Wiltshire Escape to the Country

We all know the expression, "It's as different as chalk and cheese," but not where it comes from.

But once you know which county we're in with Escape today, then you will.

'In today's show, I'll be helping a couple take that leap to the country

'and buy their very first property together. It all starts very positively.'

-It's an amazing sized room. Fabulous.

-Yeah, nice, like it.

'But then our mystery house stirs things up.'

OK, so the house is a challenge.

Today, Escape is in Wiltshire

whose southern chalk downs could not be more different to the northern pasture land

that provides grass for the cows that make cheese.

There's the difference, but the one thing that unifies the county

is beautiful property and gorgeous countryside.

Landlocked Wiltshire shares its borders with other southern counties including Dorset and Hampshire,

all of which fell historically within the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

Its rural landscape is also home to more ancient, Neolithic sites such as Stonehenge

whose mysterious circle of monoliths remains a place of pilgrimage today.

Much of Wiltshire's chalky uplands and lush pastures stand testament to its rich farming heritage

and its swathes of open countryside remain a draw for many in search of a rural bolthole.

Meet Ray, a company director, and Sarah, an HR manager,

who live in Ray's four-bedroom home in Hertfordshire.

Ray has lived here all his life, having inherited it from his father.

They're in the throes of organising their wedding

and are keen to buy their first home together away from this busy commuter heartland.

This is one of the natural beauty spots of Kings Langley - railway line and the M25.

It's not the most attractive part of the village, but quite essential, and one reason why we're moving on.

They've opted for Wiltshire which has good M4 access for Sarah to get to Heathrow where she works.

Ray, however, has his own pet supplies business,

so he'll be needing space to work from home.

The features that I'd be looking for in our new property would be a reasonable-sized study,

potentially, a room that we can use as a gym...

..have a nice living space, definitely still need an en-suite bathroom.

-Four bedrooms.

-Four bedrooms.

-Large kitchen.

-There we are. You've got more of a list...

-With an island.

Outside, they want an acre of land, so they can add sheep and chickens to their animal menagerie.

They're also keen on having a holiday let.

We're not that bothered about the style of property,

as long as it's large and airy and has the things that we particularly want.

Sarah sold her house three years ago and with Ray's property on the market for £475,000,

they've got a healthy sum to buy their first home.

Our budget for our next move is £600,000.

These days, it's fairly unusual for someone to have lived their whole life in the same property

as the day they were born right up until their 40s,

so Ray's going to be quite sad to be leaving the old place,

but he's leaving it to get married to Sarah

and we are going to find them their marital home, fingers crossed.

Let's hope Wiltshire has everything they're looking for.

Sarah and Ray are keen to base their house search in the Marlborough area where Sarah has family,

which gives her relatively easy access to the M4 for her commute to Heathrow twice a week.

We've lined up three Wiltshire properties to whet their appetite,

but I won't reveal the price of each until they've had a guess first.

The last of these will be our mystery house, designed to challenge their property preconceptions.

-Good morning, guys.

-Good morning.

-Welcome to Wiltshire.

-Are you ready for some house-hunting?

-Absolutely.

-And your budget is going upwards?

-What happened there?

-We have an option, if my mum comes with us and we find a suitable annexe property,

to use some of the proceeds of the sale of her house,

so we have a slight increase if there's a suitable annexe for Mum.

"Slight" being how much?

150,000 on top of the £600,000 that we already have.

-So we can go up to 750?

-We can indeed.

So if we get the annexe for your mum, does that mean that the holiday let idea has bitten the dust?

Yeah. If we can find the right property that fits that spec, then yes.

-This is a big move for you. You're getting married.

-There's a lot going on.

You haven't moved since...ever?

No, I've never moved. I'm looking forward to it.

-So there's lots of properties to sell with your mum's place as well.

-Yes.

-Only one to buy.

-Let's go and find it.

-Excellent.

For their budget of £600,000, Ray and Sarah are looking for a country home that provides...

They would increase the budget to £750,000

if there was an annexe for Sarah's mum

or the potential for a holiday let.

As we get our house search under way, we're going all out for location

and heading to the village of Blunsdon ten miles from Marlborough.

Surrounded by peaceful countryside, it has a strong community spirit

with a shop run by volunteers next to the village hall and a pub.

Our first house lies on the edge of the village and its modern exterior is rather deceptive

as inside does provide the airy living spaces they're after.

-This is the property I want to show you.

-OK.

-First impressions?

-Looks good.

-It looks nice.

-Nice, good?

Interesting roof.

The house is very low-slung. Most of the rooms are downstairs. There is an upstairs portion.

'Despite appearances from the outside, there's no need for them to worry about ceiling heights inside.'

In we come.

Here we go, straight into the kitchen.

Big kitchen.

