Powys Escape to the Country

This is Carla's Delight, a native of the county I'm exploring today.

As you can see, not only is she beautiful but she's also known to be hardy and well-balanced,

just the sort of characteristics anyone needs to Escape To The Country.

In today's show, I'll be helping a couple to leave busy suburban life behind

and find their dream home in the country.

I could cry!

I'll show them properties that will hopefully cause a splash!

-I'll have to learn to swim now, won't I?

-You can't swim?

I can only do doggy-paddle!

And let's not forget the mystery house.

So will they decide to stump up the cash on any one of these country homes?

Well, today I'm in Wales and to be precise, the glorious county of Powys,

home to many of the country's finest breeds of Welsh pony.

As you can see, the landscape is particularly rugged and these guys are very, very well-suited to it.

It's also said that the great Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor,

was so impressed by many of the native breeds of pony

that he found on these isles when he invaded that he had some taken back to Rome with him,

but as for me and Carla's Delight here, I think we'll stay in Wales.

Come on!

Powys is surrounded by 13 Welsh counties and bordered in the east

by the English counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire.

It's the largest county in Wales, covering a quarter of its land mass

and is a haven for walkers with over 5,700 miles of public footpaths.

If you want to escape from the madding crowd,

Powys is your place -

it's the least crowded county in England and Wales.

As a result, there's some stunning local rural scenery to enjoy,

including the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park.

The hills are scattered with working farms and tiny hamlets

so it's an ideal place for finding a slower pace of life.

Housing stock varies across the county, from grand Victorian houses

to rural stone-built cottages.

Now if you think Powys is for you, you may be pleasantly surprised at the house prices.

Your average detached will set you back

around about 13% below the national average,

coming in at a cool £211,000 so there is plenty on offer.

Here's a brief selection of what's on the market right now.

If money's no object, then this spectacular nine bedroomed Arts and Crafts house

on the banks of the River Wye near Builth Wells

could be yours for £1.5 million.

The grand reception rooms still retain their oak panelling

and the 1920s fireplaces.

With 25 acres of ground and exclusive fishing rights,

this house is an impressive rural retreat.

You can enjoy beautiful countryside views for a more realistic £540,000

with this extended 18th century farmer's cottage near Newtown.

It's tastefully decorated with flagstone floors,

a light spacious kitchen/diner

and a sun terrace from where you can soak up the surroundings

or for just shy of £400,000,

you can snap up this four bedroom traditional barn conversion just outside Welshpool.

It has a welcoming kitchen

and the dining room features original oak beams

and exposed stone walls.

You also get a whopping four acres of land.

One of the advantages of living in Powys is that everything is fairly spread out,

but it does mean finding the perfect property for some very fussy househunters can be a bit tricky,

but I'm always up for a challenge, so let's see who'll be putting me through my paces today.

Today it's the turn of Jane and Geoff,

a solicitor and IT manager who have been married for 12 years.

They live in a large Victorian semi-detached house

in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

We originally moved here in 2002.

We paid £350,000.

It's a six bedroom semi-detached house

with a garden of about a quarter of an acre,

three reception rooms and we liked it because it had period features.

They certainly have enough space in their current property,

but they're keen to escape from a busy suburban life.

We'd like to find a property that's in a less built-up area

than we're currently in to give us a bit more privacy.

Hopefully that would also be detached and not hugely isolated

but perhaps in a sort of small market town.

So how are they planning to spend their time

once they've laid down their rural roots?

In terms of hobbies and pursuits in the country,

we'd like to have a couple of dogs and that would mean we can go off walking.

I'd like to explore chilli-growing because I love my chillies so we might need a greenhouse!

And there are a couple of other things to throw into the mix.

I enjoy playing pool, I used to play a lot of pool at university

and I'd like to find the time to play more of it so it's coming with us and I need a room to put it in.

We have a great sized master bedroom in the current house

and we're lucky enough that the other bedrooms are of a good size as well

so what we're looking for in the new property is that they are all of a good size.

This is a long-term move and they have firm ideas about what they want.

I think what we're looking for in our ideal dream home in the country

is a spacious house with at least three reception rooms and four bedrooms as a minimum.

