Somerset Escape to the Country

Welcome to Escape to the Country.

I may be in the smallest city in England...

..but it has a very impressive cathedral organ.

Find out where I am in just a moment.

On today's show, I'm helping a couple relocate from

a town house by the sea, to a rural village,

just like the one they grew up in.

-We'll be showing them some real country gems.

-Oh, this is beautiful.

But, will our mystery house hit the spot?

It adds a whole new meaning to a home from home. I like it. I like it.

Today we're in Wells in Somerset and the cathedral here has had

an organ since 1310, this one though is a relative baby.

It was built by Mr Henry Willis in 1857.

Later in the show, I'm going to come back and have a lesson on it.

I can't wait.

The county of Somerset has many strong ties to the church

and religion.

Indeed, William Blake's poem, Jerusalem,

source of the famous hymn, is inspired by the story

that Jesus accompanied his uncle, Joseph of Arimatheia,

on a trip to the tin mines of the region during the 1st Century AD.

Legend has it that Joseph of Arimatheia went on to build a chapel in Glastonbury.

Glastonbury itself is an area steeped in mystical associations.

It's believed by some to be the site of the Isle of Avalon,

the final resting place of the legendary King Arthur and his Queen Guinevere,

but this county has much more to offer than just stories of its past. Somerset is the setting

for one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the country.

Wells has been a place of formal worship since Roman times.

There's been a church on the site since the 8th Century.

Somerset is situated along the edge of the Bristol channel

and shares borders with Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire.

It has a wealth of pretty villages, breath-taking countryside

and spectacular historic sites.

Predominantly agricultural land, the limestone hills of the Mendips

sprawl in a line below Bristol, while their sister range,

the Quantocks, stretch just east of Exmoor which spans the border with Devon.

Now, if you're looking for beautiful and traditional countryside living,

then Somerset is a good bet because it has 1,610 square miles of countryside

and some charming villages filled in turn with beautiful property.

As for prices,

well, it's a little bit more expensive than the national average.

A regular detached house here will cost £45,000 less than

the same thing over the border in neighbouring Dorset.

So, go on, treat yourself, take a look at what's on the market.

If you're after a traditional property to match this county's rural allure,

this three bed barn conversion in the heart of the market town of Crewkerne is full of character.

It offers a number of original features, mixing the old with the new,

and would set you back just under £240,000.

Or what about this handsome house in the coastal town of Minehead

which was built in the 20s for a member of the gentry?

For £585,000 you could lord it up.

With five bedrooms, an Edwardian plant room

and light and airy reception rooms.

If your budget can stretch to it, this gorgeous five bed

converted barn in Cutcombe is believed to date back to the early 19th Century

and it's set in 22 acres with views over Exmoor National Park.

At £795,000, it has an enviable galleried living room

with vaulted ceiling, French doors, leading out to a terrace,

and a variety of paddocks and outbuildings to play with.

Are you tempted by Somerset's property treasures?

Hopefully, our buyers will be today, although they haven't come very far to go property shopping.

Let's meet them.

Meet Robert and Wendy.

They actually went to school together in Wales.

It was many years later that they met up again and married.

They have three sons and four grandchildren between them

and now they've added to their family further

with a dog and two cats. So, the property they're looking for will need to have room

for both guests and pets.

Our buyers aren't quite ready to retire just yet, but they have begun to plan ahead.

They feel now is the right time for them

to sell their four bed Victorian townhouse in Portishead

and move to a more rural location where they can be part of the community.

My perfect property would be towards the centre of a village.

Possibly with even like a village green in front of it and a pub.

I'd like to be able to go out and know the people that I pass the road.

Although they want to swap their sea views in Portishead for rolling hills and fields,

they still want to stay in the same county.

We've got family close. We don't want to be too far away from them,

but we want it make that transition into the country proper.

They have future plans for more leisure time

and a home that will see them through their autumn years.

We want to find our final house together really. Our forever house.

We want this to be the big move.

Paul still has a good few years' work in him yet

and the move has to accommodate his professional needs.

I travel a great deal in my job.