-It's got your island.

-Nice island in the centre.

-Yes, lovely.

-High ceilings.

-High, high ceilings.

-Yeah.

-This is partly because you don't like the low ceilings.

-Yeah, you've got that bit ticked.

Come on through here. This is the sort of...

As you see, very open-plan, living, dining, relaxing space.

Very nice, bright and airy.

Very open-plan.

It's very clinical,

very straight, very smooth.

Yeah. It's not cuddly country cottage.

Let's take a look at the dining room.

It's, um...

-It's a bit small for a dining room.

-Probably a very good study.

-It would be a good study.

-You're already reconfiguring the house.

-We could put the table and chairs in the space where the grand piano is.

-It's all coming together nicely.

'We'll explore the other rooms on the ground floor later, but let's get their thoughts on upstairs.'

This is slightly odd because we've got two bedrooms up the spiral staircase from the living space.

And at the moment, there's no en-suite,

so there's essentially two waterless bedrooms.

You've got this space and then also...

-What you've got here...

-Oh, my God!

-..used to be the play room for the kids.

-I think it would be an OK guest bedroom. It's got some ceiling height.

-Yeah.

And then the other room we could turn into a bathroom, couldn't we?

'Next door, the second bedroom is a good size and could easily accommodate a bathroom suite.

'The other three bedrooms are back on the ground floor and all file off the hallway.

'One is a potential double with doors to the garden

'and next door is a smaller, but bright single, both serviced by the family bathroom.

'At the end of the hall is where they would sleep.'

And finally, the master bedroom.

-There's quite a lot of storage, assuming these are all cupboards?

-Yeah, they are all cupboards.

-Very bright again. Nice, high ceilings.

-You've got an en-suite shower room and toilet.

-Excellent.

That's good.

I was hoping for a little bit more room because where we are at the moment, we've got four bedrooms,

we've got a nice, open-plan lounge, and it just feels a bit smaller.

-I don't know if I'm right in saying that.

-Yeah, I think you're right.

'This property offers an array of living areas that they can adapt to suit their lifestyle with the dogs

'who can dry off their paws in the adjacent utility room, something Sarah really wanted.

'The double garage block outside addresses Ray's request for more space.'

So come in here.

-It's a good, nice, boarded space.

-Yeah.

Heating, electricity.

I'm not sure what we'd do with it, but I'm sure I could find something to put in here.

-You could certainly glaze the garage and make it your gym.

-Yeah, that's a good idea.

Back full circle to the hub of the garden.

Is it a good size for you?

The garden's a good size, yeah, and it's quite pretty. I like it.

This is only a third of an acre. You said you wanted an acre.

Yeah, it isn't sheep and chickens kind of garden, but it's good enough for the dogs.

-It's a good enough size.

-Yeah.

How much do you think this little slice of Wiltshire costs?

You go first.

I think £525,000.

-Mm-hm.

-I'm going to go 490.

490...

OK, well, up until about three or four months ago, this was on at 590.

It's now on 550.

Even though this is not massively bigger than the property, in terms of space, that you're living in now,

-it's the location that you're paying for in many ways.

-Yeah.

Wiltshire is an expensive county.

-Why don't you have a look around, inside and out?

-Thank you.

-This way...

Open to offers of around £550,000,

this property is well within budget.

It's a great opening gambit, providing them with...

With over a third of an acre of garden,

it's set in a very desirable village

which also gives Sarah good access to the M4 for her drive to work.

I like the airiness of it, the fact it's got high ceilings.

It felt quite light and airy.

However, the bedroom corridor actually felt a bit claustrophobic, I think.

I like the kitchen. The lounge area was all right.

But I did think the bedrooms are a little bit too tight for us.

We continue our house search 18 miles from Marlborough in the village of Bromham

which, along with an array of amenities including a post office, a butcher's and a pub,

also boasts an impressive Grade One listed church.

Our second property not only comes with history of its own,

but it's hopefully the upsize they were looking for.

Here we are, number two.

-Much better.

-Yeah.

-It's a house.

-It is a house.

-Not just a house, it's a farmhouse.

-Yay!

-Yay!

-Ray, what do you think?

-It's very nice, lovely.

It's a house, it's a good size. Yeah, interested.

This is the back of the house. We'll go and see the front.

'I hope we can build on their enthusiastic first reaction to this handsome farmhouse

'which, along with an impressive front facade,

'has plenty of character still intact on the inside.'

Here we go.

OK...

Here we have... well, it's the sitting room.

-Fabulous.

-Yeah, nice, like it.

-It's lovely.

-You said the fire was a bit small.

-It was, yes.

-This is much, much bigger.

It is. It's amazing.

'Well, this could be the snug because across the hallway, they can really spread out.'

Wow, this is huge!