I think I would want a larger kitchen

and for that to be a sort of kitchen/diner area

with a nice view, really, of the garden.

It's not a decision they're undertaking lightly.

So far they've been trying to find their ideal country home for three years!

We've seen a number of houses in different parts of the country,

approximately 20 and that's helped us to whittle down the area that we really want to be in.

We're looking to hopefully move to Powys,

a beautiful part of the country.

We're hoping that we might get a little bit more property for our money, basically.

But Jane and Geoff aren't planning to sell their house - not for now, anyway.

Our current position is that we're lucky enough that we don't have to sell this property

to be able to buy hopefully what will be our next sort of dream house,

the idea being that when the market picks up, we will be putting this property on the market.

And how much do they have to spend on their dream home?

If the property has everything that we're looking for, we'd be happy to spend £400,000.

Now with Jane and Geoff looking to buy a house that they can grow old in,

my sense is that they're gonna be uncompromising and their demands are no less exacting -

they want at least four bedrooms, a nice big kitchen/diner, preferably with a garden outlook,

a garden itself in which to grow some vegetables and a number of reception rooms,

one of which has to contain their great big pool table

and with £400,000 to spend, I can tell you, this is not gonna be easy!

Although Powys is Wales' biggest county,

Geoff and Jane don't want to be too rural or too far north

as Jane has family in Dorset

so our search area will radiate outwards

from the market town of Llandrindod Wells.

In today's show, I'll take them to see three houses

that will hopefully win their hearts

but as always, I'll be holding back on revealing the prices

until after they've had a thorough look around

and last of the three will be the mystery house,

always guaranteed to surprise our buyers at the last hurdle!

Welcome to Hay-on-Wye, guys.

-Thank you.

-Very nice spot it is too!

Now tell me, why Powys?

Lovely part of the country,

it's got the rural element that we want,

-but it's also got an accessibility to the rest of the country to see family and suchlike, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

Now there are a couple of other issues which are important to your new property,

cos it's not just about you two.

It's the enormous, unfeasibly large television!

The other thing, of course, is the pool table.

-Yes.

-Beautiful and fun as they are, I love a game of pool myself,

but that is a pretty uncompromising piece of furniture to bring with you.

So, size and space of this property is a key ingredient.

-Paramount.

-And you have been looking at an awful lot?

-Yes.

-And you have yet to find it?

-Yes.

-And you are confident that we can do that?

-Yes.

OK, all right, let's see how we get on.

It's not raining...yet.

Come on then, let's see what we can find.

-Lovely.

-Great.

So Geoff and Jane have a budget of £400,000.

They would like a four bedroom detached house with period features,

three reception rooms,

to be walking distance from a local shop and have a good sized garden.

So in some ways it's quite a tricky one, this, because whilst Escape To The Country is all things country...

We want the best of both worlds, you'll say!

You do! You want a kind of small market town.

We do. It probably isn't going to be an easy task

because we haven't found the right mix yet.

For our first property, we're staying in Hay-on-Wye

and the house we're showing them

is only a short drive from the town centre.

As well as the raft of book shops, there are also plenty of local shops

where Jane can pick up her provisions.

'This cottage does fulfil many of Jane and Geoff's requirements

'so I do hope they give it some serious thought.'

Now then, what do you think?

It's...probably what I'd call chocolate box to a certain extent

with the black and white but it's...

-It's obviously more modern.

-It's more modern, the windows are more modern,

but hey, they're double-glazed presumably so keeps the heat in!

-It's about 11 years old.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Made to look older and it reflects a bit of the timber-framed architecture

-that you get on the Herefordshire/Powys border.

-It's very Hereford, isn't it?

Which it's very famous for. The upside of that is, as you say, it's very kind of efficient

in the way that it's heated and the way that it works

and the room sizes have been designed to take in modern living,

so all the kind of things that you've got in your current home will fit in here...

-even the pool table!

-Gosh!

'Granted, it's modern, but we're a stone's throw from Hay AND in the country.

'Let's hope the inside raises a smile.'

Right, come on in.

Now I suppose as you might expect with a property that's so recently built,

they've gone for the things that you might if you had a blank piece of paper in front of you,

so nice big entrance hall, but let's start in the living room.

