country house Archives

Choosing Calveley for our latest development, Ettley Grove

Work is progressing quickly at our new small and exclusive development in the village of Calveley. We are only building eight houses at Ettley Grove and several are now nearing completion.

When we are planning a new CB Homes development, we take our time in selecting the perfect site. Choosing the right location for the site is just as important as the site itself. We are fortunate in Cheshire to have our pick of some of the country’s most attractive villages and towns right on our doorstep.

A small development in a historic setting

Sited in a great location, easily accessed from the A51, which runs between Nantwich and Tarporley, the village of Calveley is a small country parish of just over 100 houses, including new build houses and older cottages. Its long history dates back 900 years to the early 13^th century. The name Calveley was first recorded in around 1235 and the original Old English word means ‘woodland clearing’. Located in an agricultural area, the village has retained much of its historic rural character. As well as some Georgian cottages in the village, the primary school, Calveley Primary Academy, is still based in a predominantly Victorian building.

Ettley Grove is in easy reach of Beeston Castle

We named this development Ettley Grove as it enjoys beautiful views of Beeston Castle, which sits on top of Ettley Hill. Beeston Castle is a dramatically positioned medieval fortress, with a 4,000 year history, not to mention a replica Bronze Age roundhouse and a 40-acre woodland park for visitors to enjoy strolling around. Other castle estates nearby include Peckforton, Cholmondeley and Bolesworth.

Wonderful location for outdoors enthusiasts

Outdoors enthusiasts will love the location of Calveley. The Shropshire Union Canal, known locally as the Shroppie, borders the village, providing miles of canalside walks right from the door, with views across the Welsh Marshes, as well as access to the famous canal network for boaters.

All manner of sports are catered for locally, with clubs to be found for rugby, football, hockey, cricket and tennis, as well as a wide range of golf courses.

Well-connected Calveley

For the less energetic, there is a whole host of other activities to enjoy close by. Calveley is particularly well-connected, with the amenities, shops, cafes and restaurants of Nantwich, Crewe and Chester easily reached by bus. Crewe’s railway station, with fast and frequent links to Birmingham and London, plus Manchester Airport are an easy drive too.

Find out more about our new-build country homes at Ettley Grove

The first completion at Ettley Grove is due Spring 2025. Prices start from £275,000. To find out more about this small and exclusive new build development and to arrange a visit, please contact our main office on 01829 730244 or email enquiries@cbhomes.co.uk.

Our new development in Cheshire: total peace of mind when you buy from CB Homes

Our construction team is now busy on site at Ettley Grove. This is a very exciting stage of the project as we see our carefully drawn up plans start to come to life.

Ettley Grove is our very latest small and exclusive housing development, comprising just eight new country homes.

Ettley Grove, Cheshire – Launching Spring 2025

Our construction team is now busy on site at Ettley Grove. This is a very exciting stage of the project as we see our carefully drawn up plans start to come to life.

Ettley Grove is our very latest small and exclusive housing development. Comprising just eight new country homes, it is located in the Cheshire village of Calveley, which is situated between Nantwich and Tarporley.

As with all our developments, when you walk into Ettley Grove, it doesn’t have a housing ‘estate’ feel, as we always bring just the right amount of diversity into all the elements of the design of every house. Each has its own unique and distinct character. And this small development suits the picturesque rural setting of Calveley perfectly.

A new country home, perfect for everyone

Ettley Grove offers a range of styles and size of home, so whether you are a first time buyer looking for your first foray into home ownership, or you are looking to downsize from a bigger property, or you are seeking a large, family home, you are bound to find something to suit you and your lifestyle here.

Whether large or small, each property is being built to the absolute latest energy efficiency standards and you will find that the living spaces really have been optimised too, with even the smallest rooms in every house still feeling spacious and comfortable. Outdoor living has not been neglected either, with each property being provided with delightful outside spaces and plenty of room for parking.

