Writing. The story is about 400 words long. Write a shorter version of it, in not more than 200 words. Keep all the important facts but leave out all the unnecessary details.
Part III. Home
Text 1
To the manor reborn
Eight country houses were sold off recently
when their owner was forced into liquidation.
Nigel Lewis finds out what happened next
HERE’S a dream that many of us cherish: to escape the noise and pollution of the city and move to the country, where the air is clean and the nights are dark.
Property investor Richard Burrows, 40, is doing it in spectacular style.
‘I live with my family in Putney, but my wife and I have been keen to get out of London for some time,’ he says. ‘I never dreamed I’d end up owing a 400-year-old mansion-cum-retirement-home.’
A few months ago he read about the plight of Danny House, a Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion near Brighton in West Sussex – one of eight owned until recently by the Country House Association. ‘It has eight acres of grounds, a considerable improvement on our small Putney garden.’
Danny House is at the foot of the West Sussex downs near Hurst-pierpoint and was built in 1596, although there has been a house of some sort on this site since the 13th century.
Its most famous resident was Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who convened his War Cabinet in the mansion’s magnificent Great Hall to draw up the terms of the Armistice Treaty on October 31, 1918 – with Winston Churchill in attendance.
Yet today it is not politicians who enjoy the Great Hall’s portrait of Charles I but 35 retired residents who pay between ₤1,250 and ₤3,500 a month to live there.
Their rent includes three square meals a day, their apartment, use of the gardens, Great Hall and other communal rooms.
As Mr. Borrows told me what attracted him to such an unusual property investment, several guests played croquet in the late afternoon sun while cows grazed in an adjacent field. He thinks Danny House can run successfully as a retirement home – and provide a luxurious family home in a tranquil spot.
He and his wife Rachel plus their children Miles, aged four, Heather, two, and Willow, one, are moving into two of the 28 apartments, leaving two for staff, one for Rachel’s mother (who’s helping run the business) and 23 for the residents.
The mansion-cum-retirement-home used to be one of eight run by the Country House Association (CHA), which was founded in 1955 by Rear-Admiral Bernard Wilberforce Greathed to provide mostly retired former colonial officials with opulent, affordable and manageable mansion apartments.
By last year the CHA had accumulated eight stately homes, mostly in the Home Counties. But a mounting financial crisis at the association forced it into liquidation and Deloitte & Touche has now sold off the properties for a cool ₤ 20 million.
SO FAR six of the houses have been sold, including Albury Park in Surrey, Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire, Gosfield Hall in Essex, Swallowfield Park in Berkshire, Flete House in Devon and Danny House.
The good news is that these, like Danny, will continue as retirement homes and their residents will not be forced to move out. But, sadly, the two remaining properties – Pyt House in Wiltshire and Great Maytham in Kent – are being sold on the open market and their residents must leave by June 30.
(from the Daily Mail)
Notes
mansion-cum-retirement-home
-cum- is used to join two nouns, showing that a person or thing does two things or has two purposes: This is my bedroom-cum-study.
Armistice Treaty – an agreement that was signed in 1918 to stop fighting and that brought the end of the First World War
Home Counties – the counties around London, in SE England. People living in the Home Counties are often considered to be relatively wealthy and to share a comfortable way of life.
Grade I listed mansion
listed building – a building of great historical or artistic value which has official protection to prevent it from being changed or destroyed
Elizabethan – belonging to the period of Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603), daughter of Henry VIII
Charles I – (1600-1649) a king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, who was executed after the English Civil War when parliament stopped supporting him
Vocabulary
home n.
retirement home
family home
stately home
manor n. (= manor-house)
invest v.
to invest in smth.: He’s not certain whether to invest in the property market.
investment n.
to attract investment: The government is trying to attract more investment into the shipbuilding industry.
to make an investment: She made an investment of ₤1000 in the new firm.
investor n.
property investor
small investor: Small investors are hoping that the markets will improve.
property n.
personal property: The club doesn’t accept responsibility for loss of club member’s personal property.
private property: The notice said ‘Private Property, Keep Off’.
a man / woman of property: Yes, I’ve bought my own house – I’m now a man of property.
mansion n.: The street is lined with enormous mansions where the rich and famous live.
apartment n.: They have six holiday apartments for sale. / I’ll give you the keys to my apartment (= flat).
communal adj.
communal facilities / food / property / rooms: We each have a separate bedroom but share a communal kitchen.
adjacent adj.: They work in adjacent buildings. / They lived in a house adjacent to the railway.
resident n.: The hotel bar was only open to residents (= to people staying at the hotel).
run v. (= to be in control of)
to run a restaurant / business / company: He’s been running a restaurant since he left school.
well-run / badly-run organization / business
move v. (= change place)
to move to: We’re moving to Paris.
to move in / into: They’ve bought a new house, but it will need a lot of work before they can move into it / move in.
to move away: The couple next door moved away (= went to live somewhere else) last year.
move out (of): A lot of businesses are moving out of London because it’s too expensive. / He was forced to move out (= to leave the place).
retire v.: Since retiring from the company, she has done voluntary work for a charity. / He was retired with a generous pension.
retired adj.: Both my parents are retired. / He is a retired airline pilot.
retirement n.
to take retirement: Many teachers over the age of 50 are taking early retirement.
retirement age: What is the normal retirement age in this country?
improve v.: He did a lot to improve conditions for factory workers.
to improve on / upon smth. (phr.v.): Last time she ran the race in 20 minutes, so she’s hoping to improve on that.