The fairytale cottage, built by Lisburn developers W J Law, had been entered into the competition by its owners Jonathan and Joanne Kelly who fell in love with the quirkiness and architectural detail which had been lavished on their home.

Each of the 3 judges on the BBC 1 show were impressed with the beautiful home which the Developers W.J. Law and Jonathan and Joanne had created.

On the show Lawrence states:

“The quality; the detail; the commitment from the developer, the architect, and the builder to do something a little bit out of the ordinary, in fact a lot out of the ordinary, is highly commendable”

The home is one of the W.J. Law Fairytale Cottages, available at Ballantine Garden Village. The featured home is designed in the “Picturesque” style, and the W.J. Law named it the Nash Cottage, after John Nash, the regency architect who was particularly noted for this style of architecture. Indeed at Blaise Hamlet near Bristol, Nash designed a small village completely in this evocative fairytale style. As a prolific designer, Nash is also credited with many famous buildings, including Regent Street, and also Buckingham Palace.

At Ballantine Garden Village, homes range from £135,000 for a 2-bedroom 850sq foot “Pied a Terre” home with a large South Facing Balcony; right through to large detached homes at £275,000. Fairytale Cottages start at £175,000. This will buy you a semi detached “Gingerbread Cottage” with sunroom and more expensive detached customised homes are available also. These come with inspired Fairytale Cottage names such as Hansel’s Cottage, Gretal’s Cottage, Cinderella’s Cottage and of course Rapunzel’s Cottage.

All the Ballantine homes can be seen at www.ballantinegardenvillage.co.uk

“The big thing is how much you can get for your money now” explained David Law. “We have noticed that there is an excellent demand for homes with 4 and 5 bedrooms; most of our homes also have a vaulted ceiling living room off the kitchen which buyers just love. It’s a long way from a few years ago when it seems that all one could buy were tiny apartments. We have noticed that it is the larger homes which are selling well, where there is tremendous value for money – Luxury on a budget!”

With 5 bedroom homes from £175,000, coupled with the award winning finesse which WJ Law bring to the table, house buyers are in a great position to get the move up which was previously unaffordable.

Mortgage experts have an interesting angle on this point: Phil Convery, Senior Advisor in the Mortgage Shop in Lisburn makes 3 points:

“First in days gone by, the difference in homes buyers were moving to might have been £100,000; now that PRICE TO CHANGE might be only £25,000. Secondly are the interest rates: with the Bank of England keeping interest rates at record low levels, this price to change is even more affordable. Thirdly we see from national figures that prices are starting to rise. Some of the resale stock may be still mis-priced, but the fear of falling prices when buying a new home has gone from the buyers I meet.”

WJ Law have achieved industry wide recognition for their highly attractive homes, such as the fairytale cottages, and the setting in which the homes are built. Indeed, interested parties have recently been able to get a flavour of some of the interesting goings on via the WJ Law facebook page

With 2 developments in Bangor, Lisburn, Banbridge, and Dromore, and monthly mortgage payments from £160 using “Smartmove;” the move up for less is within the reach of many.

The beautiful Fairytale Cottages are priced from £99,999 under the unique ‘smartmove scheme’ where the buyers have their 25% mortgage deposit paid for them by the developer. The 25% is free for 2 years after which a 4% charge applies, and it has to be paid whenever the house is sold, or within 10 years, whichever comes first.

The Fairytale Cottages are market leading, and combine all the benefits of a brand new home as far as being roomy, and very cheap to heat.

It is the appearance which is the real showstopper however, with most of the ideas inspired by iconic architects of the early 19^th century, such as John Douglas and John Nash, designer of Regent Street, Buckingham palace and our own Shanes Castle.

There’s been no shortage of news here either. Things are looking up in the housing market locally. Houses are selling and we are seeing some improving mortgage deals out there for first time buyers and next time buyers, (Northern Bank, our Smartmove scheme, and the Mortgage Shop…) which is great. We’ve also launched new developments at Rossdowan Court in North Down and Bloomfield Wood in Bangor plus a new exclusive range of Fairy Tale Cottages across our developments.

There’s lots happening and to make sure you keep in touch with what’s going on you can now follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

We’ll also keep you up to date on slightly quirkier things, which we feel are of interest; for example the design for the Roman Amphitheatre at Ballantine springs to mind; we’ll have that posted shortly.

The Request:

We’d also love to hear from you too, so have a look at our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter; best of all would be to say if you like it, and then tell all your mates!

“We have found that buyers love the ability to bespoke their home to their individual needs” said Managing Director Allan Sayers. “Buyers love an airy vaulted ceiling sunroom off their kitchen for example, and we have been able to incorporate these into some homes to great effect”.

Other clients have incorporated a loft/study into the 1^st floor of their attached garage, in addition to some fabulous kitchens, which some buyers have built in.

“The Bespoke Service has gone really well along with our new Fairytale Cottage range”, said Managing Director David Law. The Fairytale Cottages are inspired by iconic Architects of the early 19^th century such as John Nash and John Douglas. The range of picturesque cottages is market leading, particularly interesting since most of the ideas are 200 years old! John Nash designed Buckingham Palace and Regent street, so WJ Law are following the lead of some of the most inspirational designs ever built in the UK and Ireland.

Allied to the highest levels of soundproofing and insulation this fusion of modern homes and designs crafted over 200 years is proving to be a great success.

W J Law have started the year well, including selling a record 20 homes in 20 days and have recently held a popular homebuyers workshop to aid buyers at their Summerhill, Banbridge scheme. Buyers have been able to meet all the players in the Fairytale experience, the builders, mortgage advisors, kitchen suppliers, and interior designers.