Have a look in here.

Now this is arguably, the principal reception room to this property,

working fireplace, as you can see, crackling away there,

doors out to the garden which we'll have a look at a little bit later.

I think it's a pleasant living space.

I think what I'm concerned about is seeing this size of space

is what other space there is because very often when they've got a big lounge like this,

they don't always then have other rooms

that can sort of compare to it, but we'll see.

You will, because that is not the case here - everything is big.

Follow me through here.

So back across the hallway into here.

Kitchen and dining room attached to it.

-Oh, very nice!

-And you've got loads of space here.

-I like that.

With a slight contemporary feel,

but there's a few references to where we are in the countryside,

-this tongue and groove that runs around and so forth.

-They've done it well.

I even like the red counter in the middle, which is quirky.

Yes, it's bold! You've got this lovely big beam over here.

I think they've done it very well.

-Yeah?

-It's a nice space.

And the dining room is enormous, I mean, have a look.

It's certainly big enough, I think, for most people's needs.

-It's a very good size.

-I like that and looking out into the garden again.

No, I think it's nice.

'So they seem quite pleased with the spacious kitchen/diner arrangement

'and I've cued up something rather special for Geoff.'

Now, I'm thinking kind of games wing, potentially,

because upstairs, there's another room again.

-Right.

-Right.

-Boys' drinking den, maybe, I'm thinking,

-but pool table would fit a treat in here.

-Yes.

And you could get it in.

Easily!

'So it looks like it's game-on and upstairs, there's even more space to play with!'

Come on up, Jane.

Now, Geoff, this is not comparable to your monster pool table,

you would never get it up here, I'm sure,

but quite a fun little space, actually,

and really going begging for something to do in it.

I think you could probably use it for certain storage, wouldn't you?

That's a waste, isn't it, for storage!

Put the guests out here!

How do you like it?

Because when properties offer choices, it's no bad thing,

so that's the upstairs here

but of course there is a pukka upstairs with bedrooms galore.

-After you.

-Right, OK.

-Let's go back through the house.

'The annexe provides a great blank canvas

'which Jane and Geoff could really make their own.

'Upstairs in the main house, there's a family bathroom with a walk-in shower and bath

'and four good size bedrooms, three of which could be used for visitors

'or office space for Geoff,

'but let's see what they think of their sleeping arrangements.'

Now this is the master suite, as it is billed here.

Very, very fitted look, as you can see, but loads of storage,

so the whole dressing area thing is combined with area for the bed.

What do you think?

It's not the look that we would go for

but I think they've done it very well.

And through the door is the en suite. Have a look at that.

-Oh, that's rather nice.

-In you go.

I like how they've done it, and I like the tiles, I like the taps.

-Yeah, I like this room.

-It's a lovely sized en suite.

Even though it's the en suite,

-it's as big as most family bathrooms.

-Yeah.

OK, so that's us kind of done inside, pretty much,

but the garden is last, but not least.

-Let's go and have a quick look.

-OK.

-OK.

'So they may not be sold on the style of the house,

'but maybe the space it offers might hook 'em!'

Right then! So last but not least...

..a bit of outdoors for you.

-I don't get the sense that we are after acres.

-No.

-No.

-Something manageable that allows you to potter around

with a bit of a vegetable patch, maybe some raised beds.

That's what you've got to play with, effectively.

'Jane and Geoff want a garden that isn't overlooked,

'but how about a nosy neighbour?'

-Hello, you!

-WHISTLES

Let's have a look at the property from this side.

I think it's pretty handsome, really,

for a new-build in this part of the world.

Begs a question, I guess, really -

how does it compare to your budget of £400,000?

I think it's probably a bit over.

I think it is... because of its location,

because of it being near Hay, I think.

-Yeah.

-And it's a very practical, usable family house.

So come on then, make me an offer.

I would guess at 415.

415, OK.

I think it's a little bit more than that - maybe 425.

425...

-OK, well, you're right in the sense that it's over your budget.

-Right.

But you are in a sense also a little bit under.

It's currently on the market at 440,000 quid

for all the reasons you identified, sir -

family home, where we are, etc.

