Enjoying the 'now', and relishing the future

Karen Turner and husband Steve came to the Holiday Property Bond more or less by osmosis. "There was no one thing that convinced us," Karen recalls. "We'd seen a leaflet or two, certainly. Then we went to an Open Day at Blore Hall, the Bond's Derbyshire home. We'd been talking to another couple too, who were already Bondholders. Slowly but surely, we came to the view that the Bond would be right for us – not just Steve and me, but the family too. But there was no clap of thunder, no Damascene conversion. We made up our own minds, in our own time.

"But actually, that was one of the things that impressed us," she continues. "We liked what we saw at Blore – the site is in a glorious location, and the accommodation is fabulous, as we now know is the case at all the sites – but we were taken aback, really, by the lack of sales pressure. There were HPB representatives present, of course, but they were happy to answer our questions without at any stage urging us to sign on the dotted line."

Since investing in 2006, the Leicestershire-based couple have enjoyed Bond holidays at Tigh Mor Trossachs, in Perthshire; St Brides Castle, in Pembrokeshire; La Reserva de Biniorella, in Majorca; El Balcón de Santa Ana, in La Gomera; Rocha Brava, in Portugal's Algarve; El Pueblito de Alfaix, in southern Spain; Le Manoir du Hilguy, in Brittany; Physkos, in Turkey, where this photo was taken; and twice at Stigliano, HPB's Tuscan palazzo and the Turners' favourite site so far. "As a building – or collection of buildings – it's amazing," says Steve, "and as a chartered surveyor I know whereof I speak! But the accommodation is as comfortable and well equipped as any that you'd find at any other Bond home, and the location is stunning, with Siena and Florence so easily accessible."

Karen and Steve are keen to visit other sites, too. "One of the things we love about HPB is there's always something to look forward to," says Karen, who works as a PA at Steve's firm. "Whether it's a holiday at a site we've visited before, or at a site that's new to us, there's great pleasure in anticipation. We want to go to Sibton Park, in Kent; Constant, in the Dordogne; Coreggia, in southern Italy; Merlewood in the southern Lake District, our new UK home; and all the rest. But even if we work through the whole portfolio there are always new sites being developed. I can't wait to see what Lucker, our new Northumberland home, will be like. And then there's the 'Coo Palace', in the Scottish Borders; looks intriguing..."

The Turners' two sons, Paul, 25, and David, 24, haven't really used mum and dad's Bond yet – though David celebrated his 21st birthday at Barnham Broom, the Bond's Norfolk home – but Karen is confident that they will. "As and when they have children of their own, I think HPB will be perfect for them," she says. "And actually, the Bond crosses all generations. My parents love it, too! We are all storing up many wonderful memories to treasure for the rest of our lives".