Born in Forres, in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast into an RAF family, as a child Sami lived in Holland and Germany, before returning to the UK to attend secondary school in Corsham, some 33 miles from Frome.

As a teenager Sami lived in the West Country with her family in and around Bath and Corsham and following secondary school attended Bournemouth University, to train as a paediatric nurse, specialising in Paediatric Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC).

Sami has been working at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London for the past nine years, currently on maternity leave she will be returning part-time and commuting. During this time, she lived in a number of London locations including Southfields, Roehampton and lastly Wimbledon, before deciding with partner Max, a Senior IT Technician for a London based company, to move back to the West Country with baby River, who is now a year old.

“We knew we wanted to move back to the West Country and moving to The Old Printworks in Frome has been a little bit like coming ‘home’.

“My mum passed away five years ago but grew up around Frome, my maternal grandparents still live here, as do two of my three sisters with their respective families and it is where I met Max when home visiting my mum. Max grew up in Frome, so knows it really well and his Mum, sister and one of his brothers still live here.”

Sami and Max are engaged and were due to be married in 2020, but Coronavirus meant that the wedding had to be delayed.

“We both wanted to be closer to family and having the baby prompted us to consider the move more seriously. We knew we wanted our baby to be close to and know his extended family, so the West Country was our only real area of interest.”

“We were initially planning to move to Bath, but we saw the house at The Old Printworks and that ultimately made us choose Frome: Max grew up here and knows it well, but it was ultimately the house and layout of the development that clinched it. It’s so friendly here and we missed that in London, which after a while can desensitise you.”

“The design just jumped out at us, looking quite unique and different to any other new builds we had seen. We were looking at completely different properties previously, none of which were new builds. When we learnt more about Acorn’s vision; the use of responsibly sourced building materials, the wildlife preservation and the communal green areas it persuaded us to visit and we were not disappointed.”

“It doesn’t seem like ‘just a development’ and will clearly become a nice community for those making a home here. The vision with regards to supporting the environment is so wonderful. It feels like everyone involved with The Old Printworks, from the Sales Team to the Site Manager, cares about it and is proud of it.”

“Not only was the project well planned, the same degree of consideration has clearly gone into the layout of the houses: it is perfect for a family, beautifully finished and good quality.”

“The space, the open plan layout really works for us right now with a baby. The huge windows are amazing and the kitchen with everything looking so sleek and the integrated appliances all hidden. The en-suite shower is incredible and ‘5 star’ luxury in Max’s words: it was a close call for him between that and the Cat 6 cable as the most winning feature.”

“The history of the site is interesting and it has always been quite a poignant area of Frome for me. Whenever we visited as children, if we were in the area, the Butler & Tanner site was always talked about: my brother-in-law and sister’s father-in-law both worked there at one time, so it’s very well known to both our families.”

“The fresh air is great and the stars (we didn’t see stars in London and you forget). There are many places to get out for walks which is important to us with a baby and a dog. There are some amazing independent shops and businesses, but mostly it’s the people: everyone has time for you and everyone loves a friendly chat.”

Sami and Max both enjoy live music gigs and festivals, as well as art and travel and are looking forward to getting to know clubs and venues around Frome and Somerset, as COVID restrictions hopefully ease.

To find out more about the homes available at The Old Printworks, call the team today on 01373 888 303.