East of England I Escaped to the Country

'Making the move from city to countryside

'is often a momentous step.'

Never in a million years I would imagine I would be seeing a house

like this. Never, ever.

'But for many years, Escape to the Country has been supporting

'countless people on the hunt for their new rural home.'

-What do we think of this?

-Oh, my!

Chocolate box.

'We've travelled to the most picturesque pockets of Britain...'

-Take a look at that killer view.

-That's amazing.

'..and showcased thousands of exquisite country properties...'

Oh! How pretty is that?

'..our buyers just couldn't resist.'

Joe!

-Seriously, get your chequebook out now.

-Really?

'Join us as we catch up with those who bought their dream home...'

Such a huge living space.

'..to find out how the move changed their lives

'when they... escaped to the country.'

Today, I'm in the east of England, and these are Grantchester Meadows,

which is just a short punt away from the university city

of Cambridge, and it was here in the early 20th century that

the poet Rupert Brooke lived, and he invited his friends Virginia Woolf,

EM Forster, Bertrand Russell and the like to come picnic

and talk about all things literary.

Now, I love a good story,

particularly one with a happy ending,

and that is why I'm here today - to catch up with house buyers

who escaped to the country and find out what happened next.

So, are you sitting comfortably?

Then I shall begin.

I'll be covering the counties of Cambridgeshire

and later, its northern neighbour Lincolnshire.

I'll be checking in on Rebecca, Will and their daughter Esme,

who we helped find a family home back on Will's home turf

in Lincolnshire, close to the family farm.

First though, I'll be catching up with former globetrotters

Jacqueline and Alistair,

who I helped make the leap from city life to a Cambridgeshire village.

Let's turn our attention to the matter at hand.

Let's reacquaint ourselves with Jacqueline and Alistair -

good name -

who I met here in Cambridgeshire back in 2014.

The London-based teachers had recently returned from the trip

of a lifetime -

a year navigating the world without using a single flight.

But with their sabbatical over,

this adventurous duo were keen to put down routes, close to Cambridge.

We were really looking for a county that would allow us to still work,

and Cambridgeshire is perfect because of is Cambridge,

the university, as well as all of the schools,

will give us the same sort of variety,

we hope, as we have at the moment in London.

I think the move will be a dramatic change for our lives.

It will change where we work,

where we live and very much the sorts of things we do

on a daily basis will change as well.

Their property search was focused on villages within

half an hour's drive of Cambridge.

They were after a period home with a fireplace,

two to three bedrooms and a manageable garden.

To find all this close to a sought-after city,

they had a maximum budget of £325,000.

We started our house-hunting journey in the small village

of Weston Colville, where I showed them a classic Victorian cottage.

Come in, through your own white picket fence.

-Thank you!

-Wonderful, lovely.

I love it. It's double-fronted, a lovely little garden at the front.

-The door with the knocker.

-Yeah, that's fantastic.

-It looks absolutely lovely, doesn't it?

-It's a terraced building.

-These were farmers' cottages back in the 1860s.

-Yes.

-A lovely period property.

-Yes. I love the detail above the windows

-on the ground floor.

-Let's look inside.

Come on into the warm.

-Wow. Gosh!

-See if you can take it all in.

It's a lot to take in straight off the road.

It's wonderfully cottage-y.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I love the beams.

-Yeah.

-And the fireplace.

-Mm.

-Is that open?

-Yes, it works.

-OK.

-It's an open, working fireplace.

This would be a lovely living space, I think.

-Yes, it certainly would.

-Yeah.

-Mm.

-Definitely.

-If this is indeed the only living space.

-Oh!

-Ooh!

-Come on then!

You can't just say that and do nothing!

Well, it is the only living space.

-Shall we explore a bit further?

-Yes, please.

-Absolutely.

-Ta-da!

-Oh, my goodness.

-Oh, my word.

That's a huge living space!

-That's absolutely incredible.

-This is extraordinary!

-Wow. And there's a range.

-Oh, yeah.

-And another living room.

-A second living room.

-Isn't it great?

Is this somebody else's place?

This is way bigger than I expected.

Extraordinary. It's got a lovely feel to it, hasn't it?

Yeah.

'This was a deceptively spacious ground floor, and although upstairs

'was smaller, it still gave them three bedrooms.'

There were two to the front of the property and a cosy master

with en suite bathroom.

I'm really thinking about this place and would I live here.

-It's really making an impression. Yeah.

-That's what we like.

Well, there's one more thing to see and that's the garden.

-Right.

-OK.

-Let's go and see that.

The layout and space outdoors didn't disappoint either.

