Suffolk and Kent 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 helping countless people on the hunt for their new 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.

..to showcase thousands of exquisite country properties...

Ah, how pretty is that?

..that our buyers just couldn't resist.

SHE SHRIEKS

Seriously, get your cheque book out now!

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

-No going back.

-No going back?

-No.

No, I couldn't move back.

..to find out how the move changed their lives

when they escaped to the country.

I'm starting off today in Suffolk,

a county I've visited many times on Escape To The Country.

Over the years, I've met horses, pigs, learned about oyster farming,

and have seen heritage crafts in action.

So, I appreciate it certainly paints an attractive portrait of country

life. Which is why I'm delighted to be back here revisiting a couple of

our house buyers who've found their perfect property,

and have successfully managed to

make that all-important leap to pastures new.

Suffolk won't be my only port of call as, later,

I'll be heading further down south to the county of Kent where I'll be

catching up with house-buyers Francesco and Kristi,

to hear how their life has changed

since moving into a property we saw together.

But first, here in Suffolk,

I'm paying a visit to Paul and Elaine

who moved from North London,

and are now living their rural dream.

It was back in September of 2012

that retired fireman Paul and his wife Elaine,

a former veterinary nurse,

were looking for our help in escaping their London life,

and were in pursuit of the space and peace of the countryside.

I've just retired from the London Fire Brigade,

so, I've no need to be living in London any more.

And I'd like a quieter life, more open space.

And, most importantly, we want to have country walks

on our doorstep, because we've got to get a dog,

-and we can get out there and enjoy it.

-Yeah.

Yeah. I've never had a dog, I want a dog!

Paul planned to continue work as a plumber,

and together they had settled on Suffolk for their new lives,

thanks to its proximity to family,

and good mix of market towns and rural life.

They were both hoping the move would give them a chance to spend

more time doing the things they loved.

We are bee-keepers.

We belong to an association in North London.

This is another reason for why we want to move,

because we haven't really got room in here to keep bees.

Paul is very, very interested in the honey side of wanting to keep bees.

You're interested in that. I'm much more interested in the fact of

pollination, because I want to grow vegetables and plants.

So, with their London flat already under offer,

the finances were practically in place, and they were raring to go.

Their wish list included a detached house with a large kitchen-diner,

three bedrooms, and a workshop for Paul.

The garden needed to have scope for

a vegetable plot and enough space for chickens and beehives,

all for a budget of £400,000.

Our first stop was just a couple of miles

from the village of Wickhambrook.

I was keen to show Paul and Elaine a traditional cottage,

parts of which dated back to the 17th century.

It also had a delightful Norfolk-reed thatched roof.

Now, you're escaping the madness that is London...

-Mm-hm.

-..to potentially this.

Is this what you had in mind?

Tried not to picture anything, tried to keep an open mind,

-but this is, this is fabulous.

-Looking good.

-Follow me.

All right.

We're off to a good start and I was hoping they'd be equally impressed

by the space inside, thanks to some recent renovations.

Since a kitchen-diner was top of Elaine's list,

that's where we began. Big enough?

-Absolutely.

-Yeah, it's great.

-Absolutely big enough.

-Yeah, it's twice the size of our one at home.

-Is it?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Could you live in this house so far?

Yeah, it's got a lovely feel to it, this kitchen.

This could be a short working day for me! Come on.

As we moved into the 17th-century part of the property,

the character features in the sitting-room had an impact.

-Ooh. Look at that.

-I like it.

Fabulous, fabulous hearth!

This is the old part, the 16th, 17th-century part of the house.

-Mm.

-Do you like this sort of feel?

Yeah, it's cosy, isn't it?

Yeah, it is nice, it's lovely.

But that wasn't all this cottage had to offer as it also gave them an

office and a separate dining room.

Not to mention the conservatory next door.

Upstairs, there were four bedrooms including two spacious doubles,

and a single for when friends came to stay.

But I wanted to show Paul and Elaine the room they might claim as theirs.

-The master bedroom.

-Mm-hm.

-Master because you've got an en-suite as well.

-It's lovely.

-Good, isn't it?

-That is good.

It is, it's enormous inside.

-I like it.

-It's lovely, it's really nicely done.

Outside extended to around a quarter of an acre, which I knew would be

important if they stuck to their plans to keep bees and chickens.

Plus, there was a double garage with two adjoining sheds

that could be Paul's workshop.

So, we just had one question left to answer.

How much is this house on the market for?

I'd say, hopefully, 390, but I think it's probably a bit more than that.

I reckon 375.

This house is on the market for offers around £415,000.

That makes sense.

-Yeah.

-I'm not surprised, yeah.

£15,000 over budget but, I knew

there might be a deal to be done nearer to their ideal figure

which made this a tantalising prospect to consider.