In that we hope to move long before I retire,

I still need access to communications, the motorways

and particularly the railway station to get to Heathrow.

The house they're looking for is one that is a similar size to their current home,

but with less than the three floors they have now.

We need a good kitchen.

A large and open lounge, which could be combined with a dining room.

At least three bedrooms, one for ourselves

and two good guest bedrooms.

A fourth bedroom, which would probably become a study.

A barn conversion is definitely on the cards.

The sort of place that I quite like is the conversion

that might have been farm outbuildings or whatever.

Again, provided that they've been done well,

and relatively recently, then you've got a period property,

but you've actually got a completely modern renovated interior.

One thing they don't want is a property that needs too much work.

My biggest no-no for our new house

is going to be a renovation project of any sort.

Also, anything church-like. Ecclesiastical, converted chapel.

No, thank you, it's too creepy.

With their property search about to become a reality, as always, the money does the talking.

The budget for the new property is £400,000.

Wonderful. It's a classic Escape assignment.

A beautiful village, with cricket on the green and ducks on the pond

and a lovely community, and in gorgeous Somerset -

what more could we want?

No converted chapels or creepy churches.

Mha-ha-ha!

Well, not unless they misbehave.

Robert and Wendy have asked us to find them a house

in the thriving village in the centre of the county, that's close enough to a station

so he can hop on the train to Heathrow for work.

So we'll be concentrating our search around Wells and Glastonbury.

We've cherry picked some prime properties in the area. As usual, our buyers will need to

guess the price before I reveal it to them.

Then, of course, there's the mystery house which might just inspire them to embrace new ideas.

-Morning, guys.

-Hello.

-Morning.

Usually at this stage I would say,

-welcome to Somerset, but you're actually from Somerset.

-We are.

Do you know this area? Is there a reason to move to this bit of Somerset?

No, we just like Somerset. We don't really know this area at all, do we?

Basically, we've still got family back in Portishead.

We don't want to divorce ourselves

and move right out into the wilds. We need some home comforts,

but we need a different set of home comforts.

So is this a, sort of, final footprint?

-Yeah, this is it.

-This is the plan.

-This is going to be the one for us.

-Tell me your budget again?

-£400,000.

-£400,000.

-I've got all of your list of desired qualities.

-OK.

-Let's go and look. They're all waiting for you.

-Let's go for it.

-Thank you.

Robert and Wendy are prepared to pay £400,000

on a light and airy house with a minimum of three bedrooms.

They want a big kitchen and are happy to combine

their new sitting room and dining room in an open-plan space.

They'd like a manageable sized garden

and a property that's in a village with a lively community.

Definitely not on the list is a project.

This couple want a house they can move into straight away.

We're starting our property hunt in the village of Walton,

on the doorstep of the vibrant town of Street

and two miles from historic Glastonbury.

Walton is a popular village tucked away on the edge of the Polden Hills.

It's a lively community with a couple of pubs and a farm shop.

The local church, the Church of the Holy Trinity,

is a Grade II listed building.

Situated on the A39,

the front of our first house has been reversed.

The garages face the road,

while the entrance to the property is accessed via the back garden.

-Now, this is very unorthodox to show you the house from the back.

-Right.

But you won't have overlooked the fact that there is

the road at the front.

In many ways, this house offers you everything that you want on paper.

-Good.

-We wanted to show it to you despite the fact that the road is not ideal.

Tell me about the location? Tell me about the road?

Tell me about the building? Tell me what you think?

The building looks lovely.

The garden, from what I can see so far, is stunning. Lovely.

I love the way that it backs onto a field. That's really nice.

It does the old adage of making a first impression.

You've got to give this one just that little bit extra because,

as you walk away from the road, it just adds and adds and adds.

It creates a terrific impression, it really does.

-Shall we have a look inside?

-Love to. Yes, please.

-It adds and adds, I like that.

A very positive first reaction for house number one.

So this is the front side door.

And there's plenty more for them to get excited about inside.

-Now, it brings us straight into the dining room.

-It's lovely.

I like this. It's just us really, isn't it? I like this.