-Oh, it's gorgeous!

-It's quite a long garden.

-It is.

-Wow!

-Great, vegetable patch.

-Yes, I can see it all.

-Yes.

But let's turn back to the house and talk about the price,

-the all-important price!

-Oh, yes.

-Crunch time.

-Crunch time.

So, how much do you think this is on for?

-OK. So...

-You go first.

I'm going to be an optimist and say £310,000.

I actually think it might be slightly more than that,

-so I'm going to go for £315,000.

-Right.

-315?

-Mm.

-Oh, fingers crossed.

-Fingers crossed.

This is good news for you,

cos this is on the market for...£300,000.

-Excellent. Great.

-Oh, fantastic.

-OK.

-That's really good to know.

Coming in £25,000 under budget and catering for all their needs,

it was clear this first property was the one to beat.

I think the highlight is just the amount of living space.

There's an embarrassment of living space in this cottage.

We couldn't believe it when we came through from the living room

at the room to the living space behind at how much there is.

-OK, guys. You all done?

-OK, yeah. Absolutely.

-Yeah.

-Wunderbar!

So, pull the door behind.

-OK.

-Because we have got another house to visit.

-Great!

-Wonderful.

Next, our property search took us westwards,

to the small village of Waresley. A half-hour commute from Cambridge,

where we found a house right next door to the local watering hole.

-Look at that.

-So, what do you think about the location next to the pub?

-That really is a stagger away.

-Five-star.

-It's fantastic, isn't it?

-It's better than we could have hoped for, I think.

-Yeah.

Well, this is a thatched property.

It's a big thatched property

and it is actually a semidetached property.

-Right.

-OK. Right.

The 200-year-old farm worker's cottage had a modern L-shaped

kitchen-dining room, but the rest of it was packed with period features.

So, step back 200 years.

-Wow.

-Gosh. This is very different from the kitchen, isn't it?

-Isn't it! Yeah.

-Lovely proportions in this room, aren't there?

-Yes.

-So, is this a bit more in terms of the scale

-that you're looking for?

-Yeah.

-What I felt about the other place was

that the space downstairs was overwhelming, in a way.

It was more than we could possibly have hoped for, which was great,

but we would also be happy with less, I think.

Is that fair to say?

-I think so, yeah.

-It is cottage-y, it ticks that box, definitely.

-Yeah.

And then, round the corner you've got, sort of,

a big study area and the staircase.

-Fantastic study area, isn't it?

-It is!

Even though it's a much smaller property, you seem to be more sort

-of taken by the periodness of it.

-Yeah.

A friend of mine commented the other day,

said Jacqueline, "What you're basically looking

"for is your nan's house." And although it's a different age,

there are lots of things like curved wood and not rendered walls

and things that remind me of my nan's house in here.

When it came to bedrooms, there were two upstairs to choose from.

One presented as a twin... and a cosy double.

But with Jacqueline's nostalgia making her fall in love with

the property more than Alistair,

I was hoping the garden might swing it for him.

-So, the outside layout is quite unusual in this property.

-Yeah.

You've got the tail end of this outside building

and then you have this, which is one of your gardens.

-One.

-Gardens.

-OK.

-Gardens!

-We like a house with gardens.

-We do.

-So, if you take a long walk through these woodlands,

you get to your own quarter acre. It's actually an allotment space.

-Yeah, a veggie plot.

-Fantastic! Yes.

What do you think the price of this puzzling property is?

I reckon this is probably on the market for 285,000.

I hope it's under budget as well.

£280,000.

Well, you're in the right ball park, but perhaps a little optimistic.

It's actually on the market for five English pounds short of £290,000.

-OK.

-Oh, OK.

-Interesting.

-Interesting.

-Lots of food for thought.

-Yeah, absolutely! Yes.

-Mm.

So, the second option was another lovely period cottage.

Again, under budget, with more land than our first.

It conjured up powerful family memories for Jacqueline.

It's a warm, quirky old house,

that somehow reminds me of my nan's house and that is a big plus for me.

See, this house all done.

-In fact, all our house tours for the day done.

-Right.

-Now it's time to mull it all over.

-Yes,

-I think we need lots of time for that.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Come with me.

You know, I do appreciate that I have a great job strolling

along riversides, introducing lovely people to beautiful properties,

but I think the high point of it all is when I witness someone

walk into a house and have that light bulb moment,

where they think, "Yes, this could be the one."

And I think that happened with Jacqueline and Alistair

when they saw house number one, but the show wasn't over.

We still had one property up our sleeve, so cue the mystery house.

That mystery offering was 25 miles north of Cambridge

in the Hamlet of Alconbury Weston.

