Hampshire Escape to the Country

This impressive building behind me was home to a man called Gilbert White.

He was author of a book, which after the Bible and Shakespeare,

is thought to be the fourth most published book in the world.

So, who was he? Where am I?

And what was so special about the book itself?

Well, join me in just a few moments and I'll tell you.

On today's show I'm trying to find a house for a couple who have

seen over 40 properties whilst searching for a bottom heavy home.

And it is an upstairs downsize that proves a bit tricky.

I know what you're after, you want three bedrooms on the upstairs

and Buckingham Palace on the ground floor.

But I pinned my final hope on the mystery house.

Can we look inside now then?

We can look inside, provided you buy it!

THEY LAUGH

Well, today we are in Hampshire and the Wakes, as it's known,

behind me, Gilbert White's house, was his home during the late

18th century, when he was one of the country's leading naturalists,

but what set White apart from many of his peers was that he decided

to study animals that were living, rather than those that had been

killed and stuffed, from the comfort of their own studies.

Now, all this sounds obvious enough but, at the time,

it was pioneering stuff.

And he drew his thoughts together in this,

Gilbert White's The Natural History of Selbourne.

Not only was it a bestseller, not only did it really

cement his reputation as the world's first great ecologist

but, what's more, it's never, ever been out of print.

Hampshire is bordered by five counties, including Dorset,

Wiltshire and West Sussex, whilst its southern coastline stretches

for more than 34 miles, with views towards the Isle of Wight.

Throughout the county, there is a network

of diverse canals and rivers,

like the River Test. World famous for its superb trout fishing,

the Test meanders its way through some of the most attractive villages

in the county, such as Chilbolton, with its thatched houses.

And there's also the unspoiled beauty of East Meon,

nestled in the Meon Valley.

On the 900th anniversary of the Domesday Book,

East Meon was chosen as the Domesday village as its layout today

echoes that of Norman times.

With history and coastline in abundance,

it's no surprise that Hampshire is a very sought-after location

for would-be country types.

Well, as you can see,

the landscape here in Hampshire is dominated with some wonderful

buildings but, of course, all of that comes at a price.

The average four bedroomed family house will set you

back around about £344,000.

That's a cool 90,000 above the national average. Why?

Well, essentially, this is commuter belt.

Those close links to the capital have long held sway over

prices here but if you want some gorgeous houses with

lots of character, then Hampshire could well be the place for you.

This three bedroomed Grade II listed detached cottage in Titchfield

is on the market for just shy of £300,000.

It has a showstopper of an inglenook in the sitting room

and outside, the timbers provide an attractive backdrop

to the secluded courtyard garden.

Priced at £650,000 is this three-bedroom

Grade II listed property in Hamble. It comes complete

with a stunning modern kitchen

and good-sized bathroom with freestanding bath.

There is also a spacious open plan living

and dining area with a feature fireplace.

And, if you have deep pockets,

maybe you could stretch to this three-bedroom

bespoke property in Bashley for £865,000.

Set in two acres of garden and paddocks,

it features stunning timber vaulted ceilings in the two spacious

reception rooms and there's a range cooker in the modern kitchen.

Well, if that little selection has whetted your appetite

and tempted you to move to Hampshire, you're in good company

because that's exactly what today's buyers want to do too.

Business consultant Alan

and administrator Julie have been married for over 30 years

and have lived in a five bedroomed house in Woking, Surrey, since 1995.

But, since their youngest son Alex started university,

they've been thinking seriously

about downsizing with a country move.

I'd like to move to the country because I like peace and quiet

and, erm, although it's very quiet here, Woking is very built up

and very, quite noisy.

So, access to nice country walks and some good pubs would be nice.

We've decided that we want to move because, really, it's too big for

just two of us and although Alex is, is here part of the time while he's

at university, the other two have gone and we rattle around upstairs.

So, it's too big upstairs, erm, we like the room downstairs,

although we don't like the layout.

They've viewed 45 properties already

over the past two years with no luck.

Now, the area they have chosen

is based on their future role as grandparents.

I think the areas that we would consider to move to

need to be somewhere that has a good commuter link into south-west London.

Our daughter lives near Hampton Court and she's expecting her first baby.

-We don't want to be hours and hours away.

-So, near the A3 or the A31.

-Granny!

-Granddad! THEY LAUGH

As well as being kept busy with their grandchild they'll also

be making time for their favourite activities.

I think the move to the country would mean that we could continue most

of our hobbies, including walking, cycling, we really like cycling.

-Golf.

-Oh, yeah, golf, and going to local pubs!

Golf and pubs aside,

they have a clear vision of the requirements for their future home.

We only need 2 to 3 bedrooms and, as far as downstairs is concerned,

if it's small, then we would consider extending.

Yeah, it must have, if it is small,

it must have the potential to extend it and a decent sized garden.

And a real, sort of,

sugar on the top would be a basement with a snooker table.

Not asking for much, then!

