Most residents who have called Cardiff their home for decades and potentially have never lived anywhere else would struggle to point to Orchard Place on a map of the Welsh capital.
A non-descript, tiny lane peels off from a busier residential road and leads into a pocket of peace and pretty properties, and it is very easy to miss on foot or by car, even if you're actively looking for it.
But it is worth the stress of wandering around the period property packed roads of lower Pontcanna and Canton to find it, because a visit to this special cul-de-sac feels like you are stepping back in time.
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Lined with the cutest of mainly Edwardian terrace cottages, this idyllic island away from the bustle of the suburbs is home to a small group of friendly residents who have built a community similar to how people lived years ago, when everyone supported each other and everyone knew all their neighbours.
And if you can find it off Severn Road in Canton, it's likely that Orchard Place will instantly captivate you too, as it did when resident Esyllt Lord aged 51 and originally from Aberystwyth, accidently stumbled across the hidden cul-de-sac years ago when she was a student exploring the city.
She says: "I came for a look around Canton and came down this little street thinking it was a cut-through to Cowbridge Road and it isn't, and I remember saying to my boyfriend 'I want to live here, I love this street', but obviously I lived in Cathays and Roath and all the student places.
"And then I came back to Canton a few years ago, I spotted it again, and this house came on sale and luckily, somehow or other, I came to live here on Valentine's Day 13 years ago.
"It's special because of a mixture of things, it's hidden, quiet and all the houses are completely different, I think they were all built at roughly different times, with numbers 30 and 31 the first to be built and then the street progressed out."
One of the longest residents on the close is Chris Jackson who lives in the family home that his parents bought in 1965 when he was eight. After moving out and living in other Cardiff suburbs, he could not resist the call of Orchard Place and eventually returned.
According to Chris the close began as a small lane with just two red brick buildings at the entrance that still remain. He says: "They used to be a stable and storage place for a big house somewhere around here and this was all rough ground and then they built an orchard here, hence the name, and then as the workers increased and the city was getting bigger they added the cottages."
The look of the close is visually very appealing, with many of the Arts & Crafts-style Edwardian homes boasting external beam detailing and adorned with an array of pretty pastel colours thanks to the recent explosion in the choice of external paint colours.
One of the end terrace homes can offer an apex roof that ensures it stands out from the roof lines of its mid terrace neighbours and is painted a tasteful white and soft grey; it's the home of author Deborah Kay Davies, whose novel True Things About Me was made into a movie in 2019 starring His Dark Materials and Luther actress Ruth Wilson.
The 66-year-old writer, originally from Cwmbran, is another resident who had no idea this hidden gem of homes existed, and the road easily cast its enchantment spell over her in 2008 when she moved in with her husband.
She says: "One of the reasons my husband bought this house is because Orchard Place is like a tiny little village in the middle of the city, but it's close to everything that you need. It's close to Chapter (Arts Centre), posh places in Pontcanna, and Cowbridge Road, which I love.
"And then you can walk into town, there's a beautiful park just up the road, it's a perfect place if you like to live in a city but you want to have that sort of smaller kind of feeling where you feel like you're surrounded by people you know. It's just a little peaceful corner of Cardiff that we can all retreat to, it really does feel like a heaven."
One of the more recent residents to this Edwardian Canton courtyard is Nick Kelly, a 28-year-old consultant from Cardiff who joined the Orchard Place gang in June 2020 and was surprised by the location of the house.
He says: "When I got to the end of the lane it was really surprising as it kind of opens up, you could drive past here a million times and have no idea.
"The special part about it is the community, everyone is really nice, everyone is really welcoming, so when I first moved in, I haven't lived in this area before, everyone was really nice, came out and said hello, really nice people.
"It's very community driven, nice and local pubs and shops which are good, so if you like hanging around in places that are not big chains or anything like that, if you like supporting local, it's a great place to be. Generally it is very quiet, it's crazy, especially when you go down to Cowbridge Road, less than two minutes up the road, but when you're here and it's like a village, it's great."
Nick's choice of location and style for his home surprised and impressed his family and friends, wondering how he ended up living on such a lovely street.
He says: "I guess I got quite lucky really, they love it, my mum loves it, she kind of wishes she lived down here. Maybe if I ever move, she'd move in!"
The feeling of living in a small and supportive community is a theme that resounds around the cul-de-sac and as well as the daily impromptu chat on the street, the socialising includes organised annual events.
Deborah says: "It's very friendly, we usually have two get togethers in the street a year, because it's a dead-end, we have two BBQs and catch up with each other. I know there are quite a few people I could turn to here if I needed to and in hope they feel the same about me."
That sense of being surrounded by support grew in strength during the Covid-19 pandemic. Esyllt says: "Occasionally when someone had run out of toilet roll they'd knock on the door but it was strange and eerie, like everywhere else.
"It's quiet here anyway, quite strange for its quietness for somewhere that's right in the middle of Canton, so of course during the pandemic it was even quieter still, it did have its plus sides because we're quite close as people, definitely."
For a small cul-de-sac with cottages packed together quite tightly some people might expect there to be the occasional tiff between neighbours, but the residents are clear that there are no obvious negatives of living in this quiet bubble surrounded by the bustle of Canton, but visitors to the close might disagree according to Deborah.
She says: "I don't think there are any negatives for the people who live here but negatives for people who visit us is the parking, but even though we've got lots of cars here no-one ever falls out about parking because we have it all worked out.
"But people can get stuck in Orchard Place, I hear a lot of revving, people's cars going back and for - oh dear! Really I think that's the only down side and I think that isn't a down side if you live here."
One person who was once a resident but is now an envious visitor is Thomas Williams, managing director of estate agents Maison Cambria, who used to own number one on the street and is very regretful that he ever left the close.
And although houses in the close rarely come up for sale but number five has just been snapped up, sold by Thomas, so at least he got to visit his old address and take a stroll down memory lane.
And in a very rare scenario, there's another home on the close for sale too. Chris is packing up and moving to France to start a new adventure in his retirement, but he says he's going to find it a wrench to leave the street, and he can't quite sever all ties with this special little Cardiff courtyard.
He says: "I'll miss everything about Orchard Place really, although there are more rentals here now, it's still a friendly street to live on - I've got three people's keys and they've got keys to mine. Everybody knows everybody and you can't walk down the street without bumping into somebody so you're always talking to people, it's like an old style community like Canton used to be which has gone from most places.
"I will miss it but lots of people have said if I want to come over I've got a bed in Orchard Place so I can come back to stay, and I will, especially for the BBQs."
One resident who won't be packing up any time soon, unless she says her numbers come up on the lottery, is Esyllt. Although currently very busy working on opening a toy shop called Albatross in Cardiff's Morgan Arcade soon, takes time to enjoy her garden as well as the cute cottage she adores, one of the two original homes on the close.
She says: "It's perfect for two people, they're not houses for families, but if you're on your own or just the two of you they are absolutely perfect. And as the houses are painted different colours it has that slight Aberaeron, Portmeirion kind of feeling to it, or maybe that's just me being soppy!
"But there is something very chilled about it, very quiet and relaxing about the street, can't really explain it more than that. I wouldn't want to leave, I'll be forever grateful for finding it, it's home."
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