The other point to bear in mind though is that it is open to offers, serious offers,

so to be perfectly honest, the kind of figures you were talking about

probably would not go unnoticed if it was of interest,

but go and have a look around,

see what you get for 440, and I'll catch up with you later.

Off you go.

Well, there we are, £440,000, the best part of half a million quid.

You do get an awful lot of house for an awful lot of money and you also get...a four-legged neighbour!

The reality is that a house close to a town like Hay with the features Jane and Geoff want

will notch up the price by at least 10%,

but with the market being as it is,

they have the chance to make an offer within their budget.

At £440,000, this house has a large modern kitchen with a centre island,

a spacious annexe which would be a perfect pool room for Geoff,

a private garden overlooking countryside

and it's within walking distance of the town centre.

I like the kitchen.

I think it's been very well done.

It's even got little spotlights - look at those, how fun are those!

I like the beams and I like the flow into the dining room.

Yeah, I think it's an excellent kitchen!

From outside, I think it was more modern than I was expecting

and although it's got the black and white exterior

pretending to be old but it's quite clearly not,

it's clearly modern, inside they've done it very, very well.

The rooms are very, very large and spacious

and it's probably the best modern house I've seen.

Upstairs, you can't fault it. All the rooms are big bedrooms.

The family bathroom isn't huge but it's perfectly all right

and I think the en suite's great!

It's very well located, you know, you can walk into town,

go to a shop, get what you need.

Undoubtedly a superb house - absolutely immaculate!

-Right, chaps, all good?

-Yes.

-OK, right, well, let's see what else we can find you in this part of the world. Come on.

-Jolly good.

With Jane and Geoff keen to explore the great outdoors

and get some canine companions,

I've brought them to meet the volunteers of the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team.

Peter and Mike are experienced members of the team,

as is Corrie, who's been on the job for over five years.

-Peter.

-Hello.

-Nice to see you. How are you?

Mike, nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to Jane and to Geoff.

-Nice to meet you.

-Now these two intrepid househunters are thinking of moving to this part of Wales.

They also want a dog,

so we thought what better way to produce a kind of combination of interests

than to come and see you guys at Mountain Rescue!

-Why not?

-Now who have we got? Who's the star of the show here?

This is Corrie. She's a five-year-old border collie.

Hello. Now is this the sort of thing you were thinking about in terms of dogs?

-Yeah, my parents have border collies and they're lovely, yeah.

-She's lovely!

-Geoff - volunteer for the Mountain Rescue?

-I'll have to hone my directional skills, but yeah!

Well, you might learn a thing or two from Corrie today!

Now presumably to train her, you send people out.

-Today we need a willing volunteer.

-I'm sure we'll find someone, somewhere!

-A dogsbody!

-Yeah, that's me.

I've been a dogsbody many times!

So Peter, you're gonna go off and get lost, as it were,

and we're gonna accompany Mike and see how Corrie does it.

Brilliant!

-Hopefully, we'll see you later!

-Hopefully!

'All rescue volunteers must go through a nine-month intensive training programme -

'and that includes dogs, too.

'Mike started training Corrie when she was just ten weeks old,

'so sniffing out lost and injured people in the Welsh mountains is now second nature to her.

'We've given Peter a head start. It's now time for Corrie to sniff him out.

'The rescue team of 54 volunteers and five dogs

'responded to around 90 distress call-outs over the past year.'

Well, you wanted to go walking, guys!

I think you do need a dog you can keep up with!

I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up with Corrie!

Aah, result!

Oh, look at that!

Well, congratulations to Corrie!

-How are you, Peter?

-Very well!

Happy to see the dog, no doubt!

-Yes, indeed!

-What did you think of that performance?

-I thought that was great, yeah.

-Are collies still on the cards?

-Collie and a Jack Russell.

-Collie and a Jack Russell?

Well, one can find the other, then!

'Well, Jane and Geoff certainly seem sold on Corrie.

'Maybe tomorrow our search will take us closer to finding their perfect country home.'

As the sun sinks into the horizon, day one of our property hunt draws to a close.

'Jane and Geoff, a solicitor and IT manager'

want to leave their semi in suburban Basingstoke

and find their dream home in the Welsh county of Powys.

