In the tight knit super-rich premiership footballer community wordtravels fast

Tag : Knit Finishing


PROPERTIES don't come much more glamorous than the opulentfootballers' mansions nestled in the Cheshire countryside - withtheir swimming pools, home cinemas and snakeskin-lined doors.

And property developers don't come any more glamorous than thewoman who has designed most of those dream homes, Dawn Ward.

Slim, sassy, and super-stylish, the blonde-haired wife of formerManchester City footballer Ashley Ward has got the model looks ofan A-list Cheshire socialite, matched with the savvy of a citycentre businesswoman.

Which is why the 33-year-old mum-of-three is currently sittingpretty as one of the most sought-after developers in the goldentriangle of Prestbury, Alderley Edge and Hale. Thanks, in no smallpart, to the stunning job she did building the palatial £4mCheshire residence of Mr and Mrs Wayne Rooney. Not that she'staking all the credit.

Family business

"Everyone talks about Dawn Ward - but Ashley does 10 times morethan me, he really is the brains behind everything," she insists,modestly. "It really is a family business and he can be sat workingin the office 10 hours a day."

While Dawn plays down her involvement in Bilton Ward - the companyshe first set up to keep the family going once hubby Ashley'sfootballing days were over - it's clear that she is a major part ofthe company's success. Offering a full building to decoratingservice, the Salford-born glamourpuss started off with her ownfashion boutique, bringing a sense of style to the world ofproperty.

Now, she picks everything from swimming pools to sinks for themulti-million pound properties. Jetting off to trade fairs aroundthe world to make sure Cheshire's well-heeled house hunters get thenewest and best gadgets out there.

"We buy land, build houses and finish it right to the end soclients can literally just open the door and it's ready to movestraight in," she says. "But it's all about individuality, no twohouses we do are the same. The people we are selling to wantquality things that are different.

"They see a lot of nice things and go to a lot of nice places.That's why we go to all the trade shows to find out what's hot inMilan, Paris, Las Vegas and Dubai."

In a bid to make her houses the best of the best, Dawn says she isalways searching for that ultimate in opulence - from doors coveredin snakeskin and sprayed with metal, to "marine walls" of giantfish tanks built into cinema rooms.

Hard graft

But, she recalls, it didn't start off quite so super glam, with herand Ashley putting in plenty of hard graft to get where they aretoday.

"We bought a derelict barn for ourselves over 10 years ago. We gotquotes to convert it into a house and it was just too expensive sowe did it ourselves. I was very heavily pregnant at the time but weboth managed it - sold the house and doubled our money.

"We really enjoyed it and wanted to do another one. I bought somesites and renovated them, selling one house to Kevin Campbell ofEverton and one to David Thompson from Blackburn Rovers. They weredelighted and word just spread."

In the tight knit super-rich premiership footballer community wordtravels fast and the Wards soon found themselves handling plenty ofrequests from big name soccer stars. Culminating in the propertyjackpot of the Rooneys' pad.

Although she says she doesn't make a point of working only withfootballers.

"I just buy houses and sell them - I just happen to know a lot ofpeople in football. They would only buy them from me if the designwas good. With Wayne and Coleen's house for instance, Coleen is avery good friend of mine and while I get given all the credit shehad a huge input and has fantastic taste.

"She has made her house extremely homely, she's got fantastic tasteso it was extremely easy working with her."

Extra mile

Currently, the Wards are working with some more of theirfootballing friends - Manchester United star Wes Brown and hisfiancée Leanne Wassle. Even going that extra mile to make surethey have a smooth move.

"I'm just in the middle of finishing Wes' new house but he has soldhis other one earlier than we thought so they have come to livewith us for a while - luckily Leanne is my best friend. Actually,they're so enjoying living with us and getting their food cooked Idon't know if they want me to finish!"

Home for the Wards is the sprawling glamour of Warford Hall,currently undergoing the mother of all makeovers at Dawn's hands tobecome a "flagship" example of what her company can do. Although,with miles of wiring to tackle - not to mention adding a swimmingpool and cinema, the 10-bedroom house is taking a while to finish.

"I always come second best because my clients come first," shesighs. "But we have finished my youngest daughter Charlie's bedroom- it's fantastic, based on a castle theme with 9,500 Swarovskicrystals stuck on the ceiling by hand."

And it's with their daughters - Darby, 12, Taylor, 10, and16-month-old Charlie - that the couple really like to switch off atthe end of a hard day's house building. By going horse riding onone of their many ponies, or travelling to horse events all overthe country. Where they get a real break from the Cheshire mansionscene.

"I love it, nearly ever weekend we go off with the horse wagon.It's just like posh camping!" We would expect nothing less.