Award-winning homes from CB Homes

Since we started building homes over 40 years ago, we have established an enviable reputation for our craftsmanship and build quality of our houses. As members of the Federation of Master Builders, and with the backing of the NHBC 10-year Buildmark Warranty, it is vitally important to us that every house we build is an example of the very best in construction. We have won a range of awards over the last forty years at a local, regional and national level which recognise our commitment to these very high standards.

Complete peace of mind when you buy a new home from CB Homes

As well as feeling confident about the quality of our new-build homes, you can also have complete peace of mind when it comes to our after sales service too. Our site manager will carefully inspect every single part of your house before completion of the sale. Before you take possession of the keys, they will walk all round the house with you to show you how everything works. As part of our official handover, you will be provided with a very useful homeowner manual too, with all the instructions, paperwork and warranties you need for all your appliances, heating, alarms etc, and tips on how to maintain your property in the best possible condition.

After we have given you the keys to your new home, if you have any queries regarding your house, even after the official snagging period is over, you can just get in touch with us. We are always just a phone call away and will be happy to help.

The first completion at Ettley Grove is due Spring 2025. Prices start from £275,000. To find out more and arrange a visit, please contact our main office on 01829 730244 or email enquiries@cbhomes.co.uk.

A day in the life of CB Homes’ Sales Manager

Helen Galesi has been Sales Manager at CB Homes for the last nine years. She has worked on numerous small and exclusive CB Homes developments all over Cheshire. She is currently based at Acorn Gardens in Northwich, where the last of the two remaining houses of the 13 houses built there by CB Homes have recently been sold.

Helen Galesi has been Sales Manager at CB Homes for the last nine years. She has worked on numerous small and exclusive CB Homes developments all over Cheshire. She is currently based at Acorn Gardens in Northwich, where the last of the two remaining houses of the 13 houses built there by CB Homes have recently been sold.

What did you do before working at CB Homes?

I’ve always been in sales either office-based or a favourite of mine was when I worked in a jewellers, based in Northwich.

What do you like about your job as sales manager?

I absolutely love my job! I look on it as going on a journey with our customers from the moment they reserve a home to the day we hand over the keys to their new home. I’ve made some good friends along the way. I even got invited to the wedding of one couple who I had helped buy a CB Homes house! I especially enjoy working with first-time buyers as they are so excited to be moving into their first property as homeowners and I think their excitement is catching!

What does a typical day in your life look like?

I’m usually based in the marketing suite of whichever development we are marketing at the time. I start the day checking any emails or phone messages that may have come in overnight and if we have a show home available, I check that everything is set out as it should be and it is ready for any visitors.

I have meetings every week with my manager where we discuss sale progressions and he keeps me updated with what is happening on site, which enables me to keep customers informed and up to date with the build programme.

Prospective buyers may call on the phone, email or turn up in person wanting to know more about the houses we have available. I make sure I get a good understanding of what they are looking for and see if I can match them up with the perfect property.

Very often, people want to know what comes with the house as standard. I explain what the basic specification includes and then how they can upgrade some choices if they want to, such as white goods, flooring, carpets and wardrobes and also our ‘Finishing Touches’ where they can choose things like kitchen worktops and cupboard colours to really personalise their home. All our developments are different from each other and each house style is different too so there are lots of choices to be made. I really like helping out with that where I can, especially where we are selling off-plan as the house hasn’t been built.

Once a customer has paid a reservation fee, I am then their point of contact throughout the whole buying and building process, so we get to know each other quite well. I’m always available to answer any questions, find out any information they need, keep them updated with progress and arrange site visits when possible. I always follow up with an email but I like to be available to talk face to face or on the phone as I really like making connections with people in-person where I can.

Prior to completion, usually a week before, I arrange to meet up with my buyers, to go through the homeowner’s manual with them– the homeowners manual is like an encyclopaedia of their house, with every possible bit of information they could ever need – details of things like how to operate the alarm or the heating system, what type of bricks we have used and who supplies them.

