When the Prince of Wales Is Your Landlord

Although Poundbury was “derided by many at the time,” the prince wrote, “I am heartened that both the duchy’s and my foundation’s work is now gaining approval and shifting the tide of opinion.”

Residents and businesses who have moved to Nansledan (the name means broad valley in Cornish) are enthusiastic about their choice. They have already agreed to the rules of life on a duchy estate, including the requirement that residents wanting to change the color of their house or door must apply for permission from the duchy and conform to tints reminiscent of fishing cottages on the coast.

Buying a house in the development is like joining a club, said Tracey Nicholas, the project administrator for the Duchy of Cornwall in Nansledan. “These are the rules,” she said, flipping through the color charts.

And the rules that come with living on duchy-owned land are part of the attraction for some residents.

“You have to buy into that,” said Aaron Smith, a florist who moved from Staffordshire, about 275 miles away, to set up home and shop in Nansledan with his partner, Matt Drohan, six weeks ago.

“It can seem quite controlling,” Mr. Smith said, but he loves the “cookie-cutter feel” of the place, joking that he aspired to be like Bree Van de Kamp, the uptight perfectionist in the American television series “Desperate Housewives.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/business/prince-charles-duchy-cornwall-nansledan.html?emc=rss&partner=rss