By taking them further away from the city,

the plan was to offer them more house for their money,

but character can come with challenges.

Coming into the mystery house.

It's about a 36-minute drive into Cambridge city centre.

-Right, OK.

-But, look what you get!

-This is a detached property.

-Looks extensive.

-It's big, it's old, it's quirky.

-How old is it in fact?

-Goes back to the 1600s.

-OK.

-Although this extension is only 15-years-old.

I like all the other cottages around and about.

-And the ford's quite charming, isn't it?

-It is.

It was interesting yesterday that it became apparent that actually

space, usually everyone wants space, space, space.

Actually you're not interested in space, more cosy.

For me, cosy rooms are lovely,

but there needs to be just enough space, because I'm quite tall.

So, having to stoop for low ceilings and that sort of thing

is an issue for me. I don't want to do too much of that.

-Right.

-It will be interesting to see what this property offers.

It will.

THEY LAUGH

Inside, the house was unfurnished.

I'm having to say mind your head.

I really don't want to say that, but...

-Right.

-It is quite low beamed downstairs.

-Wow.

-Gosh, it is.

-Look at that!

They are lovely beams, but on the low side, definitely.

-It's incredible.

-It's a fantastic fireplace, though, isn't it?

One of the best I've ever seen. It's gorgeous.

-Well, it is very period.

-Indeed.

-Yes, thank you.

-It's not period everywhere. So, let's continue.

-OK.

-Finally, you can stand up straight.

-Yay!

-This is a good size, isn't it?

-It's a lovely size kitchen.

-Great.

We could quite easily put a table in here or an island or something,

-like this.

-Without feeling you're inching around.

You'd have loads of space. Yes, I'd love a kitchen like this.

As you came in through that hall way, it would be an awesome,

-ideal dining space.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

There were three further areas on the ground floor,

including a lovely garden room in the modern extension -

leaving Alistair and Jacqueline spoilt for choice

when it came to space.

Upstairs, the footprint was smaller, with just two bedrooms,

including the obvious choose for their master.

-Wow.

-The little window!

-What a room. Yeah.

-It's adorable, isn't it?

-It is.

-Charming.

-And what does it overlook?

-It overlooks the river.

-Fantastic.

-The ford as well.

I'd be tempted to put the bed this side, so you could just lie in bed

-and watch the ford.

-I love the brick work of the fireplace,

-the chimney breast.

-What's great, of course, is the chimney breast would

-heat up.

-Yes.

-So, this would then act as a giant radiator.

-Keep us warm.

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

-It's really good.

The period charm and practical features here were starting to

generate some warm reactions.

The outside space was smaller than our second house,

with garden areas to the front and side, complete with a hot tub.

I wouldn't say no to a hot tub.

You could have a lot of fun in there, couldn't you!

What is it on the market for, do you think?

I'm going to go quite low.

I'm going to say £275,000.

I think probably a bit more than that, maybe, because it's quite big,

-so maybe £285,000.

-Yeah.

This is actually on the market for £325,000.

-Oh, really?

-We were way off!

Despite being off the mark on price,

there were elements of the mystery house they loved.

No question, this inglenook fireplace is absolutely stunning.

So, which one did they choose?

Was it the first character cottage?

Or did the warm nostalgia of the second win through?

And let's remember, it's not uncommon for the mystery house

to prompt a complete U-turn.

So, in the end,

house number one knocked the other two properties out of the water,

because it was this white cottage that stole

Alistair and Jacqueline's hearts.

You see, a story with a happy ending.

-Hey, Alistair!

-Great to see you.

-So nice to see you.

-Come in.

Two-and-a-half years on, and our couple have taken to country life

in the pretty village of Weston Coleville,

commuting to their teaching jobs in Cambridge.

It's so nice seeing you here.

-Just walking through, it just brings back so many memories.

-Mm.

-How's it been?

-It's just been absolutely fantastic.

Haven't looked back, quite honestly.

Tell me about the house, because it doesn't feel like you've done a lot,

certainly not structurally. Have you changed much?

-No, not at all.

-No.

-What did we do?

-We decorated the bedroom that we're in.

-Bits of decoration.

But in terms of the structure of the house, nothing at all.

-It didn't really need it.

-No.

So, what's it like? What is the kind of difference

between the Isle of Dogs and this beautiful Cambridgeshire village?

I think the first thing that's so different is that

we know all our neighbours. Our neighbours are our friends now.

And we've made lots of friends in the village,

so we have a real local community of friends and neighbours

that we get on well with, that we spend time with and so on.