On completion day when we hand over their new home, we ask our customers to walk around the house to make sure they are happy with everything or flag up any tiny, last-minute snags that need fixing. I make a note of anything like that that needs doing and then leave them to enjoy making themselves at home in their new house.

What’s your biggest challenge as Sales Manager?

I think it’s selling houses off-plan where there isn’t a house ready to show them yet. It’s really important that I can help the customer envision what the house will look like by showing them floorplans, drawings, artists impressions and samples. It all helps them build up a picture of the completed house so they can imagine themselves living there.

Why do people like buying houses from CB Homes?

All of CB Homes houses feel just a little bit different, with very individual characters and features so that draws people in. I think it’s a question of the beautiful design and the high quality of the build. The houses are simply stunning and people are always so impressed with them. On several occasions I have had visitors who have come and looked around a show home and when they’re leaving will admit that they are actually a builder and that they have been extremely impressed by the quality of the house they’ve just looked round. That makes me feel very proud. My own son is in the process of buying a CB Homes house so that’s how confident I am of their quality!

To find out more about CB Homes houses and their latest developments, visit www.cbhomes.co.uk. You can contact the sales manager via sales@cbhomes.co.uk.

Grander Designs: How to get inspiration for your self-build

If you’ve dreamed for years of building your own house, now would be a great time to do some research and start putting some ideas together for what you would like your dream home to look like.

Luckily, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to finding sources of inspiration for building our own homes.

If you’ve dreamed for years of building your own house, now would be a great time to do some research and start putting some ideas together for what you would like your dream home to look like.

Do you want to find a plot of land and build from scratch or does renovating a derelict property appeal to you more?

Do you like minimalist, sleek interiors or are you a pushover for shabby chic? Are environmental considerations top of your wishlist or is making an architectural statement more important to you?

Luckily, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to finding sources of inspiration for building our own homes. From the moment Grand Designs arrived on our screens over 20 years ago, TV production companies realised that viewers have a huge appetite for programmes that capture the highs and lows of building projects. There’s an incredible number available to watch. Even if the scope of many of them is not necessarily a practical choice for most of us, there’s no doubt that watching a few of these programmes can really help spark ideas and get the creative juices flowing.

Here are a few of our favourites:

Grand Designs, currently available on Netflix and Channel 4 is still going strong. The most memorable builds are not necessarily the largest or most ambitious. They do show how important it is for any self-builder to focus on creating a home, rather than just building a house. The projects are all enthralling, ranging from converting a shipping container to an extraordinary underground home with a retractable roof. The planning application for that one took over two years to secure!
Building Dream Houses, a popular BBC series, follows architects who are leading the way in groundbreaking design and working hard to keep their clients happy. Some clips are available here.
For escapism at its best, it’s hard to beat Escape to the Chateau on Channel 4, which follows the adventures of Dick Strawbridge and his wife Angel who renovated a 45 bedroom dilapidated 19^th century French chateau, set in acres of neglected land and turned it into a spectacular events venue. Clearly beyond most of our budgets, not to mention ambitions, it’s worth a look to see just what can be achieved with the right craftspeople and how something that starts out as a ruin, can be turned into something beautiful. All set against a backdrop of sun-drenched French countryside.
At the other end of the scale, The House that 100k built has some great, sometimes wacky, ideas for stretching a small budget, including recycling aeroplane parts! Some clips are still available here on BBC iPlayer.
Dreamers and technical geeks alike will enjoy Your Home Made Perfect, which harnesses the power of virtual reality to show homeowners how their dream home could look, thanks to computer wizardry, before building it in reality. You can catch it here on BBC iPlayer.
If you want to make your imagination really take flight, why not take a look at The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes? Available here on Netflix, every episode features four incredible homes all round the world. The architect and owner are interviewed, which provides unique insight into the design process, in some of the most beautiful locations imaginable.

Don’t forget, if you want to explore the possibilities of self-building, we would be happy to discuss a potential project with you. Whether you are in the first stages of looking for land or you have already secured planning permission and know exactly what you want to build, we would love to work with you. Contact us to find out more.