Bungalow bliss in Old Basing
“You couldn’t fit two people in our old kitchen,” Edna Hennessey explains as she pours the tea, “but since they knocked the wall down, it’s really opened things up. It’s made such a difference.”
Edna, 85, and 88-year-old husband Richard have lived in houses of all shapes and sizes during almost half a century of married life.
After emigrating to
“We moved into a mobile home at Hatch,” Edna says, “and even though we owned it, we wanted something more permanent. We were on the waiting list for some time before this came up in 1998.”
Since moving to Old Basing, Edna and Richard have remained extremely active. Edna completed four 5km charity runs for Race for Life, and can still be spotted around town at the gym, in the swimming pool, or at line-dancing classes.
Richard gave up his handyman role at his local car showroom in his eighties, and has since had both knees replaced, so a bungalow is the perfect setting to enjoy the rest of his retirement, after seeing the world during military service and beyond.
The £10,700 project to upgrade the Hennessey’s home in Cavalier Close included replacing the old bathroom suite, with the bath making way for a shower tray. The wooden front and back doors were replaced with security uPVC doors, and finally the old galley kitchen was knocked through last summer to create a kitchen diner.
Edna continues: “We got to choose what finishes and colours we wanted, and the old doorway to the kitchen was blocked up so we have much more cupboard space. Now we’ve had the bath taken out and the shower tray put in, it’s much easier.”
The Hennesseys’ home is one of thousands to have been upgraded as part of the government-backed Decent Homes programme, to bring all socially rented properties up to a higher standard. Sentinel expects to complete this programme by March 2010.
Gone are the days when the council painted all front doors the same colour. These days, residents have an amazing amount of choice, whether bathroom tiles or from our range of designer kitchens.
