Telford or Tenerife? One of Telford's hidden villas has hit the market
You could have lived for decades in Telford and never have noticed a small and highly unusual estate of Spanish-style houses near Sutton Hill.
Known locally (and perhaps to only myself and a handful of people I know) as 'Spanish Telford', the residential area of Great Hay has always fascinated me.
Boasting road names like Punta Verde Drive and Mimosa Close, the small, distinctive housing estate on the way to The Telford Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort might look less out of place on a street in the Costa del Sol.
The homes seem to be one of the final projects of the Telford Development Corporation before it wrapped up in October 1991.
The planning applications, which would see dozens of these villa-style homes built round the corner from the new town's first housing estate of Sutton Hill, were given the green light in February 1990.
The residential development, and the neighbouring golf course, were built on the land of Hay Farm, once owned by Abraham Darby II.
His son, Abraham Darby III, reportedly involved himself in the farming which provided grazing and fodder for the horses used in his Coalbrookdale operations.
The Hay remained the property of the Darby family until 1858 when it exchanged several hands over the years before being sold to the Telford Development Corporation in the 1970s.
Despite several hours of digging, I have been unable to work out why developers Tarmace Homes, or the Corporation, settled on the distinct look of the houses, but for whatever reason - I love it.
And now, at least one of these distinctive homes is up for grabs.
The four-bed, two-bath, four-reception room property on Verbena Way is full of city-in-the-sun charm - except ever so conveniently just four miles off the M54.
Boasting a generous living space of 2884.73 square feet spread over two floors, the distinctive detached house features a balcony, sunroom and detached double garage.
This fun slice of life in the sun (with, unfortunately, less sun) is on the market for £535,000.
It's listed by Nick Tart, and available to view online at: zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/66311567
And if anyone can enlighten me more about the process to turn this slice of Sutton Hill into San Sebastián - I'd love to hear it: megan.jones@mnamedia.co.uk
