A SPACIOUS family home has just gone on the market in one of Hexham’s executive developments with quiet cul-de-sacs and far-reaching views.

Its owners are Keith and Anne Rodgers who are reluctantly selling up now that their children are about to leave home.

“We’re starting to rattle around a bit now,” Keith said. “When we first moved in there was just the two of us, then that went up to six and now it’s on its way back down to three, possibly two, by September. That’s the only reason we’re selling.”

Anne and Keith’s house is a six-bedroom detached in Beaumont Park. It has spacious rooms, including a large front lounge with multi-fuel stove and double doors through to a dining room.

There’s also a dining kitchen, with a breakfast bar and integrated appliances, and a south-facing conservatory. Upstairs, two of the six bedrooms have en-suite facilities, one with a Jacuzzi.

The couple relocated from Newcastle after Anne took a job at Hexham Hospital. Keith formerly worked at Newcastle Airport, but is now employed by the Civil Aviation Authority, while Anne is home-based as a diabetes dietician.

They were soon joined by children Ben and Erin. Keith has two older children, Beth and Mark, from a former relationship.

“The house will feel very empty without them,” said Keith. “When we bought it, Beth and Mark were living with their mother so it was just the pair of us, although we did hope to have a family some time in the future.

“Then our children were born and after a few years, the other two children moved in as well. We went from nought to two to four kids in a short period of time.

“When the older ones moved in we thought we needed an extension, so we built over the garage. The extension has two bedrooms, one with an en-suite and walk-in wardrobe.

“We also built a conservatory and changed the layout of the kitchen and the utility room. It had a large utility room which was a bit wasted, so we incorporated half of it into the kitchen.

“The conservatory and back garden are south-facing so are a real sun trap and I’ve built decking and a patio over the years. It’s a decent-sized garden with a greenhouse and a couple of vegetable patches.

“At the front of the house, the garden slopes up, so we’re not overlooked. The path is about 10ft below the level of the window, so we’re quite private that way. We’re lucky too that the people who lived here first had the back garden terraced.”

Keith loves his conservatory in the summer because it’s so warm and quiet.

“We’re in a small cul-de-sac so people don’t pass at speed,” he said. “There’s a road going up Causey Hill at the end of the road, but that’s rarely used. You can sit there in the summer, or in the garden, and just hear the cows and the sheep in the fields; it’s really nice.

“We are the second occupants of the house since it was built, which was probably in the late 1980s. The next door neighbours told us they moved here in 1989. They’re still here and are very good neighbours.

“We’ll probably miss the house a little bit when we move, but as someone said to me recently, ‘It’s you that have the memories, not the house.’

“We’ve had great times here, a lot of parties

“ It’s a bit of a party house, the layout of the house lends itself to that.

“The thing we’re going to miss most is probably the neighbours because we’ve all lived here a long time and everybody gets on. In fact, we have quite a lot of joint parties and we’ve been on holiday together. Everybody is really friendly around here.”

The property in Percy Close, Beaumont Park, Hexham, is for sale at £435,000 from Rook Matthews Sayer, tel. (01434) 601616.