The afternoon we were moving the lady next door said,

"I'll just introduce myself, if there's anything you need at all."

And then two days later, the people from the other side came.

Invited us for drinks and that sort of set the tone, really.

Everyone's been wonderful. And it has a really warm feeling

living in Weston Coleville.

When Alistair and Jacqueline first saw the cottage,

they were surprised by the extensive living areas.

It's a far cry from their London flat.

The lovely thing about this cottage is it effectively has

two wonderful living rooms. The room

we're in now tends to be our day time room.

It's lovely and light and sunny.

So, we spend all our days here when we're here

and then in the evening, we decant to the front room,

which is much cosier and in the winter, we get the fire going.

So, we have this kind of sense of progression through to the evening.

I notice that you have replaced the faux books with some real books.

-Yes!

-How long did that take?

Well, actually, building the bookcases took quite a while,

but actually filling the shelves, not very long at all.

No, it's lovely to have them and just pluck one off the shelf

-when you want to.

-And this is a nice quote,

"This cottage, it wraps itself around you."

My dad sat where's Alistair's sitting one day,

with his cup of tea in front of him and said just that that.

I just thought it was so warm and lovely.

He's not given to these sort of poetic utterances.

But, I think this place, he just likes coming here

and that's how he feels, so that went up on the wall.

As well as adding some home comforts,

they've also been making progress in the garden

and it seems Alistair has a natural talent.

I've got the veg going quite well.

I've got some runner beans out, which need picking right now.

I've got some ripe tomatoes out there.

-We've had potatoes, curly kale.

-You missed out a bit.

-Cabbage.

That you won first prize for your runner beans this summer.

-I did.

-Alistair! Modesty does not become you!

This is true. Yes.

He's also a dab hand at making his own beer,

whereas Jacqueline enjoys producing her own jam -

using locally grown fruit.

Her fruit picking location is a closely guarded secret,

but she's allowing me to tag along.

-This is a good patch.

-It's brilliant.

Look at them all up here, like black gold!

For a couple who had circumnavigated the globe without using a plane,

their lifestyle now moves clearly at a slower pace.

Because you're very well travelled.

You've been around the world for a year.

You've been in the centre of London

and then you're coming to the sleepy...

You know what, now we're in our cottage, we don't want to go away.

We go and stay in a B&B and think,

"Oh, we're looking forward to going home already."

Oh! And do you find yourself becoming more, you know,

you're looking longingly at horses

and thinking about country pursuits?

Or are you still quite metropolitan in your outlook?

Not metropolitan. I mean, we love walking.

We love seeing the change of the seasons.

I don't think we're going to take up horse riding or anything.

We definitely like being out and about

and seeing the changes and this kind of thing.

We pick sloes and blackberries and apples.

We know where the apples are that we can pick.

So, it's much, much nicer than going to the supermarket now.

Jacqueline and Alistair have made a success of their move by

throwing themselves into village life.

In Weston Coleville's reading room,

they help organise an evening weekly pub quiz.

They are teachers after all.

I've been invited to take part.

It's a chance for me to catch up with some of their neighbours

and assess the competition.

How do you rate your chances in the pub quiz?

Erm...

we're reigning champions.

Are you?!

-But we're missing a major team player.

-Oh.

Jacqueline and Alistair, how are they doing at integrating

-in the village?

-They've been like a breath of fresh air, I think.

Well, best of luck with the... Especially you two.

-Thank you very much.

-Reigning champions.

We're going to get knocked off our perch. I can feel it!

-Not going to happen.

-I'm going to get my team-mates.

-OK.

Helping me is one of my local friends, Carrie.

-Hey, teamie.

-Hey.

Time to see if that university degree

was worth three years of my life.

Are we ready? More than half of the United States entire coastline

is situated in which state?

Hm!

I wish I paid more attention in geography lessons.

I might have to rely on Carrie for this one.

It goes like this and I thought goes all the way down like that.

-So, that's probably... Yes. Right.

-Well, I'm always wrong.

OK! Maybe not.

I'm doing very well with the crisps!

-Good!

-Perhaps the next question will be more favourable.

So, question number two, what is the nickname of West Bromwich Albion FC?

Ah! Football, not my specialist subject.

The answer is the Baggies, apparently!

But it's clear to see that whether it's setting quiz questions for

the locals or making home produce, they haven't looked back.

By immersing themselves in the community, Alistair and Jacqueline

have established a fulfilling new life in the country.

Are there any, sort of, downsides? It seems like you are very happy.

But are there any things that you miss about London, or...?

I think, frankly, the only thing I miss is friends that we have there

and perhaps not seeing them as frequently

as we would have done beforehand.

