THE Chatsworth range has long been an important part of Stately-Albion’s portfolio, which the addition of the Platinum enhances still further. It is a 50ft x 20ft two bedroom home built to BS 3632 residential standard, and the version I saw at the Newbury Park & Holiday Homes Show had already been sold to Woodbine Close Park, Waltham Abbey, Essex.

I was immediately impressed by my first view of the Platinum because of the portico and its two pillars at the entrance. The columns, fascias, guttering, downpipes, and quoins at the corners, are all white, contrasting appealingly with the grey textured finish of the walls, and the black roof tiles.


Knock Out!

As you go through the front door, the home’s first wow factor hits you between the eyes. It’s the kitchen! To say I found it fabulous is an understatement – I was completely bowled over. For a start it is huge, measuring some 16ft x 10ft. Importantly, too, all the walls have been fully tiled – a feature that is not only striking, but which makes for easier cleaning.

Facing you is an angular horseshoe- shaped breakfast bar made up of a worktop on five base units. On the rear wall of the home behind the breakfast bar, is a base unit incorporating sink and drainer plus an integrated washing machine on the right, and an integrated dishwasher on the left. The right-hand wall is taken up by a series of base units and wall cabinets, some with glass fronted doors.

On the opposite wall is the boiler cupboard – in the corner with the home’s rear wall – and a worktop into which has been set the four burner electric hob with an oven below. Above the hob is the extractor while, at the left-hand end of the worktop, is the integrated fridge/freezer.

Opposite the kitchen area, separated from the entrance hall by a low level curved wall, is the dining area. This was set for six, but it is large enough to take another one or two without much of a problem. In the wall behind the dining table – the home’s front wall – is a large window unit, while to your left is a pair of double-glazed doors leading to the lounge.


Plenty of room

The lounge is rectangular, spanning the full width of the home. It is almost 12ft deep, so there is plenty of room for the three and two seater sofas and the armchair which come as standard. In the vaulted ceiling are 12 halogen lights.

The fireplace and electric fire have been fitted on the party wall with the kitchen and a further feature here is the picture light on the wall above the fireplace. In the corner, a short distance from the fireplace is the TV and video/DVD cabinet.

There is a bay window in the lounge’s front wall, two in the end wall, plus patio doors in the rear wall.


Wow too

The sleeping accommodation is to the left as you enter the home, so to reach it from the lounge means walking through the kitchen and dining area. The first room you come to after entering the hall is the bathroom – the home’s second wow factor. It is a bathroom to die for! Like the kitchen it is both large and fully tiled, floor to ceiling, but more importantly, it has a raised, full size, sunken spa bath with LED lights set in the risers of the two steps leading up to it.

Opposite the bath is a base unit with a circular ceramic washbasin, above which is a glass shelf and above that a large oval mirror and wall light, while below it is a double cupboard for toiletry storage. Yet another pleasing feature is the low level toilet, which has been fitted at the front of the base unit, which has the cistern concealed inside it.

Adjacent to it in the rear wall, is a tall window unit with a venetian blind and an extractor fan nearby. There is a tall heated towel rail on the angled wall just inside the doorway and four halogen lights in the ceiling.


Master

Next to bedroom two is the main bedroom, actually slightly smaller in area, but with a walk-through dressing area leading to the en suite. As in the case of the second bedroom, it has a 4ft 6in divan bed with three-drawer bedside cabinets each side and a row of roof lockers above it.

Next to the right-hand cabinet is a tall cupboard of shelves, but the main clothes storage is in the mirror-door wardrobe in the dressing area. Opposite the wardrobe is a dressing table with a framed mirror above. Sadly there is no light above the mirror – especially as the only other light is one in the ceiling.
From the dressing area, a door leads into the en suite, is fully tiled floor to ceiling. There is a quadrant shower unit, a low level toilet and a pedestal washbasin with an oval mirror above it. Above the mirror is a fluorescent light with shaver sockets.

The one thing lacking here however, is toiletry storage. There isn’t a single wall cabinet or storage cupboard in the en suite, something I feel buyers
will ask for.


Bedroom two

Just down the hallway from the bathroom is a large storage cupboard with double doors and beyond that the door into the second bedroom. This has a 4ft 6in bed with roof lockers spanning the wall above the headboard. A dressing table with a nest of drawers either side of the kneehole has been fitted opposite the foot of the bed, and a built-in wardrobe with sliding mirror doors has been fitted on the party wall with the main bedroom. Inside the wardrobe is the home’s consumer unit and a small radiator to air the clothes. Between the wardrobe and the bed is a third chest of drawers.


Fixtures and fittings

The light switches and power sockets – of which there are plenty in the Platinum – all have chromed finishes. In the lounge, dining and kitchen areas there are some two dozen halogen lights in the ceilings: 12 in the lounge and six each in the kitchen and dining areas. However, elsewhere in the home most of the lighting is conventional ceiling lights, which I felt were inadequate in some instances.

I thought the picture light on the wall in the lounge was an excellent feature, but felt it more important to have one over the mirror in the dressing area of the main bedroom. Interestingly, too, I didn’t see a TV point in the main bedroom, something I feel many buyers will want.


OUR VERDICT

What a great home the Chatsworth Platinum is! I have no doubt it’s going to be a real winner with buyers looking for a retirement home which combines both design and build quality.

From the moment I saw it I was impressed – all the more so when I actually went inside and saw first the kitchen and then the bathroom, both of which would certainly not be out of place in a conventionally built bricks and mortar home costing twice the price.

The lounge, too, is a major plus feature of the home. It’s not only a large room in its own right, but the Stately-Albion designers have managed to keep it completely separate to the kitchen and dining areas.

This may seem a minor point to some,  but I think most people will welcome the idea of not eating in a combined living/dining/kitchen environment – especially if they are entertaining friends and family.

The Platinum is a home of which anyone can be proud and I am not surprised the show model had already been sold to Woodbine Close Park prior to being exhibited at the Newbury Show. I am extremely envious of its new owners!


Technical details
• Type: twin unit lodge-style home
• Standard: BS3632
• Size: 50ft x 20ft (as seen)
• Bedrooms: 2
   
Other versions
• 40ft x 20ft; 44ft x 20ft; 48ft x 20ft
   
Main features
• Columned portico to front entrance
• Large fully tiled kitchen
• Half-moon breakfast bar/island unit
• Integrated fridge/freezer, dishwasher, washing machine
• Large fully tiled family bathroom with spa bath
• Walk-through dressing room/wardrobe
• En suite shower room
• Three-piece lounge suite (3-2-1)
• Sliding patio doors

Room sizes
Please note: all dimensions are approximate only.
• Lounge 19ft 3in x 11ft 8in
•  Kitchen 16ft 0in x 9ft 5in
•  Dining area 16ft 0in x 9ft 5in
• Bathroom 10ft 2in x 9ft 5in
•  Master bedroom 9ft 11in x 10ft 8in
• Dressing area 5ft 2in x 6ft 8in
• En suite 5ft 8in x 6ft 8in
• Bedroom 2 10ft 8in x 9ft 5in

Price
£94,028 ex works (inc VAT)


CONTACT

STATELY-ALBION LTD, Unit 20, Darren Drive, Prince of Wales Industrial Estate, Abercarn, Newport NP11 5AR. Tel: 01495 244472. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.stately-albion.co.uk


This review was published in the July 2009 issue of Park & Holiday Homes magazine. To order our latest issue please click here.


Park & Holiday Homes magazine offers reprints of all homes and parks we've reviewed in our magazine. To view our latest index of reviews see our current issue click here.