For £400,000, they're looking for a spacious period property,

with land for some dogs and a vegetable patch.

So far, they've seen one property, but coming up,

Geoff finds the answer to his pool table problem!

THEY LAUGH

And Jane has a tearful moment...

As I say, I feel like crying!

Our next property takes us 20 miles north of Hay-on-Wye to New Radnor.

It's a quiet rural village with little more than a local shop.

If you need more amenities, Builth Wells,

15 miles down the road, is a good port of call

for shopping and a drink.

To hit the jackpot, we need to find a Victorian property

with large rooms, it needs to be in the countryside, but not isolated

and all for £400,000.

Frankly, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack!

Come and have a look at what we've got you here this morning.

-What do you think?

-Very attractive.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, I like it.

-You were saying on the way up the track is a thing.

-Yes.

It is the most obvious drawback to this property,

but it does mean that you're not overlooked

and you are surrounded by beautiful Powys.

Yep, no neighbours at all!

No neighbours at all, and it's cool,

you've got a lovely, probably 1800s, domestic cottage

with a later Victorian extension of a barn, which has itself now been converted.

They've done it very well. You can see the different stone

-from that main house to that but it works, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

It does work. Well, let's see if it works inside. Come on!

Come on in.

So obviously the dining room, as it's currently set up.

-Good size.

-Yeah, quite an elegant space, I think.

-I quite like it.

-I like it!

As I say, dining room at the moment whether you need a dining room.

-Could be a pool room!

-I was about to say.

Depending on what else we see, this would be ideal for the table.

It would be a cosy place to do it.

It's almost got a, sort of, gentleman's club feel to it.

If this had its pool table and a pool light over the table,

it would probably work, but let's continue.

Now this is your main reception room, as it were, very much making

use of this Victorian barn structure that the whole has been pushed out into with that huge glazed window.

Super.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-And you're not overlooked.

Apart from the cows, but I don't think they'll talk to the press!

That window is absolutely fantastic,

it's terribly attractive actually, the big tall ones.

I think it's a lovely room!

Yeah, no, I think it will be nice.

Light.

'So quite a good impression so far.

'We're heading back through the hall, past a little utility room

'and a wet room with a shower and toilet to the kitchen.'

Now, Jane, what about...this?

Yeah, no, I like it!

-Yeah?

-Yeah. I like the fact that it's got two windows,

particularly the one above the sink, so that if you are washing up.

But it wouldn't be my choice of cabinets, but perfectly...

-You'd want something more contemporary, I suppose?

-Yeah, yeah.

So in terms of working space and light, I think it does work.

-I think it's nice, yeah.

-It's a nice room.

'So it's an overall thumbs-up for downstairs.

'Let's take a peek at what upstairs has to offer.'

Big double in there, OK. But come down here.

This is the family bathroom.

-Not the biggest in the world.

-No, but it's big enough.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

In here, this is the smallest room up here, it's a study, box room.

-Right.

-Not an un-useful space, but it's next to

the galleried landing that overlooks the living space.

It's a great space, isn't it, really great space.

It's absolutely superb.

-I think a really clever use of this part of the building.

-Yeah.

In converting this place, it would have been very easy to simply have continued the floor across

and put in another bedroom here,

but I really don't think it would benefit from that.

I think this is one of the things that really, really makes it.

'Further along the gallery there are two spacious guest bedrooms, one with a useful little en-suite.

'At the end of the gallery is the master bedroom in its own self-contained wing.'

So this is for you.

Come on in, guys.

-What do you think?

-It's lovely.

-Nice room.

-Big room.

It's enormous, actually, in many respects.

It's got some built-in storage over there

and some of the original features because we're above the original part of the property,

the original domestic bit, 1800 or so, again, beams running through.

You've got beams, but not too many of them, so it's not overpowering.

It's character, as far as I'm concerned, but of course

it has got an en suite as well, go and have a look, Jane.

-Arguably bigger than the family bathroom...

-Yeah, very nice.

-..in some respects.

The only thing is that you don't have a shower.

That's one thing you would...

I mean the shower/wet room arrangement is downstairs.

I don't know if that's a major concern or not?

Not for me, but I would think for you it would be, wouldn't it?