-Oh, yeah, that's lovely.

-It's a great room.

So if that's your snug winter sitting room, this could be your day-to-day sitting room.

This is an amazing sized room. It would be great for our larger dog

-Yes, it could be his kennel.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

'Next door, the kitchen also provides ample space for them and their dogs.'

Now, this is the kitchen...

-It's...a strange shape.

-Yeah, it's long and thin.

-It is.

-You've got a very fine range at the end

and then it goes along here and then you've got the utility end and, through there,

-a huge dog room with a separate entrance to the garden.

-Excellent.

It wasn't what I pictured in terms of, you know, a family kitchen.

I think it would need replanning. You could make better use of it.

'The kitchen flows through to an enormous dining room, giving a huge area for cooking and eating.

'Also off the hall is a ready-made office for Ray and the generous proportions continue upstairs.'

-So nice big landing.

-Oh, brilliant.

-Five bedrooms off here.

-I've fallen in love with this house.

-This is one of the smaller bedrooms.

-Is it?

-Oh, really?

-Is it growing on you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Good, good.

-I like it.

'The other four bedrooms are large enough to be doubles with the space they might need for the future,

'but we'll take a peek at the largest.'

-Here we are.

-Yep.

-Good, isn't it?

-You can walk round the bed.

And there's a lovely family bathroom which they've done up very nicely.

With windows over the farmyard.

'They seem pleased with the bedroom sizes so far, but now for a big surprise.

'Upstairs on the second floor, the sixth bedroom gives them a suite of their very own.'

Oh, my God!

I don't know what to say.

-What a great room.

-You'd have to sleep on that side. You'd bang your head.

Oh, wow.

And we're not quite done yet. Come on downstairs.

'There's also a great dressing room on this floor with an adjoining storeroom tucked into the eaves.

'Outside offers up the possibility of a small annexe for Sarah's mum

'with a vaulted ceiling and it comes complete with its own kitchen.

But this is your garden. Probably about quarter of an acre.

-Stunning view.

-The garden's fine for me. I think the house is brilliant.

-Yeah.

-It's just the annexe.

So how much do you think it's on the market for?

I think it's top of our budget. Seven, seven fifty, if not more.

OK. I'm going to go... seven thirty-five.

Seven thirty-five. OK, well, this is a substantial listed building.

In a very beautiful bit of Wiltshire.

But it could be yours for 725.

-Wow.

-That's what it's on the market for.

-Are you sold, hook, line and sinker?

-I love it. The house is amazing. Absolutely.

-No, I agree with you.

-I'd forego everything else.

-Including where your mum lives?

-No, that would be the compromise.

-We'd have to work something out.

-This house requires a good walk around with a pen and paper

and head scratching and moving things around. So I'll send you back in.

'On the market for £725,000, this historic farmhouse has space in abundance

'for family and dogs, providing them with two living rooms, six bedrooms, one with its own master suite,

'a small annexe all wrapped up in a quarter of an acre garden with a swimming pool.

'And it's set in open countryside with M4 access for Sarah to get to her job to the west of London.'

The moment we walked into this property, we gave each other a look

as if to say, "Yeah, this is very homely. We could work in this." It's very comfortable.

We could make this place a really nice home for us.

This house makes me feel like I want to get the chequebook out. It's everything that we wanted.

We'd have to work round the annexe element of it, but there's scope to do that in the garage. I like it.

As evening falls over the Wiltshire countryside, the first day of our house hunt draws to a close.

Day two of our property search for Sarah and Ray

and I'm a little bit perplexed about what exactly they want to get for their money.

They loved the house yesterday, but couldn't really see where Sarah's mum was going to go.

I'm questioning whether they could ever afford to have the separation that they want.

But the mystery house today is going to offer them space for Mum

and also reintroduce the long-forgotten holiday let.

It will either conform that they want those things or sweep them off the drawing board forever.

Our mystery property takes us to the village of Sutton Benger,

which falls within their preferred location and gives them those cycle paths they wanted

with a welcome pint on tap at the two local pubs.

Among the array of attractive buildings lining its country lanes is its Grade 2-listed church.

On the edge of the village is our mystery house, which has more to it than meets the eye.

Come with me past the fortress of leylandii

to see the mystery house.

This property needs a bit of work, a bit of vision.

But it actually offers everything you want. And some.

This is not only a house for you and your mum. It's a house for you and your mum and a holiday let.

-Ah!

-Interesting.

-In a very good location.

It's interesting. You can already see how to make it more attractive.

'Their confident optimism is encouraging, but now it's time to test their creative vision

'as we explore inside.'

Come on in.

-Probably not your style.

-No.

It's not so bad. There's some character there. I like the beams.

'There's additional space for the dogs beyond the sitting room in the conservatory,

'but will the kitchen measure up?'