Property number two lay a couple of miles outside the town of Sudbury,

and was a detached offering whose character was definitely more

contemporary. Here we go.

Modern. Very modern.

Most unexpected.

It's quite big too, isn't it?

Do you like it? Do you mind how it looks?

Do you like the way it looks?

-Yeah, it looks nice, doesn't it?

-It's good. Yeah. Yeah.

-Good.

Keeping minds firmly open as we made our way inside,

I was about to see how they'd react to a distinctly more contemporary

interior. Let's start with the newest part of this building.

Yeah. THEY LAUGH

-Wow.

-It is a bit of a wow room, isn't it?

It is, it is, it's so bright, isn't it?

It's massive. Absolutely massive.

One side of this modern living space contained three bedrooms, which

could be used for visiting friends and family.

But I led the way to the kitchen on the opposite side of the house.

So, staying with the modern theme, well, ultra-modern, actually,

-this kitchen, isn't it?

-It is incredibly modern, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

-Well, I do like it, I like it very much.

But it does feel as if I'm on holiday abroad somewhere.

-It's too square and modern for me, I feel.

-Yeah.

Well, Elaine may have been trying to see the positive but it was becoming

clear how Paul felt about a modern style.

We pressed on next door to the master bedroom.

Now, then, no falling up the stairs to bed with this house.

-No.

-No.

-Nice-sized room, very light,

plenty of room to get around the bed both sides which is what you've

-always wanted, we can't do that now.

-That's true, yeah, yeah.

Got a small en suite there.

Can't see much character to it, if you know what I mean?

-But, whatever rocks your boat.

-It's only 30 years old, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-As we made our way outside,

I was hoping the garden space would change their minds.

Coming in at around a quarter of an acre,

the established garden had plenty of room for beehives,

and there was even a large double garage that could be a workshop for

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

-402,000.

-OK, 402,000.

Elaine, how much?

398.

Well, this house is on the market for offers around £395,000.

£5,000 under budget.

It was starting to become clear

where Paul and Elaine's preferences lay.

Well, it seemed to me there was a clear favourite from the first two

properties that I'd showed to Paul and Elaine,

with character becoming ever more

the priority as our journey progressed.

But, as I know only too well,

nothing is a done deal until we reveal the Mystery House.

Our last port of call wasn't far from the market town of Hadleigh,

just outside the pretty village of Shelley.

And whilst my buyers had their hearts set on a detached property,

for our Mystery House, I had a Victorian end-of-terrace cottage

up my sleeve, which I hoped might just broaden their view.

This...

..is our final offering.

It's really cute.

Really, really nice-looking house.

Good. Now, one thing you said you'd prefer it to be, Paul, is detached.

-I do.

-And it's not.

-No.

-But this, I think, you'll see, it still feels pretty private.

-Yeah, it's lovely.

-Originally built as three farm cottages in the 1890s,

it was starting to feel like I was in the right ballpark

when it came to character.

And they also didn't seem too

bothered by the semidetached compromise.

-The first reception room.

-Yeah.

-It's lovely.

-It's good.

It's clean, it's all decorated nicely.

You've got the ceiling height.

-It's really nice.

-Yeah.

-It's great, isn't it?

Let's go straight into the kitchen now,

-because that is a fundamental part of your search, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Pragmatic Paul had given it the thumbs-up so far,

so I wanted to see if I could seal the deal in the kitchen.

-Lovely. Really nice.

-Yeah?

-Very nice indeed.

-It is lovely, yeah.

-Excellent.

-We got a "lovely," did you hear that?

-Lovely? Did you say lovely?

-Lovely. Good. Lovely.

Next door to the kitchen was the sitting room which,

despite modern decor, retained sympathetic character features.

We then made our way upstairs to investigate the four bedrooms

that came with the house.

There was a generous double and two bright singles,

one of which came with built-in storage.

Then, there was the master.

This is a stunning room.

-It is stunning, yeah.

-Really, really lovely, peaceful room.

And look, you can walk around the bed both sides.

Yeah, it means I haven't got to

scramble over the bed in the morning.

I'm liking what I see.

-You are?

-Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Happily, our Mystery House seemed to be meeting the brief on character

and space, so, it was time to make our way outside.

The house sat in around a quarter

of an acre of land, laid mostly to lawn,

and gave scope for growing vegetables and beehives.

Plus, there was also a large summerhouse

that could easily become Paul's workshop.

All that was left was to talk numbers.

How much do you think the estate

agents are marketing this place at, then?

Um, I'm going to go for 375.

OK. Paul?

I would go for 385.

Well, this house is on the market for offers around £399,500.

But, I spoke to the estate agent,

and he reckons they may well settle at somewhere around your guesses,

maybe somewhere between the two of both of you.