Yeah, I would want a shower upstairs,

so possibly the family bathroom change into a shower and...

-There you go.

-Or change this to a shower and put a bath in that one.

-No, I want a bath!

-Yeah, there you go.

You can swap them round!

I'll let you fight about that one!

So, how are we doing on this one?

-I think it's a lovely house.

-I like it, yeah.

Let's go outside and have a look at what's left and then think about the price,

cos clearly that's gonna have a bearing

on how attractive this place is or isn't. Let's have a look.

'So the light spacious rooms seem to have impressed them.

'Let's see what they think of the outdoors.'

Let's see what we've got for you...

up here.

A very different perspective.

It's all been whitewashed and so forth.

The garden is what you see,

bordered by that stock fence, so you're surrounded just by fields.

In terms of vegetables and so forth...

-You've got enough space.

-There's plenty of space.

Do chillies grow in Wales?

-It might be a bit wet and cold.

-Might need a greenhouse.

A greenhouse!

So let's have a think about the money, shall we. Jane?

I think it's more than 400.

OK, how much more?

Well, it's not got the amenities,

so it's not costing a premium for that, but it's a lovely house, so...

425, 430.

425, Geoff?

I would have guessed at 450.

-450? OK.

-I didn't like to say that!

I bet you didn't! All right.

£450,000. You're saying £425,000.

Well, here's the thing... it's under budget.

It's under budget by a cool £20,000.

This is on the market for 50 quid shy of 380.

-OK.

-So...

-Nice price?

-One to think about?

-Yes, definitely.

-Have a look around and I'll catch up with you later.

-OK.

This house is well within their budget at just under £380,000

and offers up some great features.

There are spacious downstairs rooms,

so plenty of room for Geoff's pool table,

a modern kitchen/diner,

five bedrooms, including a large master en-suite,

and a good sized garden overlooking fields.

Looking at it from the outside, the chimney is still there.

I would have thought you could line it and put in a wood-burning stove.

-That would make all the difference.

-I think so. It's still a lovely room.

Coming up to the property, I liked it.

I like the exterior, the stonework and the natural wood.

The bit that I wasn't quite so keen on is the actual access road,

in as much as crossing the muddy field!

But the house itself is very pretty. I like it.

Inside the house, it's been a very pleasant surprise.

They've used the space well. I think you could make it a lovely home.

The light and those big windows in the main living area were superb,

plenty of living space and you had your sort of bedroom area,

in terms of your master suite in your own wing, if you like. It was lovely!

Well, finally it is, of course, mystery house time.

What do you think of this proposition?

Do you think this might satisfy Geoff and Jane?

To be honest with you, I'm beginning to wonder at this stage what will!

However, over the tours so far, they have revealed a penchant

for all things Victorian, but as ever on Escape To The Country,

there are times when you do have to be

a little bit careful about what you wish for!

The mystery house is a stone's throw from the town of Llandrindod Wells.

Often dubbed "the gateway to mid-Wales",

it's a large Victorian spa town.

The streets are lined with grand Victorian buildings,

with an array of shops and good transport links.

Rock Park, in the centre of town,

offers beautiful woodland walks and waterfalls.

'I think the mystery house will be a serious contender,

'but it will challenge Jane and Geoff's desire

'to keep hold of their current house and buy in Powys.'

OK, so Victorian, then?

How about that one?

That's more like it!

That's more like it!

I could cry!

-Now you were keen on getting more for your money.

-Yep.

This gives you an awful lot more. Are you ready for this?

-Yep!

-Come on, then!

'Well, how about that!

'I think we might have struck gold after all,

'especially judging by Jane's reaction!

'Let's hope they love the inside, too.'

Come on in.

Oh, look at that door!

-What do you think of this lot?

-Wow!

Awash with Victoriana.

-That's more like it.

-Superb!

Quite a start. Come through here.

Let's start in this, one of three reception rooms here.

Superb. Exactly what I was after.

-Look at that ceiling!

-Are you remotely excited?

Yeah, as I say, I'm gonna cry!

Why the tears?

I don't know, it's just so lovely, it's just what we're looking for!

OK, good.

It doesn't stop here, though.

Oh, look at you!