I like the floor.

Because of the aspect of the house, you've got the double light.

The light on both sides. That really does help it a great deal.

A little bit of the history. This was all agricultural outbuildings.

They had various functions.

You can see these, sort of, cross beams that go across.

That was where the hay was dropped down

and underneath was the, sort of, manger on that side.

Actually, underneath these tiles there's the original cobbles.

I like the easy access from the kitchen. I don't like doors.

-Lots of houses take the doors away. This really works well.

-Good.

We'll come back to the kitchen later.

Let's look at the main event, which is this wonderful living room.

Oh, this is beautiful.

That is just lovely, isn't it?

It's probably a bit too early to be talking about wow factors.

-Ah, never too early to talk about wow factors.

-It's just beautiful.

It's so light.

-The one thing we really wanted.

-The one thing I like about a conversion type building is,

for the sort of money that we've got, which isn't excessive,

it's the only opportunity that you get for this size of living room.

Actually, this was the shearing shed. You can see there are hooks where they hung the shears.

So all the sheep from the estate would come in here.

This side of it was completely open.

These were open to the elements, there was no wall here.

The architect put these, sort of, curved cylindrical...

-this is a feature.

-Yes, very cleverly done.

Now, the house is in, sort of, two halves.

There's an upstairs at this end.

Again, it was all built really to be away from the road.

Can you hear the road? Is it bothering you inside?

-Not inside at all, no.

-No, not at all.

A lot of the living quarters are on this side.

There is actually another, sort of, staircase on the other end going up to some other rooms.

Let's have a little peak up at the master bedroom/family bathroom.

So on this side, we have a family bathroom here

and a little room which could be a study or a dressing room.

-Through here is the master bedroom.

-Yeah... It's nice.

It's not huge, but it does everything you need a bedroom to do, doesn't it?

-Room to walk round the bed.

-The storage space makes a big difference.

-Yeah.

It compensates for what appears to be a small room.

So the master gets the thumbs up.

Let's see if we can build on this momentum as we head to the kitchen.

Here it is.

Oh, right.

-It's compact.

-Yes.

-Compact. Is it too small?

The important thing is the work surface.

There's lots of work surface there

and storage space within the cupboards anyway.

-No, I like that.

-You could cook in here.

-I could cook in there.

-Are you the cook?

-He's the cook.

Right, next to the kitchen you've got this fabulous utility room which really is a boost.

Ah, that is good. Yes. That's a great advantage.

-It's a second kitchen, in effect.

-It is, yes.

It's a bit like the tardis, it just gets bigger, actually.

Meeting our buyer's requirements for guest space,

there are two further good sized bedrooms, both with skylights,

up the second set of stairs.

There's also an additional family bathroom.

At one third of an acre, this superb expansive garden might be

bigger than Robert and Wendy were looking for, but it does include an apple orchard,

a vegetable patch and views over neighbouring fields.

-Lovely viewing weather.

-Yes, isn't it just?

-Absolutely.

They always say if you see a house you like in the rain,

then you're going to love it in the sunshine.

Yeah. Yeah. We like what we've seen in the rain.

Yes, indeed.

I mean, you couldn't get worse conditions

to make a first impression and it's still a good impression.

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

I would go pretty near £400,000. What about you?

I think the quality is such that it will push it towards £395,000.

Your instincts are all correct.

-Really?

-It's £50 short.

It's just a smidgen under £400,000.

-I'm not surprised because the quality is there.

-That's right.

I'm going to send you back in to have a little root around,

maybe look at the upstairs at the back, rooms you haven't seen,

then we'll meet out the front and move on to the next.

-Fantastic. Thank you.

-Let's go.

-On you go.

Within budget at just shy of £400,000,

this converted detached barn provides a strong opener

for Robert and Wendy.

It's got four good-sized bedrooms,

a fantastic open plan living space

featuring exposed roof timbers

and natural stone,

and a good-sized kitchen.

It is on an A road, rather than a quiet country lane,

but will this be a dealbreaker?

I was really impressed by the standard of the property.

One thing I didn't really want to have,

was any work to do to a house when we move in.