-That sounds promising.

-Yeah.

-Doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-It does.

Squeezing in just under their £400,000 budget,

and with an offer not out of the question,

our Mystery House ultimately seemed

to be a surprisingly strong contender.

I left Elaine and Paul with some tough decisions to make.

The first property I'd shown them had blown them away with character,

but then the charm of that semidetached Mystery House

seemed at the time to have captivated them.

So, which house did they ultimately plump for?

Despite being seriously tempted by the first property,

I think the thatch was just a step too far for ex-fireman Paul.

But one house that seemed to be firmly fixed in their minds

by the end of the search was our Mystery property.

And I'm chuffed to say I'm right back here to meet Elaine and Paul,

to catch up with them and see how

this house has opened up the doors to the country lifestyle

they dreamt of.

-Hello.

-Hello, hello, hello.

-The happy couple, how are you?

-Very well.

-Good to see you both.

-Hello, Jonnie, how are you doing?

All right, yeah. It's just like being in North London, isn't it?

-Exactly the same.

-No.

-Not at all!

Look at the state of your faces,

you're so happy to be here, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-Settled in after a few years now?

Yeah, yeah, five years.

So, have you found where the kettle is?

-Oh, yeah, come on, we'll put it on.

-Come on. There we go.

They always loved the style of the interior

when I showed it to them so,

aside from some decorating, it remains pretty unaltered.

Come on in, come on in, Jonnie, welcome to our home.

Here we are, then. The country kitchen.

The country kitchen. So, you haven't done a great deal here.

This is as it was.

More or less. I mean, we put a table in, changed the cooker,

a small lick of paint in strategic places.

-But nothing major.

-So, do you spend a lot of time in here?

I mean, breakfast, I suppose you'd be here all the time.

-Actually, we hardly eat a thing!

-The Suffolk stone.

-We don't each much!

-You're a bit of a baker as well?

I do do a bit of baking, yeah, we do. It is a lovely room.

Yeah, we do spend a fair old bit of time in here.

Good. The living room next door is largely as I remember it.

Another room we haven't done a huge amount of decorating to.

But wasn't that part of the attraction here?

You didn't have to do loads of work,

you just wanted to move in and enjoy your life straight away?

-Pretty much.

-And you do?

-Yeah, we do, yeah.

-Are you enjoying having a proper solid fuel fire?

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

-Are you chopping wood?

-Oh, yes.

-Of course you are.

-Of course you are.

-Yeah. Over here, we've got two multi stoves,

they're brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Shall we have a sit down, a cup of

tea, and talk about how everything's gone, shall we?

-Lovely.

-You don't get a stronger hint than that, do you?

-All right, all right!

-Get the kettle on, someone!

Upstairs has also seen some superficial changes

as they've always been very happy with their new home as is.

A sentiment echoed by the new dogs

that Paul always dreamt of owning once they made their move.

Let's face it, for you two,

you had a real escape to the country, didn't you?

Living in London, to here.

Was there a point when you put the offer in, and you thought, "Wow,

-"this is happening?"

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Pure, complete panic.

-Was there panic?

-Yeah, for sure.

I think there is with any time you buy a house,

but there was that moment, definitely.

Because you weren't buying a house, for want of a better cliche,

you were buying into a new lifestyle?

-Yes.

-This was supposed to be opening doors into this new lifestyle,

-wasn't it?

-Yeah, yeah, totally.

-Yeah.

-It's a challenge. How did you find that?

Moving in? You didn't have much stuff to move in,

you were coming from a flat, weren't you?

-It's true, actually.

-It is true, yeah.

The whole process was so smooth and so easy, it surprised us.

The whole thing just went like a dream.

And then, when we got here, all the neighbours came.

A day or two of moving, everyone knocks on the door,

says hello, welcome.

It's like, we lived in London for 15 years and didn't meet our neighbours

until a week before we moved.

You hear that a lot about the countryside.

You both had things you wanted to either do more of, or even to start.

Paul? You were an apiarist, weren't you?

-Yes.

-You wanted to keep your bees.

-I couldn't help that.

Yeah, that's right. I wanted bees in my own garden.

And I have, I've got three hives.

Can you sum up how your life has changed for the better here?

I mean, you can tell, you're both very content here.

It's the way of life, isn't it? It's quieter, less stressful.

-Fitter.

-Yeah.

-Oh, yeah? What, more active in general?

Yeah, but especially having the dogs as well, you're out and about.

You started walking, you'd never walk anywhere before.

-No.

-Quite happy.

Yeah, out and about doing things outside.

Elaine has been busy in the garden as well,

and it now provides a steady stream

of fruit and veg in the summer months,

with anything left over pickled and preserved for later on.

