New suburb in the making: Crossrail hotspot Reading gets smart New England-style homes at Green Park Village
Pretty, pastel-coloured houses with gables, porches and verandas on stilts are divided by white picket fences in a lakeside setting on the city’s leafy fringe.
The Newport is the name given to the style of spacious four-bedroom semi-detached houses in the latest phase, Lake View, moments from the water.
Green Park Village is a suburb in the making, with trim trails and a nature reserve, shops and sports facilities, a town square, community hall and apartments for the elderly, while coming soon are a new primary school and a train station linking to Crossrail.
Architectural purists may cringe at the faux designs — close inspection of the houses reveals that ostensibly wooden façades are factory-made boards that will never mature into the faded elegance of authentic New England homes.
Yet the village is proving popular with London-bound commuters who want a spacious, open-plan family home. Houses have a carport or garage and a separate utility room.
Residents have to behave in this well-kept, litter-free environment, and lease restrictions forbid owners from painting the exterior of their homes a different colour.
Estate agents’ sale boards are not allowed and upkeep of front gardens is paid out of the communal service charge.
Prices for The Newport start at £630,000. Call developer St Edward on 0118 402 3533.
