Five years ago, Sami and Max were the very first residents to move into The Old Printworks in Frome, drawn by its unique design and close-knit community. Since then, their family has grown—and so has their need for space. But instead of leaving the neighbourhood they’ve come to love, they bought their second home, within the very same development.
Located at the former Butler, Tanner & Dennis site, once one of Britain’s finest colour printers, the stylish development caught their eye when they were looking to move back to Somerset from London to be closer to family. Max grew up in Frome, his dad, sister and brother still live there and Sami had also lived nearby, in Bath and Corsham, with her family. The couple met in Frome and married four years ago at Orchardleigh Estate.
As soon as Sami and Max visited The Old Printworks they were immediately impressed by the standout design and have been so happy with their home and the location, they have recently moved from their three-bedroom house, which they bought in 2020, into a new four-bedroom property within the same development. Their son River is now five and has a baby brother, Wren, who is five months old. Sami, who is currently on maternity leave, is a paediatric clinical nurse specialist at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, while Max, a senior IT technician, mostly works from home.
“We’d always walked past these three-storey townhouses and liked the look of them, so it was an obvious choice to go and have a look,” says Sami.
“We looked around the Show Home and it had all the space we needed, in the layout that worked for our lifestyle. The extra living room was something I especially wanted. When we moved to our last house, our older son was nine months old so the open-plan layout was perfect and we still wanted to keep that, having another baby. We’ve got two dogs as well, so being able to have the big family area downstairs and the other living room, which is more of a cosy room, plus the extra bedroom, because Max needs an office, was ideal.
“The train station was also a huge part about, firstly, moving to this side of Frome but also staying this side, because we’re so close to the station. My sister also lives really close by. Because we’ve been here so long, we knew Helyn and Diana from the sales team. They were so helpful and that also made it an easy decision. The old house was the first house we’d bought, so selling and buying another house was brand new to us. They gave us recommendations of people to go through as well, which made me feel happier. Everything just aligned.”
Being close to primary schools and having the countryside and River Frome on their doorstep for walks with their labradoodle and sheprador, Skye and Emmy, also influenced the family’s decision to stay.
“There is a field behind the house down by the river where you can go with dogs which is five minutes away,” says Max, 37. “We used to live next to Wimbledon Common and my dog was very used to having long walks, so having the field nearby is excellent.
“We loved our old house, so finding this one in the same development felt perfect — it has everything we loved before from open plan living to energy-efficiency features, just on a bigger scale. The neighbourhood is great, and the people are really friendly. There’s even a summer street party, which has become a fun yearly tradition. The community has got a warm, welcoming feel.”
Sami adds: “There’s a lot of thought for the area, the environment, even the shared spaces and solar panels, all these things make it more energy efficient and more friendly for the environment. My favourite thing about the new house is actually the solar panels. Our energy bill is lower, definitely during the summer. Moving to a bigger house, the bills going up was a worry of mine, but actually I think we’re better off.
“We loved the old house, we would never have moved if we didn’t need more space. We’ve just been lucky that we’ve been able to literally move down the road. We already liked the area and the house, so being able to just upgrade essentially, this now feels more like our forever home.”
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