And she's even got those chickens she was after, as well.

-Hello, ladies!

-Here's my girls.

-Come on in. Ten girls and one boy.

-Which one is this? It's a silky.

-It's a silky, yeah.

-It's got a touch of the Tina Turner about him,

-hasn't he?

-He's lovely, he's a really good boy.

So, how long have you had bees?

We've had chickens pretty much as soon as we moved in.

-Have you kept chickens before?

-No, never.

So, did you have to read up about it?

Of course, got books, got loads of books.

But good for you, though. Lots of people, they always say,

"Oh, yeah, I want to move to the countryside,

"I want to keep my own chickens."

Do they actually do it? Some of them do, some of them don't.

You've done it and you've done it well.

-Thank you.

-You've not just got the hens, though, look at the garden,

you're producing all sorts. Loads of veggies I can see.

-Yes, yeah. Do you want to check the eggs?

-Yes, good, good, good.

-How many are in lay at the moment?

-About four or five of them.

-Morning, my love.

-Come on.

-Out you come. There we go.

Four beauties!

It's like magic, isn't it?

Oh, I remember growing up with chickens,

and every time you open up the hatch,

it's like Christmas every day.

-How many have I got today?

-I know, it's exciting.

And, of course, being a baker,

I mean, this forces your hand a bit, doesn't it?

Well, it forces your hand, but also,

with the honey and the eggs, you do become fairly popular.

I bet you do, yeah.

Both Paul and Elaine have achieved their goals,

and their new life is all about enjoying country living.

And, along with their new four-legged companions,

they've started taking part in weekly dog agility classes,

something I can't wait to see for myself.

Let's have a look at this, Paul. PAUL LAUGHS

Let's see how well you've trained your dog.

Come. Sit.

Stay. Stay.

Come, come, Bella, come.

Weave, weave, weave, weave, weave.

-There we go.

-Ah, bravo!

-Sit.

-That's amazing.

-Give him a treat.

-There you go.

-Well done.

Good girl. What I like about this,

this is something, by the looks of it, that brings you both together?

-Yeah.

-This isn't just about dog agility,

this is about behavioural tactics with the dog.

-Absolutely.

-And the bond as well,

it's increasing your bond with your dog,

and just doing something together.

But also I can see this is a club.

-Yeah.

-And with a club come members, become a social group...

-That's right.

-Who gets more out of this, the dogs or you two?

-A bit of both, really.

-Both, yeah, it's both.

-How often do you come here?

-Oh, at least...

-Weekly.

-At least once a week, yeah.

-Amazing.

-It's very good.

Yet another thing you're getting to do out here in Suffolk, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-You've got a busy life, haven't you?

I couldn't fit work in, nightmare!

-No regrets?

-None.

-None.

You both look like you've got a fantastic life here,

I'm really happy for you. Someone's got some jumps to go over before

dinner time. It's been cracking to see you.

I'll come by next time and check up on that honey.

How great to see our escapees so successfully turning their country

dream into a rewarding reality.

Over the years, across the length and breadth of the UK,

our house buyers have been armed

with various budgets and different wish lists,

but they're all driven to improve their quality of life from a move

to the country.

Back in September of 2014, Kate, who worked in publishing,

and husband Ross, an ex-banker,

were looking to leave behind their hectic lives in London's Crouch End.

But they wanted to keep busy,

so had dreams of running either holiday lets

or a glamping business in the beautiful Somerset countryside.

With a budget of £650,000,

they were both taken with our Mystery House

in the village of Butleigh.

I wanted to show you the house at the best possible angle.

-Look at that.

-That is lovely.

-Very pretty.

It's nice and symmetrical, pretty stone.

This is your garden.

-That's it.

-Not massive.

-No.

It's not the land you wanted.

-No. The house is more important.

-So you like the look of it?

-Yes.

-Yes. Definitely.

-Shall we go inside?

-Yes.

So Kate and Ross seemed to be liking

what they have seen so far and this house

still had plenty more to reveal.

Let's start off with the main living room.

-Yeah, I like it.

-Oh, that's very nice.

It's nice, nice windows.

-Nice floor.

-Excellent start.

Also downstairs was a good size

kitchen-diner which offered the chance to

put their own stamp on the property

and bring it more in line with their own decorative taste.

Upstairs gave them four bedrooms.

A little bit of TLC might have been needed to make them work

with the rest of the house,

but it was nothing Ross and Kate couldn't handle.

And I still had one final feature I couldn't wait to show off

just across the courtyard.

Now you might get jealous of your clients when you see this room.

Wow. It's amazing.

That's a lovely little room. That's one fireplace, isn't it?

It's amazing. Does it actually work?

Yeah, all working.

So this is a whole separate house?