I think the downstairs space is better than the upstairs space.

To be frank, for the money, I didn't expect to find so much space.

looking at the house,

I would say that this is a house we could live in.

Not absolutely sure about the location.

We'd have to take one step backwards and look at it objectively.

It's the first house you've shown us,

and you'd like to think it could only get better,

but it can't. It's a super house!

-You gathered up all your bits and pieces?

-Yes, thank you.

We are done in Walton. Let's proceed.

Robert and Wendy are no strangers to Somerset, having spent

the last five years in the coastal town of Portishead in the northwest.

Much of the rest of the county is still unchartered territory

for them, so earlier, we took them to the cathedral city of Wells,

the smallest city in England

and the centre of our house search.

Taking its name from the springs that supply the moats

surrounding the Bishop's Palace, Wells retains a wealth of mediaeval buildings.

The Vicar's Close is a cobbled street of uniform houses dating back to the 14th century.

It's thought to be the oldest, complete mediaeval street in Europe,

remaining unchanged for almost 700 years.

The street still houses choir members

of the impressive Wells Cathedral, built in the 12th century.

Just outside Wells, lies another building of historical importance

and one that Robert, who enjoys cooking, might find appealing.

Located in the village of Wookey, Burcott Mill dates back

over a millennium and is one of the only two fully working

waterpowered flourmills left in Somerset.

We arranged for Robert and Wendy to see the historic process.

-Hello, Steve! How are you?

-Hello, welcome to Burcott Mill.

-Thank you.

-This is where it all happens.

-Would you like to have a look?

-Absolutely.

-Follow me.

-Let's go.

The flour at Burcott Mill is produced

using the same methods and machinery that were employed 150 years ago.

The flour is ground between two millstones,

each of which weigh about three quarters of a ton.

Powered by water drawn in from the River Axe,

these twin stones can produce 50 kilos of flour every hour.

An example of this process can be seen using a quern and hand stone.

-Shall I show you how it works?

-Yes please.

Take a bit of grain, drop in the middle of the top stone, the runner stone.

Then, using a bit of hand power...

..it makes the flour.

-Wow!

-Would you like a go?

-Wendy, I think!

Take some grain. I wouldn't put too much grain in,

otherwise it'll be really hard to turn and you'll look quite weak!

So, you wouldn't want that!

This method had been used in Britain for generations,

until the Romans introduced watermills.

There you go! I can see some flour.

I wouldn't like to spend all day doing that!

The mill produces 20 tons of flour a year, supplying hotels, restaurants

and bakeries across the county, and also has its own teahouse,

serving bread made in the mill.

The bread's delicious, thank you. Lovely! Thank you.

We continue our search on the edge of the village of North Wooton.

The name Wooton means, "The settlement in or by a wood."

Located three miles south of Wells, the village is dominated

by the heights of Twin Hills Wood and Launchley Hill.

Our second house is another barn conversion, this time set

in delightful open countryside, well away from any main roads.

Do you spot the difference?

-Peace, quiet...

-Peace, quiet, we're on the road...

-A marked contrast to the A road we were on earlier.

-Yeah, very much so.

The house I want to show you is this one, here.

It is joined to...this used to be a pub or a cider house.

This was the barn, again it's a barn conversion,

and it was converted back in the '80s.

-Looks very promising.

-Looks inviting.

Can't wait to go in.

-Shall we look inside?

-Yes, please.

-Absolutely.

As it's tucked away from any traffic noise, the initial

reactions to this house makes me think we may have hit the jackpot.

Come on in.

Straight through into the kitchen diner.

-It's empty at the moment.

-It's empty.

-A different proposition here.

-BOTH: Yes.

The thing about this property is that we've got all the location

and potential, but the house, I think, needs a bit of you in it.

It doesn't strike me as needing that much to it,

on first impression, certainly.

The house is empty, so you don't have the...

-Well...!

-"Well", says Wendy with a question mark! What would you do?

It's the units and floor, for a start.

Yes, this floor could probably do with a little sparkle.

So, unlike the last property, this is a smaller house.

