Wigton is in Mary and Gordon Howe’s DNA – they’ve lived there all their lives and built themselves a house out in the countryside where they brought up their family.

Then their son and daughter moved away, they themselves retired and it was time to downsize to, where else, their favourite place.

“We are the first people to move into Woodside Park, which is a new development from local construction firm Washington Homes,” Mary said.

“We were looking for something that was perfect just to move into, we didn’t want to do any alterations. It’s in Wigton, which was a given for us, and is a quiet site.

“We’d looked at Washington Homes builds in other places and we liked the quality very much.”

Mary and Gordon are now settling in to a three-bedroom bungalow, the Alexander, one of 11 house types on the 79-home development which comprise a mix of semi-detached and detached houses and bungalows with two to five bedrooms.

The site has lovely views of the fells, including the Skiddaw range. The properties feature contemporary open-plan kitchens, luxurious bathrooms and light and airy reception spaces.

The Howes’ bungalow has an entrance hallway with integral garage on one side and a single bedroom on the other side. The hallway extends into an inner hall where the two double bedrooms are quietly tucked away.

The master bedroom has an en-suite shower room, complemented by the main bathroom while the dining kitchen features French doors opening to a terrace overlooking the landscaped back garden. A utility room completes the spacious layout.

“Our friends have called it the Tardis,” Mary said. “The frontage isn’t large but when you come inside, it is quite a sizeable house and I’m delighted that there is plenty of room as our previous house was quite big – it has been a great opportunity for decluttering! I also love the en-suite to our bedroom which we didn’t have in our old place. That was built in the 70s when en-suites weren’t the thing.

“We had very big windows too and the energy consumption was consequently quite large. Here we really appreciate the fact that this bungalow is going to be energy-efficient - the insulation is very good.”

Mary and Gordon are looking forward to their three grandchildren visiting and no doubt squabbling over which of the two spare bedrooms they get to sleep in.

That’s always assuming Mary hasn’t already earmarked the space for her crafts room: “It’s nice and light.”

Main tasks on her to-do list are putting her own stamp on the house and landscaping the gardens to make the turfed plots more low maintenance.

“They’re like a blank canvas,” she said. “It’s so exciting.”

Duncan Howlett, Washington Homes’ site manager, added: “These properties really are ready to move in to, being built to a high specification to reflect modern-day lifestyles.

“We are delighted to welcome Mary and Gordon to Woodside Park and wish them well in their new home.”

Properties released for sale at Woodside Park in Wigton range in price from £189,950 to £339,950 for the top-of-the-range five-bedroom Sorrell.

For more information, contact sales manager Rebekah Marston at Grisdales, sole selling agents for Washington Homes, tel. 07703 260076.