Holiday let, yeah. I've got to show you this bedroom.

-Come with me.

-OK.

This up and running holiday let already had guests booked in.

The building itself dated back some 500 years.

Now, I absolutely love this room.

-Look at this!

-My God.

-It's amazing.

-It is.

-A really sort of good, romantic holiday cottage.

But that wasn't all I had up my sleeve,

as the Mystery House also came with two further self-contained annexes

in the form of a Grade II listed one-bedroom

Victorian rental cottage...

As well as a former shop that had

been converted into a one-bed studio apartment.

With so much an offer, I was starting to wonder

if Ross and Kate would even come close to getting the price.

How much do you think the Mystery House is on the market for?

I would say 675.

-OK, Kate?

-I think it's more, I think there's so much potential here.

I think it's more like...

685.

Well, I'll tell you you're both rubbish at this game.

-But in the best possible way.

-Good.

This place is on the market for offers around £545,000.

-No.

-Yeah.

I can't believe that. I'm...gobsmacked.

And our Mystery House made such a strong impression on Kate and Ross

that they did in fact follow it up and put in that all-important offer.

Another high point of our property hunting pursuits.

For all the reasons that people have for making a big move to the

countryside whether it's starting a new chapter as retirement beckons or

maybe raising a family in the great outdoors

focus is always on quality of life

and that's exactly what our next house-buyers

Francesco and Kristi were after.

They were looking to leave behind the hustle and bustle of

London and make a beeline for rural Kent.

It was back in October of 2013 that Canadian-born Kristi and her

Italian husband Francesco were looking to start a new life

in the country with their young daughter Cora.

We do have a 21-month-old daughter and we want to give her the best

experience that she can have, she can have lots of outdoor space,

a bigger home for her to play in.

When I was a kid, I grew up in the country,

so for me it's like my heritage and background and I

would like to have the same kind of opportunity for my daughter.

They had visited Kent before and part of the appeal of the county

was its excellent transport links for Francesco's work

and good schools for daughter Cora.

They were both also looking forward to spending more time with her and

having some garden space of their own for her to play in.

Having moved three times already since living in the UK, they had

everything crossed that we'd be able to find them the perfect home.

We're hoping that this move to the country is our last move

and we finally settle in and we establish our lives there.

We want to be permanently placed and...fingers crossed.

When it came to specifics about this perfect house,

they were after a contemporary modern home

with plenty of character.

They wanted four bedrooms including an office space

for Francesco and they requested a large garden

for daughter Cora to play in along with being

close to schools and excellent transport links.

With a £650,000 budget, I knew I'd have my work cut out with this one.

The first house I took them to was a magnificent barn conversion

in the village of Hunton, set down a quiet country lane.

-Beautiful.

-It's beautiful.

-Really.

-This is good reactions.

-Yeah.

-It's a very good reaction.

-Yeah.

We were hoping for a barn conversion

-and that window in the front is awesome.

-Like it?

-Yes.

-Let's go inside.

-OK.

-Let's go.

I was very happy with those reactions.

The barn had been converted in

the last ten years with huge floor to ceiling windows

creating an impressive light entrance.

So this is the formal entrance, if you like.

-I love it.

-Wow.

It's beautiful.

It's very warm and inviting.

There's a good contrast between modernity and character.

-Yeah, the floors look beautiful.

-Great, wow.

Well, a great start it seemed, and the good feelings continued as we

made our way to the kitchen.

-I like the kitchen.

-That's a good size for us.

There's lots of counter space for you.

Lots of counter space for YOU?

-Cos Francesco's the...chef.

-Not a chef, but...

-And the baker.

You don't want to keep an Italian man out of the kitchen, do you?

-No.

-So far so good. Next up - the living room.

-I like it.

-Good size, I think.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-You've had great reactions.

-Yes.

-You said you wanted open-plan.

-It's... I would say semi open-plan.

-Semi-open, yeah, but it's fine.

This would be a good definition of open for us.

-Yes.

-A little bit dark.

-Yeah.

-Maybe.

-Small windows.

-Small windows.

Upstairs there were three bedrooms including a generous master with

vaulted ceiling and ensuite.

We then ventured outside to explore the garden

and with almost an acre of land to play with,

I was sure Cora would have been pleased with what we found.

All that remained was to guess the price.

How much do you think this property's on the market for?

I'm going to take a guess at £625,000.

-OK.

-I will go for 645.

-OK. Well, Kristi, you're good.

-Am I?

-£625,000.

-Wow!

£25,000 under budget, our first house certainly seemed

to have impressed Kristi and Francesco

with its outside space,

not to mention its unique character and style.

So with that in mind,

I wanted to see if I could do even better with our second property

which was found in the heart of the pretty little village

of St Nicholas at Wade.

