On the edge of the New Forest and within easy reach of the coast lies one of Britain's most prestigious park home estates. Defined by tall trees — many of them pines — the park is bordered by Ferndown Golf Course and the open expanse of Parley Common, where endless walking possibilities exist.

Lone Pine Park enjoys a beautiful location nestling quietly and secluded in its own little enclave amid some of southern England's most magnificent homesteads. Lone Pine Park, though, was here long before those homesteads were built.

House prices are high in this region and so, too, are the prices of park homes at Lone Pine Park — and that's the attraction. This place has exclusivity in spades.

Homes made by Lissett, Prestige & Homeseeker and Stately-Albion are among those on offer here; at the time of our visit late in July there were five show homes from these manufacturers for potential buyers to browse.

Demand is high here and sales happen quickly as it doesn't take people long to think of this special place as home. That's after potential buyers have taken a leisurely walk around the 14.5-acre park, as we did, taking in the tranquil atmosphere and the natural woodland setting.

Then we met the people who had bought houses here recently, and we learned about the variety of birds to be observed from your home's windows and the general pleasure of woodland living.

We quickly realised you feel very much part of the countryside yet you're just minutes from supermarkets and various other useful shopping opportunities.

Lone Pine Park is being developed as new homes are sold, new plots are landscaped and new residents create carefully manicured garden areas. Yet we get the impression it will always retain the woodland atmosphere that has been the character of Lone Pine Park since its inception. That was 110 years ago when tent camping began here.

Through the decades of leisure evolution, this place hosted touring caravans, then static caravans. Then came holiday lodges — and, much more recently, residential park homes. Three years ago, after being owned by the same family for more than 100 years, Lone Pine was purchased by Premier Homes and the transformation began, with larger plots to accommodate larger homes, and new roads being constructed.

Glenda Evans

Glenda came to Lone Pine from Lymington, the pretty port on the east edge of the New Forest. Originally from Oxfordshire, she had looked at several park home estates — and then came to an open weekend at Lone Pine. It was an instant decision.

She moved here in April this year, with Cockapoo puppy Blaire (now six months). "We walk on Parley Common; I've joined the park's social club (they do coffee mornings)... This is a lovely place," she says.

Her home is a Stately-Albion Windsor, with a large lounge plus kitchen-dining room. There's a patio at the front, surrounded by fencing so that Blaire can watch activities around her, but she can't get out.

Walks at Highcliffe and Barton-on-Sea are often followed by Blaire's favourite grooming routine: Glenda hoses the sand from her paws outside, then showers her in the bathroom — and then dries her thick, soft fur with a hair dryer.

It's clear Glenda and Blaire are well settled and happy at Lone Pine.

Geoff and Mo Mills

Geoff and Mo came from Hampton in Middlesex. They'd lived there for 30-plus years, the children have grown up and Geoff and Mo retired. "It was time to move on," says Geoff.

"We'd been to the New Forest on many occasions," says Mo, "We looked at a couple of parks — and then discovered this place. The woodland setting is lovely. We love being so close to the New Forest. And we like the proximity to Bournemouth (about 10 miles away) and Poole. You feel you are in the country and yet everything you want is within easy reach. There are seven miles of beaches at Bournemouth and that's only 20 minutes away."

"We love walking," says Geoff. "Boscombe is a great place for a walk, then further along the coast, to Hengistbury Head — or we can just walk directly from here, on Parley Common. There are endless walks here on the fringe of the New Forest."

I wanted to know how they made the decision to come here.

Geoff explains: "We came for a look around the park. This was a show home. (It's a 50x20ft Stately-Albion Wentwood.) We came in and fell in love with it, but didn't snap it up on that day — we came back, and decided. Within four months of making the decision we moved in."

"The beauty of moving to a park home is everything's in place. You could turn up with a couple of suitcases and just move in." How did the downsizing from a larger house go? Mo: "I had so many trips to a charity shop that I lost count!"

Their home has a huge kitchen with an island unit and much storage space. There's a range cooker with two ovens and a five-burner hob. "We both like to cook," says Geoff. They show me around their home. High vaulted ceilings are a feature of this elegantly styled home.