Come through into the kitchen.

-It's actually not a small kitchen diner.

-You're right. It's quite a good space.

-And it's nice kitchen units. I think it's the headroom in this section.

-Yeah.

It needs a bit of reorganising.

'The kitchen extends into a utility area,

'which weaves through into a completely self-contained part.'

It's actually again a big space. Sitting room and quite a big kitchen.

Yeah, I think it would be quite a good space for my mum.

It would be the biggest kitchen she's ever had.

And then actually there's a bedroom up top. So this whole unit would be self-contained for your mum.

-OK.

-Or it could be the holiday let.

'To the rear of the utility room is another small wing with its own entrance hall and sitting room,

'currently set up as a home office.

'Upstairs are two potential double bedrooms, both serviced by a useful shower room.

'Back through the main house, the staircase leads up to three further bedrooms, making six in total.

'There's a cosy double and the other benefits from a skylight, which is also in the family bathroom.

'But where will they sleep?'

And here's the master bedroom in your part.

It's just very dark again, but a lot is the paint and the wallpaper.

Yeah. It's not that bad. Probably the best room on this floor.

OK, so it's a challenge, the house, just to get your head round where everything is.

-Let's go out into the garden and we can gather our thoughts.

-OK.

'Ray and Sarah have been completely thrown by the number of rooms and possible living arrangements

'that our mystery house can accommodate.

'Outside, the secluded garden is the largest we've shown them.'

OK, so this is the garden. It's actually a big plot.

It's just under an acre, I'd say, including the paddock for the sheep.

The garden's good, yeah. It's a good size.

-I can definitely see some chickens in here.

-It's very nice. The front garden with the sheep is brilliant.

What about guessing the price?

I can see you've answered most of the questions that we asked.

However, I think the price would be...530.

I think it's higher than that. I think it's probably...

It's probably late six, six eighty.

It's actually on at 675.

-Yay!

-So you get the crown.

-I've won!

-Yes. Congratulations.

OK, so it does offer on paper everything that you asked for.

-Have a look around inside, then we'll meet out front.

-OK.

Under budget at £675,000, our mystery property has challenged Ray and Sarah

to seriously evaluate their wish list. Cosmetic alterations aside,

this house would give them two living areas and a large kitchen diner, six bedrooms,

separate living quarters for Sarah's mother and the potential for holiday guests,

just shy of an acre of garden and it's located in their search area.

The mystery house is a good choice. It answered all the questions - annexe, holiday let, accommodation.

But the rooms are a little bit too small, a little bit too dark.

The living side of it for us isn't quite what we had in mind.

I think for the money we've got it's possible to find what we want,

but losing maybe one of the elements, the holiday let.

We need to concentrate on a home for us first and foremost.

Well, that wasn't the most life-changing mystery house,

but it might have brought things into focus for Ray and Sarah

and made them decide what they do and don't want in their home here. Let's go and find out.

-Hello, guys.

-Hi.

-Hiya.

-Time for the moment of reckoning.

We find out which one you like best or least or both.

-It's easiest to go through them one by one.

-Yep.

-Can you spin your minds back to yesterday morning

when we looked at the house with the walled garden?

I think the garden was beautiful. The living space was OK. The bedroom space was too small for us.

The bedrooms were a little bit tiny. The corridor especially wouldn't be very workable.

It's quite narrow, but we liked the layout - the living quarters, bedroom quarters. That was nice.

But a little more space was needed.

What about house number two? A much bigger proposition.

That was completely different. It was a great, great house. Lovely rooms.

Brilliant staircase.

The house is obviously big enough for three people to live in. It had so many rooms.

But it wasn't what we wanted or what my mum wants. She wants her independence.

So really we were looking at a property with a separate annexe.

As much as there was another building outside, I just think it would be a bit unfair

to expect her to live in the shed!

So that gave you lots to think about. Then the mystery house.

I think the holiday let issue with the mystery house

made us think that realistically that's not for this move. It's not going to work.

Great location. Fabulous village. I liked the gardens.

But I think we have to realise that we can't have the annexe and a holiday let.

I know it's a lot to juggle with mum and holiday lets and the wedding and your jobs,

but I really do wish you all the best and I hope you find something to live your marital life in bliss.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

I know bluebells are not unique to Wiltshire, but they do lift the soul after a challenging week,

not because of Ray and Sarah, who were lovely,

but because their property goalposts kept on moving. First it was a holiday let in their house

and then a house with their mum. Even though they really liked house number two,

sometimes on Escape we have to accept that the best thing we can do

is help people decide what they don't want. So join us next time for more escaping.

Meanwhile, enjoy the countryside.

If you'd like to escape to the country in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or England,

please apply online at:

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2012