An investment to be comfortable with

Bill and Frances Todd have been Bondholders for 12 years. “We went on holiday with some Bondholder friends,” recalls Frances, practice manager with a mental health trust, “to Santa Rosa, the Bond’s Lanzarote home. That was more than enough to convince us that the Holiday Property Bond was right for us.”

Since becoming Bondholders the Todds, from Richmond, Surrey, have made good use of their investment. Sites visited include Stigliano, the Bond’s Tuscan palazzo (“We want to go back!”); Encosta Cabo Girão in Madeira; Braithwaite Court in Cumbria, in the heart of the Lake District; El Balcón de Santa Ana in La Gomera, the second-smallest of the Canary Islands (“We’ve been many times; it’s so beautiful, and that year-round balmy climate is a big attraction!”); Tigh Mor Trossachs in Perthshire, with the majestic Scottish Highlands on the doorstep; and Le Manoir du Hilguy, the Bond’s Breton château.

“We knew – of course – that we had a ‘stake’ in our very own French stately home, but somehow you don’t really believe it till you see it for yourself,” says Bill, former ground staff manager for a major British airline. “The site itself is beautiful – and, like all Bond sites, beautifully maintained. And the surrounding countryside is lovely.”

“That’s one of the things we love about the Bond,” Frances continues. “The standards – of bricks-and-mortar, equipment, furnishings and so on – are very high; and it’s clear a lot of attention is paid to keeping our properties in tip-top condition.”

The Todds have their sights set on sites as yet unvisited – particularly Merlewood in the southern Lake District; El Pueblito de Alfaix in southern Spain; Upper Norton in Shropshire; and Physkos in Turunç, Turkey.

But the couple fully intend to share their Bond with their children – Dylan, Joe, and Louisa – and matters familial are in even sharper focus now that Dylan has a daughter, young Sasja. “We’re really looking forward to taking our first grandchild on holiday with us,” says Bill. “And I suppose her parents might want to come along too! It’ll be great to enjoy the Bond as a family.”