as it won silver in the same category in 2009 and a bronze in 2008. It also collected a silver for Best Development for its Peacock Gap scheme in Morpeth in 2009.
The 2011 expert What House? Awards judging panel said: “Stone Homes has exceptionally high and clear standards of design, build and customer service, underpinned by a very impressive company charter, encouraging the staff to work as a team and help other’s development. This is building in a local context at its very best.”
Of the properties constructed at the company’s recent Hindley Farm development near Stocksfield, the judges remarked: “These are the work of craftsmen, while the interiors are brilliantly conceived and the results are rural gems amid dramatic Northumberland scenery.”
Delighted with their company’s success against the UK’s best small house building firms, proprietors Dale and Jo Robinson said: “The What House? Award provides a Quality Standard Seal for our luxury homes, an additional rock solid reason why the increasingly canny customer should choose Stone Homes over our competition. We will be back again next year trying to win.”
The couple travelled to the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane not knowing whether they were going to collect an award, as Dale explained: “This year we brought three of our customers to the awards ceremony, a risky strategy perhaps. However, following our silver award a fabulous evening out on the town together was had, as a direct result of the What House? Award, they all went home bursting with pride for their award-winning home and full of admiration for our company and the principles we stand for.
“Happy customers spread great news, a real message is sent to the wider house buying community and makes it all a little easier to sell luxury homes in a tough market.”
The company has been building its distinctive luxury properties since 2001, using the highest quality new and reclaimed materials to build homes in some of the county’s most beautiful locations.
With a number of luxury projects currently underway at Stamfordham, Bywell and Rennington, Stone Homes is set to continue to deliver its unique homes to discerning homebuyers in the North East.
Bronze – Abel Homes
Abel Homes won a well-deserved bronze award, which was presented to Maggie Abel by comedian Hugh Dennis at the ceremony, held at Mayfair’s Grosvenor House Hotel.
The judging commended the company’s innovation and individuality in design, customer service, and commitment to the quality of the environment.
The company put forward a number of example sites in Norfolk as part of its submission, including their hus22 development of highly sustainable new homes at Drayton near Norwich.
Maggie Abel said, “The judges were impressed with our commitment to creating new communities, rather than simply building houses. Because we live and work in the communities in which we build, we recognise that alongside the imperative to provide new homes comes a responsibility to help those communities become sustainable and vibrant.
“We are very proud to have brought back such a prestigious national award to Norfolk.”
Bronze – Hill Residential
A delighted Rob Hall collected the prestigious bronze award on behalf of Hill Residential at the gala ceremony.
The Awards unveil exciting, dynamic new developers, delivering pioneering projects to their local markets, as well as highlighting the innovations of the industry’s major housebuilders who build across the country.
Rupert Bates, editorial director of whathouse.co.uk, said, “The What House? Awards, considered the ‘Oscars’ of the housebuilding industry, showcase some of the UK’s most exciting and dynamic new developers, as well as highlighting the innovations among the industry’s big players.
“It is great to see that, even in an extremely tough economic climate, so many house builders and developers have sustained their ethos on quality.”
Hill Residential is currently developing a wide selection of quality new homes, including 169 properties at Ceres, which is part of one of the UK’s most eagerly anticipated city centre regeneration schemes, CB1 in the centre of historic Cambridge worth £850m.