It's quite a simple layout.

This is really the heart of the property, the kitchen diner,

and then you've got, through here...

..this is the sitting room.

Oh, this is pleasant. It's quite light.

It's airy, it's light,

it's got super access out to the garden and lawn, there.

And the garden is spectacular, when we look at it.

It does cry out for a conservatory or extension, in that respect.

And if that was in your budget,

then that would be a really good addition to the property.

'Well, that's a turnaround.

'Having said they weren't keen on a project,

'our buyers are suggesting changes they could make.

'Perhaps they might consider some renovation?

'Let's see if we can build on their ideas upstairs.'

This is the biggest room, would be, maybe, the master bedroom.

It's nice and light. First impression is airy.

-I think I'd be inclined to take that away.

-The vanity.

I was thinking there are other options. There's only three bedrooms here.

So you could have this as the master, or I was thinking,

if we look down the landing...

..there's a little room, there...

..and this is the other big room at the front of the house.

And the reason I thought maybe you could make this your bedroom

is because you are next to the bathroom.

So if you're going to take that vanity unit, I don't know why,

-I thought this nice to sleep in.

-This is a bit more confining.

To get a study out of this, and accommodate grandchildren,

or indeed anybody else, is going to be imaginative.

'Although the bedrooms are small, one significant extra this property does have,

'is a large garage which could be used as additional living space,

'with some clever renovation work.

And the garden with its mature trees and shrubs,

'does have a unique selling point.'

Personally, I think you should buy this house

-because of that tree.

-Pretty spectacular.

-It's stunning.

Wellingtonia - not many of them in the country.

Quite a rarity to find it here in the middle of Somerset.

Beautiful. Maybe 200 years old?

And looking back at the house itself,

can you see anything that you'd like to do?

It needs to be made an awful lot bigger.

It needs more space upstairs and downstairs, really.

So it needs an extension, or a conservatory,

or something to make it bigger.

There's perfect room for it, but it's going to cost money.

-What do you think the asking price is?

-I would go for...

365.

I would've gone less,

-I would've gone for 340.

-340.

So you're going to be shocked to find out that actually this is only

£500 less than your asking price!

-Really? Gosh!

-On the market

-for just a shade under £400,000.

-Gosh!

-That's a lot of money.

-It's a lot of money, largely because of the location.

Yes, indeed. It has got a lot going for it, it really has,

not quite in our direction, I don't think.

Certainly very clearly not in your direction!

Good, well, have a look around inside,

and then we can continue thinking, afterwards.

-OK.

-Let's have a look.

'Coming in just under their budget of £400,000,

'our second house does need some work,

'so Robert and Wendy would have to factor that in.

'But it does have three bedrooms,

'a sitting room with an exposed stone fireplace,

'a fantastic rural location

'and it also has a garage that could be refurbished

'to add additional living space.'

It would have had to be a lot cheaper,

to make me want to do stuff to it,

because, the price it is,

we wouldn't have any surplus money to do anything with it, really.

You might find we have to restructure what we think

we're going to get for our money.

Yes, we're looking for a village rural community

and to be part of the community, but, the house

and the fact we're going to live in it for the rest of our years,

has to come first.

I think a 90 foot Wellingtonia's not going to sway them to buy(!)

-Hello! All done?

-Yes.

-Yes indeed.

So, pull the door and we shall go home and reflect.

As the sun dips over the Mendip Hills, our buyers have plenty to think about.

We've had mixed reactions to the properties we've seen so far.

What surprises will the mystery house have in store tomorrow?

With a budget of £400,000,

Robert and Wendy want to say goodbye to the sea views

offered by the town of Portishead in North Somerset and move

further south to a village where they can become part of the community.

So far, they've had contrasting reactions to the two properties we've shown them.

It's just beautiful, it's so light.

So it needs an extension, conservatory...

With one more property to go, will our mystery house

whet their appetite?

-Gosh, isn't that fantastic!

-It is, actually.

And later in the programme,

I'll be working on creating my own harmonious atmosphere.

