Brickworks Avenue, Kingswinford, West Midlands, DY6

Situated a scant few miles from the centre of Dudley and on the edge of the historical Black Country, Kingswinford is a place that hides its light beneath a bushel. Featuring prominently in the Doomsday Book it obviously has a long history but how many realise the role it played the last time people in Britain showed their disdain for those governing them? For it was here that the perpetrators of the infamous gunpowder plot met their fate at Holbeche House but this did nothing to prevent the continuing success of the town as it grew and flourished into the place we know today. But enough of lecturing, what about the house?

Part of a recently completed estate close to all the necessary local amenities and employment opportunities this is a neat looking semi detached home with an area of hard standing to the front, giving plentiful off road parking, which is always a positive.

Opening the semi glazed composite front door gives access into the inner hall where the stairs rise in front of us. On the right is the door into the lounge which, unlike many newly built homes has the space needed to accommodate some of the massive furniture that has recently become so popular, without seeming overcrowded. The room is kept pleasantly bright thanks to the natural light from the forward facing picture window.

On the rear wall is the door through to a small inner lobby where there are doors into a large storage cupboard and the downstairs cloakroom respectively. This cloakroom is, like the lounge before it, sensibly proportioned and avoids the claustrophobia these rooms sometimes induce while providing all you need in the form of its wall mounted hand basin and lavatory. No, the lavatory is not wall mounted, that would be silly.

This lobby opens out into the kitchen/dining room but before you get depressed, it is adequately large to fulfil both these functions simultaneously, rather than being seen as a perfectly good kitchen that someone has compromised by putting a table at one end. The modernistic kitchen should come as no surprise in so new a home but it still manages to impress nonetheless. Laid out in a deep 'U' formation with fitted units lining three of the walls and leaving the chef centrally positioned where everything falls conveniently to hand, it contains all the technological marvels that allow even the most incompetent to boil their breakfast eggs, in an atmosphere that is more Star Trek than Mrs Beeton.

Sitting at the far end of the room ready to receive the products of the chef's labours stands the sort of dining table that will encourage family dinners and even allow for quite lavish parties. Positioned as it is beside the large sliding patio doors, it also gives the feeling that, weather permitting, opening these would almost seem like eating al fresco as they invite the outside inside.
Stepping into the garden reveals a wide stretch of patio which continues round the gable end of the home to the side gate and as it does so, provides space for a substantial wooden storage shed. This is the ideal space to keep all the garden furniture during the winter months, or many of the children's toys, bikes and so on at any time. Beyond the patio the whole area is given over to lawn which, short of concreting it is the best possible option for those wanting a low maintenance garden while preventing what would otherwise be a stark and slightly soulless appearance.
Back indoors and upstairs, moving to the front of the home we come to the smallest of the bedrooms which, like so many of its type, is strictly a single room but one with which any child or young adult would be happy. Alternatively, with working from home becoming more and more popular, it is ideally proportioned to become a fully equipped office, offering possibly the world's shortest commute.

Adjacent to this is the first of the double bedrooms which if I am honest, although definitely a double is, to use an estate agent's term; a little bit bijou. That is to say, when the bed and associated furniture is in place you can swing a cat but it would be easier if it were a Manx, unless you relish a call from the RSPCA....

Moving further along the landing we pass the family bathroom which, owing to the fact that there is an en-suite in the principal bedroom seems almost exclusively for the use of the home's minor residents. Following the modernist theme set by the kitchen this features a contemporary hand basin set into a storage cabinet beneath, lavatory and traditional bath. What? No shower, I hear you cry but don't worry. Have I not already mentioned the en-suite? If a shower is your preferred option there is one available though I must admit, leaving the bathroom without one seems to be missing a trick.

And finally we come to the principal bedroom which, as it should be, is by far the largest in the home. In here is space for a huge chest of drawers to complement the fitted wardrobe, and a pair of bedside cabinets that are extra chests of drawers in their own right, so clothes storage should never be an issue. Like the rest of the home the levels of illumination are excellent thanks to the dimensions of the picture window while opposite the foot of the bed is the door to the en-suite. This is a refreshing change from many on offer from the large building firms, offing enough space to feel more like a genuine alternative to the family bathroom as opposed to a cupboard with a loo in it. Following the style of the bathroom there is a similar type of hand basin with accompanying storage beneath, lavatory and a walk in shower cubicle in short, offering everything you need and delivered in a stylish form. What more could you want?

All in all this home provides answers to the problems of a great many potential buyers, for a host of different reasons. It is within the financial reach of young families just starting out on their home-owning adventures, while offering the comfort and standard of finish demanded by someone more mature who is perhaps looking to downsize at the other end of their journey. It is well located for convenient access to all the necessities of life and served by an excellent road network for travelling further afield but above all, it is in the sort of condition that allows you to move straight in while making no compromise. In turn this gives you the easiest life possible, and isn't that what we all want?