Now then, I know you like barn conversions.

-Yes, we do.

-Yes.

-And this is a beautiful one.

The garden is just a little bit small.

That is the only issue you're going to find with this house.

The property had been converted about five years before

and was originally a threshing barn that dated back to the 16th century.

So...

-Open-plan.

-It's very much open-plan.

-Yeah, beautiful.

-Yeah, really beautiful.

-I really like it.

This is probably what we wanted in terms of open place.

-It's like a loft, right?

-It's like a loft, yeah.

Look at the kitchen, though.

Let's take a closer look. It's a good size, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's a great size.

-Yes, a great size.

-Yes, beautiful.

You can see they've laid this out as a dining area initially there.

Yeah. I probably would change the layout.

But let's keep looking at the house

and we'll discuss the more macro rationale later on, shall we?

-Yes.

-Kristi and Francesco

were impressed by the way the long, open space

had been divided into zones for living, dining,

and working from home.

But there was one more room right at the end of the house

that was our next stop.

So this is the dedicated living room,

with the double doors open, it still feels open-plan, but...

-Oh, yeah.

-..but you can shut them and have a bit more privacy in here.

I like it.

I think it's probably bigger than we thought at the beginning.

-Yeah.

-Even from outside, it doesn't look like so big.

Also on the ground floor there was another separate room

that could easily become an office or even a playroom.

Upstairs really raised the roof with a total of five bedrooms including a

master suite that blew them away.

This is the size of our apartment right now.

-Wow.

-It's enormous.

-Wow.

-It's beautiful.

But before long it was time to turn our thoughts to the price.

Let's revisit this garden.

After viewing that house...

Yeah, garden not so much.

Funny, isn't it? So how much do you think this property's on the market

-for?

-I think it's well beyond the budget and I'm thinking its...

..£735,000.

Yeah, I think it's above our budget, probably 710.

Right, Well, this house is on the market for offers around £625,000.

-Oh!

-Oh, my goodness.

-Wow!

-Oh, really?

-Really?

-You're not joking.

-Nope.

Also coming in at £624,000, it felt like Kristi and Francesco

had really connected with this one.

Two properties down and it was clear

that both had something to offer Francesco and Kristi.

Although I was thinking it was maybe a battle

between their favourite house and their favourite garden.

So time to see if our Mystery offering

could bring an element of fresh thinking to their search.

Our final stop was on the village of Higham,

and I had something special up my sleeve in a form of a converted

oast house dating back to the early 1900s.

-Do you like it?

-Yes.

-Very much.

-I really like it, I love the brick, I love the windows. Yeah.

-Good.

It looks very nice from the outside.

It's very spacious outside, yeah, very green.

-Yeah, the garden is wonderful.

-OK.

-Let's see what you think of it shall we?

-Great, thanks.

-Thank you.

Our Mystery House was a fairly recent conversion

having still been a fully functioning oast house

just 12 years before our visit.

-Our tour started in the kitchen.

-Very nice kitchen.

-I like it.

-Yeah.

-Very big.

-The reason we've chosen this as the Mystery House...

-Yes.

It looks a bit different. But it is not that open-plan...

-Yeah.

-..that you said you wanted.

But we also said that whilst you might be challenged to that end,

the rooms are of a decent size anyway, so it's something to

-get your head around, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

-OK.

-I haven't got an overwhelming response from Kristi and Francesco

so far but there was plenty more to explore with three further reception

rooms, including a dining room, and a good-sized living room.

Upstairs we found five bedrooms,

including two singles and two good-sized doubles

with the final one of course being the master suite.

Oh, it's very pretty.

-Oh, that's nice.

-I really love the flooring, wow.

This is a beautiful room.

-It's bigger than we thought.

-It's a huge room.

I think it's probably better upstairs than downstairs,

-to be honest, our first impression.

-You're moving here with Cora,

so let's go and have a look at her bedroom, shall we?

-Yes, thanks.

-I've decorated it for her.

So, coming up these steps,

we're going into the top of those oast houses.

-Yeah.

-You can see the shape, now, can't you?

Yeah, I like the shape.

This is a bigger house than we thought, actually, from outside.

This house might not have had the open plan feel that Kristi

and Francesco were after, but it certainly did have plenty of space.

Outside, there was almost an acre of land and that even included a summer

house that could make an excellent office for Francesco.

All that was left was to start thinking about price.

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

I think it's £649,995.

I think I'm going to go a little bit higher than that.

-OK.

-Probably 660.

The asking price is offers above £650,000.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-So you're both in the ballpark.

-Right.

Right at the top of their budget, at offers over £650,000,

the unique character and gorgeous gardens

of our somewhat unexpected Mystery House

seemed to have given Kristi and Francesco a lot to consider.

