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Life at Cliveden Gages
Professor Bernard and Mary Trevallion decided to downsize and leave their lovely home near Dropmore and their choice of a new home was an apartment at Cliveden Gages, where the first phase of this significant development had just been completed. This brief article summarises their experience to date. Ed. The first half of Cliveden Gages has now been constructed and is fully occupied. We moved into an apartment a year ago after 40 years in a large extended Victorian Lodge in two acres of land in the middle of the woods. A common question is, ‘How can you live in a place you so strongly opposed?’ The answer is easy. We did not think Cliveden Gages should be built but that does not mean we did not think it would be a great place to live. However, without the opposition and the successful appeal, the development would have been far less attractive. There would have been many more dwellings and with no over-55-years age restraint the estate would have been a much busier and noisier place.
The architecture of Cliveden Gages appealed to us from our first sighting. It is contemporary, with balance rather than symmetry, interesting materials and a strong geometry in both the built and planted environment. For us as a family it had a particular attraction. Our severely learning disabled daughter relies on visual perception of the world for security and meaning and she loves the simple shapes and layout. The apartments and houses are graced by unusually high ceilings and high windows. They are light and airy with plenty of wall space for our floor to ceiling bookcases and large paintings. The simple lines are the perfect backdrop for either modern or classic furnishings.
Our apartment is on an east-west axis so the morning sun streams in from dawn at the front and the afternoon sun streams in until the sun sets directly in line with the back windows. The low density of the buildings and the number of open spaces provides a hilltop setting bathed in light when the English weather obliges. The domestic and external environments are enhanced by their tree-top surroundings and the access residents enjoy to the Cliveden Estate. Within a five-minute walk from our apartment we can stand on the edge of the Chiltern scarp and look across views of several counties. The River Thames can be reached in 8 minutes and all through the year the changing landscape and wildlife are constant source of pleasure and interest.
Cliveden Gages is also a kindly community with plenty of activities - a book club, wine tasting, bridge club, pilates, yoga, summer barbecues and Christmas cocktails. If you wanted to encapsulate living in Cliveden Gages in a couple of scenes it would be seeing our neighbours walking their cat and others stopping to chat, safe in the knowledge no through traffic will interrupt them. If they are laughing hysterically you can be sure someone has just told them when their 'snagging list' will be dealt with. Think of us sitting on our verandah with a glass of wine watching the sun set behind Green Drive to the sound of birdsong and you will know why we enjoy living at Cliveden Gages. Good neighbours, good place, good times.
Mary Trevallion