Floor-to-ceiling windows are a feature, even in the second bedroom. The main bedroom, which is opulent, has a corridor dressing room leading to shower room. A grey and white décor theme runs throughout, marrying the opulence with ultra-modernity.

Mo and Geoff have landscaped the garden and created a large patio. They love the woodland setting: "Squirrels jump on the roof of the house and share the feeder with the birds!" says Geoff.

The couple has four grandchildren, Erin, Jack, Oliver and Blake; they are regular visitors.

Interestingly, the park home lifestyle has become a theme in the family; Geoff and both his all brothers moved into park homes within 12 months. "My eldest brother was the first," says Geoff.

"He bought a park home near Exeter. Then my other brother bought one next door to him!"

How would Mo and Geoff sum up life at Lone Pine, I wanted to know. "Totally relaxing, and with a good community," says Mo.

John and Pam Douglas

John and Pam have been at Lone Pine for just over a year. Home was "just around the corner," says Pam. They had a flat which they loved but two flights of stairs were involved. A lifetime of sport now means John's knees sometimes give problems and one-level living was attractive, Pam explains.

We are chatting just before Pam leaves for work; she's a Garden Guide for the National Trust and John is doing his gardening at home — we interrupt his grass cutting.

"We chose this Linden Cottage home, made by Lissett, when we came to an open weekend here," says Pam. "This was a show house. We went to all the show houses that afternoon and then made a list of what we wanted. This home had more ticks than the others. And we like the good built quality, plus the quality of the appliances; they're all Bosch." Loft space was another important consideration.

Keen gardener Pam has created a pretty patio with acers, azalea and bonsai, lanterns and stones; it's Japanese-inspired and seems to meld beautifully with the tranquil surroundings of Lone Pine Park.

Mike and Julia Snelling

Mike and Julia moved here from Stroud. "We wanted to be near the sea," says Mike.

They chose their house at a show (Newbury). It's a Prestige Grand Symphony, 62x22ft (1364 sq ft!).

Then they had to find the right park — with a plot big enough for this home! They visited several parks including some near Weymouth. "Then we came here," says Julia. "When something is right you know it instantly."

We're chatting on the magnificent sunken patio seating area at the front of the house. "We designed the plot," says Julia.

The Grand Symphony has an enormous kitchen with an island breakfast bar. Marble surfaces and high ceilings accentuate the feeling of grandeur.

Much of the detail in the home was specified by Mike and Julia, including bathroom tiles and furnishings. But there were much more than detail changes in the course of Mike and Julia's purchase. "We had walls moved," Mike explains as he shows us around. The 'hobby room' was originally designed as a second bedroom.

"We watch the birds from here — nuthatches, tree creepers, woodpeckers, greenfinches… We had this room made smaller because we didn't want to put a bed in it, and we had the study made bigger at the expense of the master bedroom." The bedroom's walk-in wardrobe is larger than standard — this was enabled by making the second bedroom smaller.

The Grand Symphony is one of the largest park homes on the market. "It came here on four lorries," Mike recalls. "We chose this plot because it's on the edge of the park. We are so secluded and it's so quiet here."

Richard Maxted and Pauline Moore

Richard and Pauline were on holiday at the time of our visit; they were keen to take part in this feature and emailed us their view of the park:

"We like the location of Lone Pine because it is situated in a good up-market area close to Ferndown and major supermarkets. It's also only a 15-minute drive to Bournemouth and the retail park of Castle Point with all the well-known high-street stores."

"We chose to buy a home a bespoke Stately-Albion Wentwood at Lone Pine because we were downsizing and, after seeing an advertisement for properties on the park, we decided to investigate."

"The park is undergoing a programme of redevelopment, and we were impressed with the future plans and ideas. We liked the design of the new homes and were attracted by the opportunity to design a bespoke home that would suit our requirements."

"We also felt the whole package was good value for money and consider Lone Pine to be the best park home development in the south."

"After downsizing from our previous home to our new park home at Lone Pine, we have settled in and are happy with our decision. We now find we have more time to ourselves to pursue our leisure activities and hobbies.

We have also found the community atmosphere within the park very friendly and welcoming and enjoy socialising with like-minded homeowners."

Visit Lone Pine Park website for more details