Wonderful as New Zealand may be, the 11,299 miles separating the Seville family from their loved ones is the reason they moved back to their beloved Granite City.
Daunting as it was to leave the outdoor lifestyle of New Zealand behind after 18 happy years, Kathleen Seville, her husband Neil knew it was the right time to move back home with their twin seven-year-old girls Tabitha and Jessica.
“We moved to New Zealand for the lifestyle and the better work-life balance, and we enjoyed the great outdoors,” says Kathleen, 53, who used to work in the oil and gas industry with Neil.
“In the end we came back for family reasons.
“Our parents are getting older, Covid makes travel so much more difficult, and we really want the girls to get to know their wider family, and for the family to be able to see them growing up.
“New Zealand is wonderful, but it’s just too far away.”
New build home
Kathleen, who is a stay-at-home mum and Neil, who is a paramedic, says buying their dream new-build home at housebuilder Dandara’s Hazelwood development reaffirmed to them both that they had made the right decision to move.
“We bought a five-bedroom detached house which is a sizeable property, but it had to suit not just us, but the kids and potentially my mum as well as it’s likely she will come to live with us at some point,” says Kathleen.
“The straight staircase will mean we can put a stairlift in and there’s a bedroom with an ensuite for her.
“Neil has his own office, which he’s very happy with, and I love the open-plan dining room and kitchen, which has patio doors out to the garden.”
Five-bedrooms
While waiting on their new home to be completed, the family have rented a city centre flat.
“We have had three months of builders in as the flat was in desperate need of modernisation and it reminded me why we chose a new house,” said Kathleen.
“The big old granite houses of Aberdeen are lovely, but they need so much work.
“When we walked into the show home it was such a high spec that we couldn’t fault it.”
Countryside on the doorstep
Located near green spaces, the family’s new home at Hazelwood will also be ideal for their dog Tessa.
In fact, the family are coming to the conclusion that the lifestyle in modern Aberdeen is not so far different from their old lives in New Zealand.
“The kids haven’t found it that big a change; they are having to work a bit harder in school, as it’s more academic and a bit less sporty than they are used to – but aside from that they are doing all the activities they love, like swimming, ice skating and gymnastics, and enjoying getting to know their relatives properly.”
For Kathleen though, being closer to family is the best thing about being back.
“But best of all, my mum is only seven minutes away from our new home, and I love being near to her again,” said Kathleen.
Five-bedroom Yew houses start from £569,950, along with two, three and four-bedroom homes starting from £249,950. For more information visit Dandara’s website.
