YOU could be forgiven if at first you thought the Wessex Coach House Lodge was from a different stable to the Hideaway (see December 2008). But its more modest proportions belie the fact it is a Wessex home through and through, and each has features in common...

The Coach House Lodge I visited was clad in green Canexel, but can be clad as you like, and if you prefer the look of unprocessed, unstained timber like the Hideaway, that is also available.

From the outside there is a pleasant angled shape to the front, with brown pvc windows and doors. Wessex doesn’t see a need to make everything square! It’s amazing what can be dreamed up with a computer these days. There are several different sizes of Coach House – it was the newest and largest 42x16 size I saw.

Easy living

The entrance is directly into a comfortable and spacious lounge, with corner sofa in muted green. To the opposite side of the open plan living space is a neat round table and four pleasantly upholstered chairs. Matching the outside shape, the area where this dining area is set out is anything but square, but works well with the circular seating arrangement. This area is, perhaps unusually, next to the white wall-hung flame effect fire. Perhaps an original layout, but it works.

Above the fire is a wall-mounted LCD TV, so you could dine and watch at the same time (if allowed!), but you can also see the telly from the sofa. Windows in both the dining and lounge areas are bedecked with venetian blinds, as are the French doors. Beige carpets are de rigeur in the living and sleeping areas, with everything in-between covered in practical dark flooring.

Cook it

The extensive kitchen has room for every-thing and more. It is oblong, so in that respect conventional. Technically a galley kitchen in arrangement, this large ivory version is much more than that, with enough storage and facilities for full-time living. Some cupboards are enhanced by glass frontages and interior lights.

A single oven has a gas hob on top, and a stainless steel extractor above. There is plumbing for a dishwasher and washer-dryer (both extras). A large stainless steel fridge-freezer stands in one corner, if you choose it as an extra (as in this show home).

A wide side window throws light on the stainless steel sink and beyond. White tiling with an inset beige border gives a smart and clean effect. The kitchen is also a thoroughfare, into the sleeping area.

Outward bound?

Wessex sees the Coach House as being suitable for Outward Bound types – perhaps ageing Outward Bounders like me! Very domestic, I’d call it.

Take the bathroom, for example – you would think you were in a regular home not a lodge. Half-height tiling with a border, full-sized domestic suite with white bath. A large mirror, a further mirror on the white bathroom cabinet. Home away from home!

A great boon is the inner hall/utility area beyond the kitchen, with more storage than you could use on holiday (well, maybe not!) The cupboards are in the same style as the kitchen, and there are even some small areas of tiling.

Going green?

There were two bedrooms, both a bit green-looking, with green patterned curtains (master) or blinds (twin) and plain green textured bedspreads. But bear in mind that with Wessex, there is always a choice of colour schemes – very helpful.

The master has particularly large and useful bedside cabinets; the twin makes do with one between the beds. Both bedrooms have ample storage in wardrobes. In the twin there are sliding wardrobe doors, in the master there is a mirrored central door.

The main bedroom also has a particularly spacious en suite with shower. Shaver point, bedside cabinet and window complete this useful room.

Who for?

Well, apart from your Outward Bounders, I think anyone who wants a bit more space than a single unit and a bit less than a large lodge. Who appreciates the use of angles for appearances and to accommodate what goes inside. Who definitely doesn’t like fuss...

The Coach House is very much on the plain and unadorned side of the design spectrum. You can add your own bits to your heart’s content, and still not disturb the simplicity.

This is one for people who want to practically move in. There is ample storage space, not necessarily the case in many lodges.

OUR VERDICT

16ft wide is now a popular size in the lodge market, with a number available from different manufacturers, each having its own character. Wessex also offers a 16ft Deckhouse, the smallest of that range, but the 16ft Coach House is the largest of the series. This is one to take seriously.

I find the Coach House rather house-like. And that might be just what you want. It’s not a play lodge, whereas the Hideaway is, in the sense that it pushes back the frontiers of what you can allow yourself to indulge in. The practical Coach House does not allow for such extravagance, but is hard to fault in terms of thoughtful layout and extensive equipment and storage. That is where it is reminiscent of the Hideaway, with storage in places other lodges don’t even have places!

Technical details
• Type: single unit leisure lodge
• Standard: BS3632 – so can be used for residential purposes
• Size: 42x16 as seen
• Bedrooms: 2

Other versions
• 42ft x 13ft, 44ft x 13ft, 42ft x 14ft, 44ft x 14ft

Main features
• Timber loglap cladding with vertical and horizontal cladding detail to angled front elevation
• French doors with window detail above
• Four tall windows to living area
• Vaulted ceiling to lounge/diner
• Roman blinds to tall windows in lounge and Venetian blinds to French doors
• 26in LCD TV with separate DVD player
• Electric oven, gas hob and extractor and integrated fridge/freezer
• Plumbing for washing machine and dishwasher
• Television points in lounge and master bedroom

Options
• Cedar loglap or Canexel cladding
• 34in LCD TV with integrated DVD
• Free-standing fridge/freezer
• Integrated dishwasher and washer/dryer

Price
£70,096 ex works (inc VAT) as seen

CONTACT

Wessex Park & Leisure Homes, Okeford Fitzpaine, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 0RB. Tel: 01258 860455. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.wessexparkhomes.co.uk

Wessex has show centres at Upton Glen Park, Weymouth, Dorset; Mouswald Park, Dumfries; and Ranksborough Hall, Oakham, Rutland.


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


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