Come with me, there's plenty more. Look at this.

Another enormous reception room, as you can see.

Fabulous fireplace, look at that!

-How about that!

-Beautiful.

-Isn't that superb?

And what you've got running on the outside is a sort of garden room, if you like.

You've got access to it through those original French doors,

which went out to the garden.

-I love it.

-Smiles, look, hooray, come on!

THEY LAUGH

Look at the fireplace!

Unbelievable. Unbelievable!

That fireplace is gorgeous!

Usually I like things quite plain, but I actually quite like it!

-It's as gaudy...

-It makes a statement, doesn't it!

Gaudy Victorian.

So is this the pool room now? It's gotta be, hasn't it!

-Snooker table room.

-Is it a snooker table? Oh, god, no!

You could have, yeah. Never mind the pool table, you could have a pukka full sized...

Oh, don't! No! Well, you know what that means...we will!

The kitchen does need a bit of attention.

-OK.

-But I'm sure you can make that happen.

Come and have a look, it's through here, through another door.

Right, this is currently the kitchen.

As you can see, it does need a bit of upgrading.

-but yeah, you can really make the space your own, yep?

-Great!

I'm quite pleased it's not perfect.

I'm not saying it's not nice, but obviously it clearly does need a bit of TLC,

cos it gives you that opportunity. But it's serviceable, usable.

But what's through that door, you won't wanna change!

THEY LAUGH

What about it?!

-Bonus! Yeah, absolutely!

-I'll have to learn to swim now, won't I?

-You can't swim?

-I can only do doggy-paddle!

-And a little Jacuzzi.

-That will be used now more than that will, yeah!

'Well, the pool's certainly an impressive extra.

'Upstairs there are two good sized single bedrooms with high ceilings,

'two large well-decorated double bedrooms, with those sought-after period features,

'and a stylish family bathroom.

'But now to the master bedroom, which I think will take their breath away!'

I've always wanted a four-poster!

-I don't know if that comes with it! Everything's negotiable!

-Curtains!

-What do you say!

-Well, come on, Geoff, what do you say? Come on!

I mean, look at the size of it!

-Great, yeah!

-Go through that door, on your left, there's an en suite through there.

And a walk-in wardrobe.

It certainly is, isn't it!

-Look at it!

-How about that?

-It is a walk-in wardrobe!

-It's a proper walk-in wardrobe!

-It's a walk-in room, really.

Go in there. That's the en-suite.

Oh, look at the bath!

And you've got your shower this time!

You wouldn't need to do anything in here.

No. I'd do it exactly this sort of style.

-It's all modern - white, clean.

-The silver.

-The silver!

-So you like?

-Yeah, we like!

-Very much so! Love it!

'On this floor, there is a further modern bathroom with another roll-top bath.

'Still going up, there is a second floor, formerly servants' quarters,

'with yet another three well-decorated guest rooms

'and a further room in the eaves, currently used as a gym.

'Well, the house certainly scores high on grandeur.

'Let's see if the grounds can deliver the same reaction.'

And then down these steps... into the garden.

In its day, you can imagine this would have been a very formal kind of space,

of course, before a lot of the other properties were built.

I'd keep your ride-on mower, if I were you!

You're gonna need it, mate, while I'm cleaning the windows!

What you would actually buy, as it currently stands,

is the garden to a line across there.

-Right.

-I know that you are currently not selling your current home.

-Yep.

-All right. Bearing that in mind,

there is a plan to develop that part of the garden.

-Right, OK.

-OK.

-But there may be an option for that not to happen and for you to purchase the whole lot.

-Right.

But bearing that in mind, how much do you think it's worth?

I would have said it's over budget!

Nine bedrooms, go on, yeah! Pool!

-Are you talking up to, sort of, 500?

-Mm-hm.

-I'm surprised it would even be that, to be honest.

-Yeah, yeah.

-500 would still be cheap?

-Yeah, it would. Yeah, yeah.

-OK.

It's currently on the market for...

-475.

-Right.

-OK.

-OK, so it is over your current wish to spend £400,000,

but bearing in mind you're not selling what you've already got, there is money there.

Now I know that's not part of your master plan, but because this property is so exceptional,

it seems crazy not to show this to you, given that it is exactly what you're after and it is a one-off.