But they love coming up here, don't they?

They love coming up here, and we pop down there to see them ourselves.

And often when we do, it's great to see the friends,

but London itself, no, I don't miss it at all.

Right across the British countryside we've seen house buyers,

all with very different lifestyle ambitions,

fall in love with the properties we've shown them.

It's always fantastic to hear when they make that all-important offer

which goes on to be accepted.

Coming up, a couple of highlights from

our house-hunting success stories in this eastern part of the country.

Back in 2015,

newlyweds Louisa and Zubin wanted to trade in their London flat

and carve out a new life for themselves in Cambridgeshire.

With an £800,000 budget, they were after a characterful and quirky

four-bedroom home, and Jules Hudson showed them

a brand-new barn conversion that caught their eye.

I think we're both intrigued, aren't we?

Both intrigued, we love conversions.

It sounds like it might be right for us.

Part of a development of eight converted barns

dating to the early 1700s,

the renovations had only been completed three months before.

-Wow!

-This is very impressive. It's fantastic.

-This is me.

It's you. It's very you.

This is brilliant. This is stylish, sophisticated, just like me!

If you say so yourself!

There was a sleek new kitchen-diner, with all the mod cons.

It's even got a wine fridge.

They knew I was coming.

And a massive family space for entertaining.

What a fantastic size! It's brilliant. You've done well.

Hurrah!

It offered them four large bedrooms,

including a ground-floor master suite,

with wooden flooring and high ceilings.

Outside, there was a newly turfed lawn and a separate paddock.

With all this space,

would it still leave them change from their £800,000 budget?

It was £725,000.

-Wow!

-Wow!

That's great.

Louisa and Zubin loved the character

and huge proportions of the barn conversion.

I love this house.

It's got everything that we've been looking for.

The good news is, they loved it so much they put in an offer.

Our next highlight was in the spring of 2013 when Nicki Chapman struck

property gold with civil partners

Barry and Bart from south-west London.

They knew that life fulfilment ultimately lay

in the West Sussex countryside - for one key reason.

I am an extreme dog lover and I really want to have another dog

and we cannot have a dog in this apartment.

And so, yeah, we're both very keen to have that.

For their budget of £900,000,

they were hoping Nicki would show them an impressive property

for them and a future four-legged friend.

-How we doing so far?

-Fantastic!

-This is scoring pretty high.

Fantastic, yeah.

House itself, built in 2000.

Wow, you wouldn't think that.

-No.

-Stunning. Now let's see the kitchen-diner.

-Itching to get in?

-Yes.

-The kitchen-diner. Right, we'll start off there then.

Follow me, boys!

So, Barry, I said we'd start with the kitchen-diner

-knowing how important this room is.

-Nice!

That's much more like it, isn't it?

-Character.

-I can see there's place for the doggies.

-Yes.

This is sort of place we would have been looking for.

-Is it?

-Yeah, this is very close to the bull's-eye.

That's what we try and achieve.

-Yes.

-Yeah, quite amazed.

This oak-framed house also delivered a wonderful dining area,

charming sitting room and a conservatory.

The study also offered a secret sleeping option.

How about if I took a step backwards and opened that door?

-Oh, for goodness' sake!

-Ah!

-Ta-da!

-Magic! For goodness' sake!

Upstairs, the exposed roof timbers were a theme

across all three bedrooms,

along with a welcome ensuite in the master.

It was all wrapped up in a beautiful garden.

So, would Bart think this textbook country home

was under their £900,000 threshold?

I'm going to go for £880,000.

-OK.

-I was going to say something like that.

Round about the £900,000 region, I would have thought.

I'm being optimistic here, I think.

-Are you hoping?

-Yeah.

£895,000.

-Almost spot on!

-Yes!

And spot on it certainly was,

because Barry and Bart put in an offer and it was accepted.

Another perfect property match.

We've crossed the border from Cambridgeshire to Lincolnshire

and I'd like to take a moment to talk about

the public service remit of Escape to the Country.

It's been pointed out that moving house

is one of the most stressful things that we do,

and I like to think that we reduce that stress

by carefully curating a selection of houses

right at the start of the search process.

And that is exactly what the lovely Nicki Chapman did

with a great young couple who were moving back from Australia

and wanting to put down routes in this beautiful,

dark Lincolnshire soil.

It was in the spring of 2015 when former civil engineer Will

and full-time mum Rebecca wanted us to help them find a place for

their family where Will grew up.

Their two-year-old daughter, Esme, was born in Perth, in Australia,

and they were keen to raise her in the English countryside.