MUSIC: "Toccata and Fugue D Minor" by Bach

Wendy and Robert are on the horns of, for the show,

a very familiar dilemma.

House or location?

Yesterday, we showed them that beautiful property on a noisy road. Wasn't ideal.

Then a lovely location with a house they weren't so crazy about.

However, one thing has shifted.

At the beginning, they were adamant, adamant,

that they didn't want a project.

And yet, the second house yesterday, they were,

"Yes, we could put a sunroom here, an extension there",

and that gives me a glimmer of hope, because our mystery house,

if they are prepared to soften their attitude towards renovation,

could be their forever home.

The mystery house.

What do you think we might be showing you?

Well, I know you can be very sneaky on the mystery house!

Sneaky!

But I really, really don't have that much of an idea.

Is there anything you're definitely hoping it's not?

I have said that the thing I would not like is something like a church.

Graves would really worry me!

-No open graves for flower beds?

-No, no, absolutely not!

So onto our mystery house in the village of Chilcompton,

slightly further north, in the Mendip Hills,

and about 20 minutes from Wells.

Chilcompton is a thriving village, with three churches, a shop,

a post office and two good country pubs.

Right in the heart of the community, our mystery house has got

the central location Robert and Wendy are after,

and it's also a conversion,

but perhaps not the kind they had in mind.

Because you were both so well-behaved and such lovely housebuyers,

I didn't take you to a converted church.

-Oh, thank you!

-But I did take you to a converted pub!

Indeed! The place I've always wanted to live in!

It adds a whole new meaning to home-from-home.

-So you approve of a converted pub?

-Yes.

-Yes indeed, absolutely.

-Shall we go and have a look inside?

-Let's do it.

This former pub used to be a cider house for the miners who

worked in the local colliery, but will our buyers

chisel out their own changes to put their stamp on it?

Going to start at the back of the house,

because I can make more sense of the history this way.

Right. Oh!

-I didn't expect to see such an open space, really.

-Exactly.

The owner was telling me, this is probably the oldest part of the house.

It was probably a long farmhouse, so it's got these fantastic

flagstones and that's the, sort of, historic base.

The pub actually came later, in the 1880s.

Here, you see this light pointing in that alcove.

-That's where the dartboard was!

-THEY LAUGH

So, it has been... They sort of moved it around.

This wall, it's just a stud wall. This would have been one long room.

-And you might want to reinstall that.

-Yeah, it is really surprising.

When you come in through the front door, you don't expect to see this amount of space.

I would take the wall away, just to have the space and more light.

But that's a small job.

Although opening up the ground floor would mean losing the existing

study, there is still space

for a small reading room in what used to be the old snug bar.

The kitchen, however, is a space they wouldn't need to work on.

This is an area that they have really finished off to a high spec.

-Indeed! This is nice.

-You know, the lovely sink, The granite work surfaces.

-They found this when they were renovating.

-That's lovely, isn't it?

From some point in the house's history.

-Yeah.

-It's been restored.

So this was a Victorian addition. This was the utility room.

The kitchen was there.

So they have knocked through to make it a much more liveable space.

Yeah, I think you have got the kitchen-diner, haven't you?

It's all one.

I like that. I like open plan living, I think that's really nice.

'And there are other original features our buyers

'might like too.'

This is a really interesting feature from the old pub.

You know, where they turned off all the pub lights in one go.

This is the central control board for all the lights downstairs, other than the kitchen.

Which is slightly annoying.

Because you can't turn them off in the rooms.

-Oh, really?

-But, you know, it could be part of the project.

-Indeed.

'It seems that Robert and Wendy might be coming around to the idea of a project after all.

'And I am hoping the three upstairs bedrooms will meet their expectations.

'We could be onto a winner.'

We don't often show people bathrooms on the show,

but this is a rather big one.

-Gosh! Isn't that fantastic?

-It is, actually.

-Yes.

-It's the sort of bathroom we'd hoped to see, but never do.

-Across the landing into the master bedrooms.

-Right! Yeah, this is nice.

-My eye is taken by the black.

-Mesmerised by the black feathers.

