As a teacher and mother of two small children, Jesse, 30, can identify with all those hardworking, time-poor women juggling school holidays with a host of other activities in the busy schedule of family life.
As we chat in the family’s smart winter garden of their new two-bedroom apartment, on the first floor of Dylon Riverside by Weston Homes in Sydenham, south-east London, the laughter of Estelle, four, and two-year-old David is our background noise. It’s barely a distraction for Jesse, a maths teacher at a nearby school with a large class of teenagers she is clearly devoted to.
‘It is a great school and I love every minute of teaching,’ she smiles. ‘But it is good to have the holidays off with the children, especially now we are all settled in our new home.’
A brilliant location 15 minutes from London Bridge
Before buying with Weston Homes, Jesse and husband Isaac were unhappy renters in nearby Beckenham. Like so many tenants they hated their money going to a landlord instead of towards a home of their own. The task of finding a property to buy fell to Isacc, 37, a software developer.
‘We always wanted to be in an area near my school with good transport links,’ explains Jesse. ‘This location is very good. It’s a ten-minute walk to work for me. And for journeys into London, the train to London Bridge takes just 14 minutes.’
London Bridge trains leave from Lower Sydenham station (Zone 4), which is only a two-minute walk from Dylon Riverside, a development of new, superbly fitted-out one, two and three-bedroom homes, each with its own winter garden, balcony or terrace, overlooking green space and the Pool River.
With a leafy, community-spirited feeling, the neighbourhood’s well-suited to first-time buyers, young families and downsizers, while Dylon Riverside is just a 15-minute walk from Sydenham high street’s bars, restaurants and independent shops.
The price is right… and so is the sales team
Isaac and Jesse searched through a few developments in the Sydenham area but say they were unimpressed until they came across Weston Homes, its approachable, super-efficient sales team – and Discount Market Sale (DMS), a low-cost home-ownership product for new buyers living in the borough.
‘They went out of their way to be helpful,’ says Jesse. ‘I give full credit to the sales team who explained DMS to us. We used this to buy our home with a discount.
‘Everything went through smoothly. The team would alter their schedules to fit in with us, they took so much care. They just went the extra mile.’
So many luxuries included in the price
The family moved in at the end of January. ‘It makes so much difference being in your own home – but there is normally so much to buy,’ says Jesse.
‘We were just so excited with the Weston Homes package. No one else provided so much in the price. And everything was such high quality.
‘We have a fully-fitted kitchen, a luxury fully-fitted bathroom with smart water-saving gadgets, under-cupboard lighting and steam-free mirrors. And the bedrooms have fitted cupboards and carpet. It was such a relief to have all these lovely things that we did not have to pay extra for.’
As for decor, Jesse has bravely gone for light and creamy colours to emphasise the spacious living area with its floor to ceiling windows and glass winter garden. A really sophisticated addition to the overall design, the garden room floods the living area with natural light and offers a panoramic view .
Teaching can be stressful – and Jesse works hard to prepare her students for their exams, often bringing work home. ‘If they want to learn, I want to teach them,’ she says. ‘And the design of this big room provides a restful space to work in.’
Suiting your lifestyle and keeping your bills down
An award-winning developer, Weston Homes is passionate about providing interior design that creates a sense of wellbeing, dividing up the space to satisfy a range of lifestyle choices. Clearly, this is appreciated by Jesse.
‘I’m happy here – but more importantly, the children are happy,’ she says. ‘They have a big bedroom to share and cupboards for clutter and outside there’s a play area with swings where they can meet other children. And we have a community WhatsApp group.’
Weston Homes is equally passionate about building homes that are energy efficient, highly insulated and sustainable. Having lived through the winter months at Dylon Riverside, Jesse has appreciated the developer’s efforts.
‘I’m a maths teacher,’ she smiles. ‘So I’ve done the maths and we definitely save money on our heating.’ From the background noise, it is clear that two small people have decided it’s their turn for attention. ‘We do have a schedule. A time for reading, homework, TV time and this afternoon we are baking,’ says their mum. ‘I want to learn how to bake so we are doing it together.’
Once a teacher..