I think, for Esme, it will be really important

that she has the upbringing similar to what we had.

She loves nature. She loves animals. She loves getting dirty.

She's a real outdoor girl.

Yeah. People tend to go back to their roots and that's something

I definitely want for us and want for our family.

As Will was joining the family farm business,

they wanted a character property in a rural location,

with spacious interiors and four bedrooms.

Outside, they were after a large garden for Esme to play in.

To achieve this, they had a top budget of £425,000.

In terms of location,

they asked to be fairly close to Will's work near Wragby.

Our first stop was in the village of Upton,

where Nicki showed them a handsome Victorian property

with period features.

I like the front of the property.

It's got nice symmetry and the front door.

Yeah, it's got presence.

I think it looks like a really substantial house,

nice big windows, so it should be light inside.

Quite an established garden with some big trees,

so quite a bit for me to do, I think.

-Going to keep you busy, aren't we?

-Yeah.

Right, well, I think it's time we explored our first house.

Let's go!

High ceilings. Nice size.

Yeah, nice old features.

Definitely an impressive fireplace, I have to say.

I didn't think we could probably get this in the countryside.

It's got that proportion that you more associate with a big townhouse.

That's right. It's not farmhous-y, is it?

It's definitely got the townhouse appeal.

This spacious property had another reception room

and a large country kitchen.

Really stunning kitchen, actually. Lovely and light.

-And if this wasn't big enough...

-Oh.

..across the hallway, you have a scullery/kitchen/utility room.

Wow! Never thought in a million years we'd have anything like that,

so that's wonderful.

-So, you're liking what you see?

-Yes, I can see dogs.

I can see mess, muck, children, chaos, noise,

but that's what we want.

Upstairs were four double bedrooms, including a master suite,

all with high ceilings.

-Do you think it's got character, Will?

-Yeah, definitely.

-In bags. In bags.

-Lots of nice quirky features.

Yes, we could work with this, definitely.

The house seemed to win them over,

so there was just the garden to explore -

with toddler-friendly decking overlooking a large lawn.

I can see Esme running around, she's got loads of space here.

That wouldn't be a problem.

It's nice and protected from the road as well.

-It's quite separate.

-Yeah.

Well, let's go back to the actual house itself,

cos we've got to put a price on it.

-OK.

-How much do you think this house is on the market for?

I think £395,000.

I think I'm going to go... I'll go £400,000.

The asking price is £330,000.

OK! We're off the mark.

Well under their £425,000 budget,

both Will and Rebecca seemed surprised by what their money

could get them in Lincolnshire.

The next day, Nicki took them to our second property

in the hamlet of Atterby,

a half hour's drive from Will's family farm.

She had a barn conversion up her sleeve,

but Rebecca needed convincing.

-Wow!

-Looks stunning.

-Really characterful.

-Will's always wanted a barn conversion.

-Yeah.

-I'm hesitant.

-What are your concerns about a barn?

-I just assume they're modern inside.

So, if it's not too contemporary, that's fine.

-I think we should get in, don't you? Come on.

-Let's do it.

So, come straight in. It's nice and dry in here.

-Impressive high ceilings.

-Yeah, nice.

Now, it is done in a contemporary more modern style.

Yes. Can't really see in here where we would put our stamp on,

to be honest.

Let's see what you make of the rest of the property.

So, this is one of the sitting rooms,

-currently used as a rather lovely music room.

-Ah!

And this leads us to the second sitting room.

-This is nice. I'm surprised.

-Bright.

-Really bright.

-Well, it's open.

This is warmer. It definitely has that warmer homely feel.

I can see closing that door to all Esme's clutter

and this being our space, and Esme has her own playroom.

I can really see that.

Rebecca was warming to the barn conversion,

which also gave them three double bedrooms -

with two upstairs in the eves

and one just the other side of the sitting room.

That's a good-size dressing room.

Became really used to those in Australia,

-lots of the houses have the walk-in robes.

-Which is so nice.

-Very practical. And a good-size ensuite.

-Yeah.

And it doesn't bother me it's on the same level,

because we're sort of used to that from Australia as well.

Nicki then surprised them with the bonus of a self-contained annexe.

Rebecca had a great idea.

It's a big annexe, actually.

So, would this work for your friends and families if they came to stay?

Funnily enough, I think my mother would put her stamp on this.

-Really?

-Yes. She's often joked about a granny flat,

-so she'd be more than happy with this.

-Ooh!

Finally, they checked out the playground potential

in the generous garden, which even looked good in the rain.

I have to say, Esme would love that.