Absolutely. Yes, but if you ignore the black

and have a look at the size of the room, you might think...

-It's a good-sized room.

-It is nice.

-Presumably storage over there.

-There is a surprise around the corner.

-Ah!

Unbelievably, through this little door...

is space for an ensuite.

-Oh, lovely.

-Not completed, but all the plumbing is there.

It certainly would be very handy to have that.

-I like having an ensuite.

-Yeah.

-That's great. Yeah.

So there is potential for an extra bathroom

and also three really good-sized bedrooms for all the grandchildren when they come to stay.

And once here, the whole family can enjoy the ample sized garden

which, unlike some other parts of the house, doesn't need any work at all

and is easy to maintain.

This is your garden. Not the biggest that I have shown you but I think rather charming.

-Indeed.

-It's about the size that I'd want a garden to be.

-Not too big. Yeah.

-What do you think of the property overall?

It's a very interesting.

It's got huge potential.

It appears to be cosmetically sound

but then you think, there might be some heavy make-up needed here rather than just cosmetic.

So I think there might be more to it in terms of what you'd really like to do with it.

-Heavy make-up being something like Botox?

-Exactly. Absolutely.

How much do think it is on the market for?

-That's a challenge.

-Yes.

I would guess, personally, at...

385.

Going on yesterday's experience, I'd say it is still pretty close to 400,000.

You are correct. It is actually the most expensive property.

It is 400,000 on the nose.

And it's actually dropped 50,000.

It has been on the market for a while.

It has been on the market for 12 months.

So it's dropped 50,000 already.

But that's the salient fact that you need to take with you as you walk around the house.

And think whether that deep surgery -

that cosmetic surgery on the house - is going to cost too much.

-OK.

-All right, let's go and look.

-Thank you, see you in a bit.

Coming in at £400,000, this property,

formerly a public house,

has many of the features Robert and Wendy are after.

It has four bedrooms,

and it's in the centre of a lively village community.

But it does need some updating.

So is renovation something they'd consider

or will they be calling last orders on the old inn?

I think there is an awful lot of space downstairs.

Keeping the front room on the left as a study,

but the rest of you could actually make

one large, very, very cosy but spacious living room.

I would have to be in the house for about a year

before it would feel like it was our house.

When we started the process, we didn't want to have to be doing anything to the house.

Everybody wants to walk into something that's perfect.

Life isn't like that. There's always got to be a compromise.

Definitely getting a bit brighter.

-The sun may well come out.

-It might.

-In that case you have to buy the house.

-OK, if you say so.

-Absolutely.

-No, let's go and think about it.

-OK.

CHURCH ORGAN PLAYS

'Now, as you may remember,

'I've got a project of my own to get stuck into.

'I am back at Wells Cathedral to learn about the organ here.

'Head Organist, Matthew Owens is going to show me how to play it.'

-Morning, Matthew.

-Good morning. Welcome to Wells Cathedral.

It's so beautiful! What an amazing sight for the eyes.

-And the organ - what a fantastic beast.

-It is absolutely stunning.

You're in the Queen of English cathedrals, as it's known.

This is the heart of the cathedral, the quire,

which we spell Q-U-I-R-E.

And this is where the cathedral choir sings services every day.

No, I'm a terrible old hack on the piano,

but my visit here is to take a lesson from you.

-So, can we go up into the organ loft?

-Absolutely, let's go.

'Every organ is unique, with different sounds

'and different means of operating.

'There won't be another one like this anywhere else in the world.'

-Ah, it's a real beast.

-It certainly is.

This is the nerve centre of the organ.

-So, four "manuals", they're called?

-Four manuals and pedals down below.

These manuals all correspond to the stops here.

So we have the choir organ, which is here, the lowest manual.

This division here is called the swell because, literally,

the sound swells.

There is a system of almost Venetian blinds which open and shut as you'll hear now.

ORGAN NOTES SWELL

-Ah, it is like a crescendo.

-Yeah.

And, of course, it has got very soft sounds, as well.

ORGAN PLAYS SOFTLY

Wonderful.

