On A fresh early autumn morning, Lakeview, just outside Keinton Mandeville deep in rural Somerset, appears to be the arc

On A fresh early autumn morning, Lakeview, just outside Keinton Mandeville deep in rural Somerset, appears to be the archetypal English village.

Houses, made of the local bluey-grey lias stone, surround the village green. There are allotments, orchards and wildflower meadows. 

Stand still and kinoggo.biz the only sounds to be heard are the squeals of children playing in the primary school yard.

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Yet although Lakeview has the look of a centuries-old settlement, it is newly built.

So why create a replica of a village when all around there is the real thing?

The answer is to satisfy demand. In times of crisis, people yearn for the simple life in the countryside. The pandemic has been just such a crisis.

According to Savills estate agents (savills.com), four in ten property owners now find a village location more appealing than before, with 71 per cent of younger buyers craving more outdoor space.

The problem is that although buyers may love the 'idea' of country life, the reality is often different.

Traditional, chocolate-box cottages can be dusty and dark, with low ceilings and heating bills that are far from 'olde worlde'. 

Modern 'oven-ready villages' — such as Lakeview — make rural life more user-friendly.

'We have the best of both worlds here,' says Alison Gibbon, 61, who downsized with her husband to Lakeview having lived in Buckinghamshire.