So would the expansive gardens of house one

or of our Mystery House win through over property two,

which provided the perfect home albeit with a smaller garden?

Time to find out.

Well, seemingly Francesco and Kristi ripped up their wish list and threw

it out of the window.

They were adamant they wanted a large garden

with views of the countryside.

But as soon as they set foot in house number two,

they fell in love with it

and decided a smaller garden, well, it was a compromise worth making.

They moved into this place, what, just over three years ago

and I can't wait to see how they've put their own stamp

on what was already a fantastic property.

-Hello, how are you?

-Hi, Jonnie. How are you?

-Lovely to see you again.

-Nice to see you.

-Hi, Jonnie, good to see you again.

-Lovely to see you both.

Beautiful day, beautiful weather down here.

-It's gorgeous.

-Have you done much to it?

Yeah. We've done a tiny bit of colour and...

-Well, show me, lead the way.

-Come on in. Thank you very much

Kristi and Francesco loved the layout of this place right from the

start. So I'm not surprised that the

biggest changes they've made have been stylistic.

You know, I forgot just how cool this house is.

-Yeah.

-It's absolutely amazing.

Yeah, it's massive, yeah, we love living here.

-Do you?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Yes, we love it.

It's really peaceful, it's so much space.

-There's no going back.

-Really? No going back?

-No, no.

-No, I couldn't move back, couldn't move back to the city

after living here. And now we've got Cora, she's five,

it just makes sense to live down here.

I think it's a combination between the space, quality of life...

-Yes.

-..different pace.

I think we've got to what we were looking for.

-Sounds like it.

-Thanks to you guys.

Well, let's...let's talk about where we are at the moment.

I think I'm standing where a wall used to be.

Yeah, that's right. We took down a wall.

-So basically in line here.

-Yeah, cutting off that bit.

-That's right.

-We wanted to create a much bigger open space.

I was going to say, if you'd had told me at the time, "Yeah,

"we're going to make this even more open-plan,"

-I'd have thought you're nuts.

-Thought it's not possible!

-But it...it works, doesn't it?

-It really works.

-I love it.

-What about the kitchen? Any changes?

-Yes, a lot.

-Big changes.

We took out all the cabinetry, we reshaped the kitchen island.

We put in tiles and the big piece is also just over there,

we've added all that cabinetry on that side.

Ah, of course, for the cook. Do you use all five rings?

-Yes, we do, we do.

-There's a pizza oven in there too.

-Is there? Of course there is!

-We can make six pizzas in there.

The spacious, open-plan character of this house has only been enhanced by

Kristi and Francesco's efforts

with tasteful splashes of colour now found throughout.

They've kept the separate spaces for working and living downstairs,

and Francesco has even found a home for his books.

But there's one other room that has caught my eye.

Well, someone's made this place their own, haven't they?

-Yeah.

-I see nothing to do with adults in this room.

-No, it's all Cora's.

-All Cora.

Sometimes she says, "Don't come in, I'm working."

OK, fine, see you at dinner, brilliant.

And how do you find...? Because this is on one of the thoroughfares...

-Not a thoroughfare, but you're on the road there.

-Yes.

-Not bothering you at all?

-No.

-I came in round the back as

we did when we first arrived here, it's...

-No, no, not at all.

-It's pretty quiet.

-Pretty quiet.

Yeah, we're across the street from the school and it's got its two busy

points in the day, but other than

that, I mean, it's so peaceful in here.

This house always embodied the kind of lifestyle Francesco

and Kristi dreamt of living.

But the one thing that wasn't quite ideal was the outdoor space.

The big compromise here was the garden, wasn't it?

The size. You've taken a couple of trees down,

you've got a bit more space here.

Yeah, it looks much bigger than initially appeared.

Than when we first saw it.

So, yeah, we did a good clear out of it.

But you were adamant, both of you, that you wanted a big garden...

-We did.

-..with countryside views.

Yeah, we wanted acres, Jonnie, at first.

Then we realised how much, how much time this takes.

But we loved probably the idea,

but we're not experienced country people.

And then we realised how much work you need to put into

just to maintain this garden.

I can see you've...made a very low-maintenance

attempt at gardening here.

Yes, it's got to be easy. Yeah.

That grass doesn't look like it's going to do much growing.

It's a great idea, when did you get that done?

It was maybe a year and a half ago.

-We were sick and tired of...

-So you did mow the lawn initially?

Initially. Then I destroyed...

Well, you know what, he tried it once.

And then the cord broke.

So we gave up and we said let's install a fake lawn.

The fake grass. It looks great.

It's interesting that a lot of people consider

that they'll move to the countryside when they get older.

-Why wait that long?

-Yeah, exactly.

-Why wait?