And I can see that this garden is just practical,

and I could see putting up a little Wendy house

and bits and pieces to play for. So, really, in practical terms,

this works.

Can we put a figure on it?

I think I'd say £360,000.

Well, I was going to say a bit lower than that. I will say £345,000.

Well, you are both under the asking price.

-Will by not too much.

-OK.

-It is on the market for £365,000.

-OK.

Despite being under their £425,000 budget,

it didn't seem to hit the mark.

I feel like it would be a fantastic holiday home,

but not a home for my family.

Rebecca and Will were after even more space.

Barn conversions do generally appeal to me.

I like the big open-plan spaces they tend to give inside.

This house has got that in the two living rooms

that are connected together,

but the rest of the house doesn't really give

any of that big, grand open-plan.

Like a masterclass in how to show houses to their best potential,

but Nicki's work was not done.

No. Could she crown it all with the mystery house?

The final property took us to the hamlet of Goltho,

a five-minute drive from Will's family farm.

We threw down the gauntlet with this 19th-century property,

which had a modern wing to the side.

Wow! OK!

-Wow.

-It's impressive.

-Yeah, very big.

-I think what strikes me the most is how peaceful it is.

Lovely and quiet.

Yeah, it's very kind of grand looking over the pine trees there.

Yeah.

Vacated by the owners, it would require Rebecca and Will

to use their imagination to make it work for them.

-So, please, enter.

-OK.

Wow!

So, as you walk in, you've got this huge area, which could be used

as a sitting room of sorts, and then you've got this room as well.

Tell me, was this what you were expecting?

No, very different on the inside to the outside.

-Very clean.

-It's open.

So, the grandeur of it, yeah, it's impressive, I think.

I'm already sort of imagining what new furniture

I could buy for this room.

I could see us putting our own stamp on a property like this.

Now, how is this for a kitchen-diner?

Wow!

Now, is this big enough?

-Erm, yeah.

-This is so Australian.

So open-plan and so just ready for you to move in to.

-The layout of this is you've got utility.

-Yeah.

You've got a downstairs cloakroom there,

but you've also got another reception room/bedroom,

which is what they had earmarked it for with the dressing room,

because you've got a family bathroom, literally,

that we've just walked past.

I wasn't expecting this.

So, the old and the new is beginning to work.

In this case, yes.

As it should, our mystery property was confounding their expectations

with its impressive open-plan living spaces.

Upstairs revealed three double bedrooms in the older part,

including the master suite.

They're all of quite a modest size.

-They are.

-OK.

But what you do have is a really large ensuite,

with a stud wall. So if you wanted to,

you could take at least two or three more foot going into there.

If the family bathroom's right next door,

we don't need a massive ensuite.

I think if that makes this space bigger,

than that would work far better.

Don't really need that many bathrooms.

With the mystery house reeling them in,

it was time to venture outside and speculate

on the potential price tag.

Now, I think this is an exceptional space.

-Blank canvass.

-Definitely.

I mean, you've much space and potential to... Yeah.

It's just stunning. It's really special.

OK.

How much do we think this property is on the market for?

£410,000.

OK. I think it's top of the budget, so I'm just going to say £425,000.

Because that is the very top of your budget, isn't it?

It is the top of our budget.

OK, asking price, £399,995.

So, £5 off the £400,000 mark.

-Yes. It's definitely worth considering.

-Yeah, I think so.

£25,000 under their budget, the mystery house seemed enticing

at the time.

The building's not something I would usually go for.

Yes, it is contemporary, but I think it's got enough of old meets new

for me to feel comfortable here.

Have we ended on a high, I wonder?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-You liked it?

-Yes. Yeah. Really impressive.

So, which property did Will and Rebecca go for?

Did the traditional character of house one win through?

Or did they bring the renovated barn conversion back into the frame with

that bonus annexe?

Finally, there was our sprawling mystery property,

which needed them to put their mark on it.

But would their initial enthusiasm translate into a purchase?

As you've probably guessed, they totally fell in love

with the mystery house and bought it.

So, I have returned to see what they did.

Because back then, it was literally just a house.

No furniture, bare walls.

I want to see what Rebecca and Will have done

to turn it into their home.

After putting in their offer in June of 2015,

it took six months to complete.

Now, the family have settled into their new Lincolnshire home

and one of them's pleased to see me.

-Hey!

-Hi.

-Hello. You must be Esme.

This is Esme. Nice to see you.

-Oh, a bit shy?

-Not really.

-Going to say boo? Come on then, let's go inside.

-Ah!

Without doubt, the highlight of the house tour

was the empty open-plan living space,

but, even with their furniture in, it's still huge.