OK, so in terms of you teaching me something,

the basics of playing maybe, but also this piece.

Why don't start on this one. You want lots of noise, don't you? Yes.

All right, here you we go.

PLAYS DRAMATIC OPENING NOTES

Then go up here.

REPEATS NOTES IN LOWER KEY

And then here.

REPEATS NOTES IN DIFFERENT KEY

Now what? Ah, a pedal.

Excellent, 10 out of 10. That's it.

-Excellent. You are a natural.

-Two bars in and I'm exhausted.

So can you do the difficult bit?

'Organs need constant maintenance, just like any complex machine.

'And this one was substantially rebuilt in 1973.

'Upkeep includes repairs to features like the electrical components and the leather parts

'and it can cost up to £1 million.

'But of course it is cheaper than buying a new one.

'At the top end, a brand-new cathedral organ would set you back

'anywhere between £2 million and £4 million.

Oh! Bravo, maestro. It's wonderful. Thank you so much.

-It was a great joy.

-Lovely to meet you.

-What a beast.

I'm not so sure the converted pub was really Robert and Wendy's cup of tea, or pint of cider.

But it did raise some interesting issues

about how much work they're prepared to do to get their forever home.

So let's find out which one was the best contender.

Tell me about the houses we visited.

It's useful to run through them to find out what you thought about them.

-What about the first house?

-Absolutely love house number one.

-Really?

-Really, really.

-Terrific house.

It just had everything that I would want in a house.

And it had such a lovely feel about it, a homely feel.

You went in and it was just really perfect.

With one drawback and it was a fairly large drawback - the road.

-Robert, are you quite as dewy-eyed about it?

-Indeed.

I really did like the house.

I've heard, again, doing a bit of digging

that there might have been a possibility of a bypass that might have been stopped

because of the current economic situation.

-Can you pull strings, Robert?

-I wish, I wish.

-That would be good!

But it was the prospect of that,

-then...now might be time to buy that house. Very much so.

-Very good.

-Where did you snuffle that piece of information out?

-Well, I have my sources.

-What about house number two? There you didn't have any worry about traffic noise.

-No.

The situation for house number two, perfect. Lovely.

But the house itself just didn't do it. The layout was wrong.

It was too small.

It had the feel of a sort of 10 or 20-year-old three-bedroom semi.

Now the mystery house, this was interesting because at the second house,

you had been saying, "Oh, we could put an extension. We could put a sunroom."

Even though you said you didn't want to do any projects.

So, with the mystery house, it needed some work doing.

What are your thoughts about that now?

I think it did require work but you could see your way through it.

You could see what needed to be done to make it how you would like it to be.

So it did have possibilities.

Overall, I was afraid that we didn't really get you

your forever home, ready, packaged in the right location,

ready to move into, on budget.

What have been your reflections on budget and area since then?

Maybe we need to rethink or at least think about

the compromises we are prepared to make, to have what we wanted.

But you really did nearly hit the jackpot with the first house.

You really did. And in some respects that spoilt us for the rest of it.

-And what will happen next?

-We're thinking of going back

-and having a look at it another time.

-Yep, certainly.

And checking it out and checking out the bypass.

-Things like that.

-Well, I wish you all the best.

I hope that Somerset opens its heart to you, again

-and that you find your forever home.

-Thank you very much.

It's been brilliant. We've really enjoyed it. Thank you.

We were a bit overwhelmed by the concept of finding

Wendy and Robert's dream home

and then having to deal with all the mess of roads and budgets and compromise,

but I have been thinking about it and in a way, dream homes, forever homes, they're a slow business.

You move in with your family and your friends and you make it the warm place

that you want to spend the rest of your life in.

And I'm pretty confident that Wendy and Robert will find that place.

And if you've enjoyed our adventures here in Somerset,

then join us next time some in the UK

for another Escape To The Country.

Although property number one was Robert and Wendy's favourite, the proposed bypass

is still many years off, too long for them to wait.

But the rural Somerset still holds the key to their future plans.

If you'd like to escape to the country in Scotland, Wales,

Northern Ireland or England, and need help, please apply online at:

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