-Yeah, do it, do it now, do it whenever you feel ready to do it.

I'm going home and I'm selling up.

So how's Cora enjoying her life out here?

She's making lots of great friends.

I mean, it's just great here, there's so much space for her.

It's also, we feel it's a lot safer.

There's the beaches here, there's so many beaches, blue flag beaches.

She must be finishing school pretty soon, isn't she?

-Yes, she is.

-Shall we go and pick her up

-and maybe take her to the beach?

-Yes.

-Yes.

The whole family seem very happy in their new home

and with the beach close by, who wouldn't be?

Right then, where are we going to build a sand castle?

-Mm.

-This looks like a good spot, nice and dry.

-Yeah.

So how often do you come down here then?

I think we come pretty often.

-Yeah. All year round.

-Exactly, year-round.

-Even in the winter as well?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Because you can still bring the bike down,

there's lots of trails around here.

-Have you made sand castles here before?

-Yes.

Are you good at it? You look like

-you know what you're doing with a spade.

-Yeah.

This is not just about coming down for exercise.

-Well, you do triathlons.

-Yes.

-Do you swim here?

-Yeah, I do, I do.

-In this sea?

-In this sea, yeah.

-Cold sea.

-Cold sea, but...

With a wet suit you can manage, yeah.

I thought you'd lost your marbles then.

-OK.

-Soon we have the dog.

-Yeah, we're getting a puppy.

-Are you?

-So he'll be coming around here.

-You're getting a puppy, Cora.

-Yes.

-Yeah!

-She's excited.

-What's his name?

-What is his name?

-Rudy.

-Rudy.

-Rudy. Good name.

-Yeah.

-Giving it a pat?

But it's not just about coming down here and exercising...

-Daddy, let me pat.

-Come on, let the boss pat.

-Oh, sorry.

-Go on, Cora, good patting.

But this is about family time, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yes. I think it is everything you probably don't get in London.

Yeah. But then you look at it.

Here we go. Ohh!

-Big tip.

-Quickly.

-Oh...

-Oh!

-Go on, then.

-Lift up.

-Lift up.

-Yeah.

-Give it a magic tap.

-Tap.

OK, let's have a look at her.

-ALL:

-Oh!

I think that's mine and Francesco's

cue to try and drum up some ice cream.

You've got to be pretty satisfied

with where you and your family are right now?

Yeah, definitely. It's been a calculated move.

So we wanted to move to the country so for us it was, yeah,

not a big decision, but it was

something that was aiming for quite a long time

and luckily we found the right place.

Now you're here by the sea,

you can see that all your ducks are in a row here, now, aren't they?

Yes. We took it with the right spirit.

-Yeah.

-I don't want to say that it's easy peasy, but...

-No.

-..if you are flexible enough and if you have the right spirit,

you can find the point of balance between a working life,

quality of life and at the end of the day life's so short so...

And it is, but also you can see just how much Cora loves it around here.

-Definitely.

-It's pretty special, isn't it?

-I think it's a dream for her.

-I mean she's your dream kid.

-Yes.

-Until we don't come back with ice creams.

-Yes.

-I know that much about kids.

Ice cream disaster everyone.

It's windy and it's melting. Quick!

Oh, that's nearly falling off. Daddy didn't want one.

-You don't want that?

-It's OK.

-I'm going to have this one.

-Go on, have it quick!

-Take it, take it, take it!

So, apart from the land of melting ice creams,

I mean, it shows how warm it is here.

-Yeah.

-You happy with it all?

Yeah, very happy with everything.

-Any regrets?

-I don't think so.

-Hm-mm.

Nothing you'd do differently?

Maybe we'd postponed it too much.

Oh, you know what, Jonnie, I think next time a bigger house.

-Get off!

-Yeah, a bigger house.

-Really?

-Double the size!

You'll start looking for houses with

big gardens and countryside views, will you?

Look, you both, all three of you

look like you're having a great life down here.

I'm happy for you. I'm going to go home, find a dry cleaners...

And never buy ice creams in this part of the world again!

-Nice to meet you, Cora. Enjoy your ice cream.

-Say, bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-See you both. I would shake your hands,

-but I'm covered in ice cream.

-Bye.

-Cheers. Bye.

One of the things Francesco and Kristi

were really keen on was getting

this all important work-life balance,

especially with a young family.

And I think moving down here to the Kent coast,

they've achieved just that and as you can see

their daughter Cora, well, she's in her element, here, isn't she?

Thinking back to Paul and Elaine just up the road in Suffolk, well,

they're living the good life, aren't they?

They've really embraced countryside living.

So I hope you've enjoyed revisiting some of our successful buys,

just as much as I have.

And I look forward to helping more couples escape

to the country in the future.

See you next time.

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