I remember watching with Nicki and thinking, "That's a massive room!"

It still looks enormous, even with all your furniture in it.

Well, I think when we saw the programme,

it looked particularly large.

But I think definitely now you've got some furniture in.

But it still has... Everybody comes in and says

what a cosy room it still is.

What's nice is actually, because I can see this fantastic view

into the garden, which wasn't so clear on the telly.

Yeah, no, it's nice. On a sunny day like today, it's nice.

It's fantastic to look over there.

We do use those doors in the summer for Esme's parties and things.

Open them up, bouncy castle, that was really good.

I remember when you walked in here you were, "It's amazing."

And, Will, you were probably trying to be a bit of a voice of reason.

Yeah, I was trying to reign Rebecca back a little bit, I think.

Was that just out of habit, or you genuinely had concerns?

Probably.

No, I just think it was quite a surprise to find the house, really.

To find something so good on the show.

I wasn't really expecting it.

Even I could tell we were going to live here, I think.

I was just trying to be a little bit more level-headed.

I know Esme was a big motive for the move.

How has she settled into Lincolnshire?

Really well. We think she's so comfortable here.

She loves the outdoors. She's so comfortable in the house.

It just feels like home to her already.

And Esme has been the way into community life.

While Will's has been busy at work on the family farm,

Rebecca has met other parents through Esme's school.

You seem like you've settled in really well.

-Have there been any downsides? Any regrets?

-No.

I don't think so, so far.

-No.

-Touch wood.

-No, I think it's, we are quite decisive, aren't we?

And we know when it's the right thing for us.

I think when you're doing with the right intentions.

We just want a nice place for our family to grow up.

So...

It's the reality of being able to do things.

When we saw the house and you first move in,

you want to do everything at once.

There's a reality in financially as well. You've got to stage things.

Yes. So, that's what we're doing.

A long-term project.

One of the couple's long-term projects

is to extend their property to create larger bedrooms

in the older part of the house.

Particularly now that Rebecca is expecting baby number two

to arrive in a couple of months.

So, talk me through, what are the plans?

Well, there are a couple of things we'd like to do -

a double garage, I think, is a must really for the house.

Connecting to a utility room and through into the house.

-It will be even bigger.

-I think so.

I mean, the downstairs is obviously the biggest part of the house,

but it doesn't have a pantry.

I wouldn't mind a separate laundry room and we can go that way,

cos that space isn't really being used for anything at the moment.

And what were the plans for the bedroom?

I mean, ideally we've got a large hallway entrance at the moment,

but it's only single storey so, the idea was to make that double storey.

So, will you keep the pink?

-Red?

-Careful!

It's red. Originally, I think it was one of those things when you first

buy a house, got to change that immediately.

And of course, there are a million other more important things to do.

So, we've sort of got used to it and we forget about it until people come

and mention it and call it pink.

Call it Lincolnshire pink.

Lincolnshire pink. So, I think it kind of makes it stand out.

Whatever the colour,

Will and Rebecca have done a great job turning an empty property

into a stunning family home.

And with Will's farm a short drive away,

he's been able to spend more time at home when he's not fixing tractors.

So, Will, this is it? This is what you came back for?

Yeah, this is it. I left the glamour of Perth

-for the mud of Lincolnshire.

-You don't make tractors,

it's the replacement bits, isn't it?

Yeah. It's the spare parts for machines like this

that we kind of sell all round the country to various farmers.

-So, is this literally your workplace?

-Yes, it is.

Very glamorous. I left my nice shiny office in Perth on the 20th floor

-to come back to a farm shed.

-How has that been?

Obviously, I'm familiar with farming.

Grew up farming and using the machines, so that's helped,

but it's been about 15 years I've been doing civil engineering.

So, it's been a learning curve, but a good one.

Are you going to take over the business lock, stock and barrel?

Yes, that's the idea.

My dad's getting older now, so the idea is he's handing it over to me.

So I'll be in charge, taking it forward.

But I've got a lot of other things as well, with the house,

the outside and the new baby on the way.

-I'll be a busy man.

-A very busy man. Well done! It's a great move.

-Thank you.

-Really nice to come and visit you.

You're welcome. Any time.

Isn't it a treat to follow up on our house buyers on

Escape to the Country and see how they've settled

into their new country lives?

The way Jacqueline and Alistair used the cultural networks

in Weston Coleville to integrate,

and although they've been here a much shorter time,

the way that Rebecca and Will used his job

and Esme's schooling to find their feet.

Of course, most remarkable how they turned those properties

into real homes.

I hope you've enjoyed it as much as me,

and you'll join us next time for more.

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