Yes, it's wonderful! It's an absolutely wonderful property, yeah.

Now, to buy the whole lot,

-all in, it would cost you seven, OK.

-OK.

Quite a lot to think about - a lot of number-crunching to be done.

Very unusual kind of sell this, on Escape To The Country,

but I think it could be the one.

Who knows? Your face says it all, doesn't it?!

Go and have a good old explore.

Check out the cellar. There's so much to this to look at.

I'll catch up with you later.

This house clearly has the wow factor that Jane and Geoff are looking for

and if they plough the assets from the sale of their current property

into buying this, they could have it all.

If they wanted to hedge their bets,

they could still opt for the house, and less garden, at £475,000.

It has Victorian period features in spades,

large reception rooms - and plenty of them -

an enormous master bedroom with en suite

and it's close to a local market town.

I think the only thing you'd use this for is storing our red wine.

What, when you've got all that space upstairs?

My first impressions of the property were I loved it - one in a million, really.

You thought you'd seen a room that you went "Wow!" and then you

went into another one and then yet another one and you didn't think it could get any better and it just did!

Bang on the period I was hoping for.

Character-wise it's superb. You've got all the coving, fireplaces, which is exactly what we were looking for.

The garden on its own is a lovely size anyway and clearly

I would have a concern over what got developed on the proposed plots.

It did bring a tear to my eye going round the house, quite definitely, because it was just so sort of "Cor!"

One thing the Victorians did like

was a nice tidy porch, to reveal those lovely tiles.

-Hello, you two!

-Hello!

Am I going to have to drag you away from here with some horses?

-I think you are, yes!

-Pretty special!

-Yes!

-Glad you've seen it?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Good. Lots to think about, then.

-Most definitely.

-Let's go and think.

I love it when a plan comes together!

'Now that Jane and Geoff have looked around all the properties,

'it's time to take stock of what they've seen.'

Well, the show, as they say, is nearly over,

but not before we've found out if any of the houses we've shown Geoff and Jane

are gonna be the one for them.

There's no doubt this has been a pretty tough search, with its fair share of ups and downs,

but I do believe one clear contender has emerged. Let's see if I'm right.

Back to the beginning, on the edge of the beautiful town of Hay.

Very new, only 11 years old. What happened there?

I liked it inside.

I think they've done a wonderful job, actually.

I think it's probably one of the nicest new houses I've seen,

but it's just missing a little bit of a wow factor,

but they've done it to a spotless finish, really.

Then we took you to a barn conversion, much bigger,

Victorian in its origins. What did you think?

It gave us what we wanted from what we were looking for, in terms of a Victorian property,

which was the light and the space, and that's what it gave you, plus, of course, the privacy.

I thought it was a cracking property, in many ways.

-Not the style I would normally go for, but you could see yourself sort of living there.

-OK.

Let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Last, but not least, the mystery house. What did you think, Geoff?

Oh, yeah, it had that absolute wow factor you'd die for, really.

That red room, the dining room. Oh, I mean...

-Lovely fireplace!

-Yeah, yeah.

Just the dimensions of it and the grandeur of it.

But let's think about the difficult bit, the money, OK?

Ostensibly, £75,000 over budget at 475. Is it a goer in principle?

It would be if it was £400,000!

I think we're very interested and we haven't ruled it out...

At the right price!

We need to think upon it further.

Well, you've clearly got an awful lot still to consider there, a lot to take on board.

It has been quite a journey of twists and turns,

but I hope we've got somewhere towards showing you what is possible and what might work.

-No, it's been great.

-Definitely, definitely!

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you for being on the show and let us know how you get on.

-We will.

-Yeah, we will.

-Thank you.

Best of luck! You might need it!

You know, when we started this house-hunt,

I thought we were going in search of a good old-fashioned Escape To The Country,

but as it's turned out, in trying to meet my buyers' every exacting needs,

we've ended up in a glorious Victorian pile on the edge of a market town.

Chasing the rural dream is all very well -

it can be an intoxicating idea, the start of a great adventure -

but I'm left wondering, is it really for Geoff and Jane?

Who knows? I'll see you next time.

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