Well, that just leaves the all-important matter of money.

If we find the right project we'll go to £600,000

and then spend a bit more getting it to, to meet our criteria.

If we find somewhere that meets all of our criteria then we'd be

willing to go to £900,000.

Well, by their own admission,

Alan and Julie have been going around in circles, it seems.

For the last two years, they've looked at dozens of properties

but, of course, have yet to find their ideal one.

They say they need a bit more focus and, well, frankly,

I'd be inclined to agree. That's because I think

there are two fundamental contradictions going on.

Julie would be quite happy to take on something of a project,

Alan wants it all done, and they both want a property with a large

ground floor footprint, but without many bedrooms upstairs.

And all that suggests that they are looking for a pyramid,

and there aren't many of those in Hampshire, I can tell you!

Alan and Julie want us to find their new home within half an hour

of Hampton Court in south-west London so they can

visit their first grandchild easily once he or she arrives.

We've got three stunning properties to tempt them with

and as ever, they'll have to take a guess at the price

before I reveal it.

The final option, of course, is our mystery house which could

push the demand for downstairs space to the limit.

-Now, over this two-year odyssey...

-Odyssey!

-..let's just be clear how many properties you've looked at.

-Gosh!

-Probably...seriously looked at, 45, something like that.

-45?

But Hampshire's, you know, sold as far as you're concerned.

You definitely want to be in this particular county.

-It's a nice county.

-It is gorgeous, it is absolutely gorgeous.

Thankfully, you've got a budget to match, which is always helpful!

Erm, well, hopefully, we can give you a bit of focus.

-Just go with it with eyes wide open.

-Yeah, we are.

And hopefully we can inspire you with one of our three.

Including, of course, the mystery house, which,

you know, might be a bit different.

-Ooh!

-Seven bedrooms and one reception room!

THEY LAUGH

Maybe we'll find you a property that you can switch around -

live upstairs and sleep downstairs?

Yeah, we'll get an upside down house!

Yeah, well, I'm pretty optimistic, guys.

-And, who knows, maybe we'll resolve this two-year search.

-Let's hope so.

That'd be good.

So, with a budget ranging between 600 and £900,000,

depending on how much work needs doing to the property,

we're looking for a detached house with more room downstairs than up.

A maximum of three bedrooms, a decent sized garden

and great countryside views.

We've travelled around 25 minutes from Hampton Court

and close to the Hampshire village of Crookham, which is

the nearest place to offer amenities such as a post office, local shop

and tea room, plus that all-important pub for them to socialise in.

Just half a mile away is the small village of Dogmersfield.

Our first property dates back to 1880 and, once upon a time,

was the laundry of the local manor house.

This is it, property number one!

-Ooh!

-Ah!

-It's pretty, isn't it? It's beautiful.

When you get round the back, it really does open up

but the interesting thing about this one

is that it's very much, sort of, bottom heavy.

-Yeah.

-Lots of room downstairs, not a huge amount upstairs,

but that's what we're after.

-Yep.

-Shall we? Come on, let's have a look inside.

-Yeah.

It's a hard task to find a property with more room downstairs

than up, but I think we might just have cracked it with this one.

Right, in you come. Grab the door, Alan.

So, lobby, utility room, kind of thing.

-And this is the first bit, this snug.

-Oh, this is nice.

-Come on in.

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

-Yeah!

-Yeah.

-I like the high ceilings.

-I love the colour.

-You wouldn't expect this, would you? In here.

-No.

-Actually, with the picture rail and so forth.

-Yeah, I like this.

-It's unusual.

-Hm.

-OK.

-Yeah. I want to see more now!

-Right, kitchen.

Have a look at this! Come in here.

-There, how about this?

-Oh, wow!

-Yeah.

-Ooh!

-Yeah?

-BOTH: Yeah. Nice.

-I should imagine they live in here.

-You would, wouldn't you, really?

Yeah, this would be the main focus for it.

Again, coming back to this issue of size

and you're trying to downsize...

-Is this too big? Is it too small?

-No, it seems a good size.

It's not too big, it could well be big enough, yeah.

It looks like this house is delivering exactly what

they want size wise, but there's plenty more to see downstairs.

So, here we are, another reception room for you.

Erm, now, they've got a bit of a sort of

study area going on in the corner there.

But the focus of the room is very much this working fireplace.

It's a nice room. I like the way that it's got different sloping ceilings

-and this is a much lower part.

-It is.

If you think about the three bedroomed houses

we've looked at, downstairs is much smaller than these rooms.

Good. That's excellent.

That's the sort of balance I was hoping we would...

-Yeah, no, it's a good size.

-..achieve.

-Well, you could have a fourth reception room.

-Right?

-Next door.

-Oh, really?

-OK.

-But it's currently the master bedroom.

-Right, OK.

-OK.

I'm not sure whether a ground floor bedroom is to Alan and Julie's

liking but I think this next room could be well worth a gamble.

OK.

-Nice. Very nice.

-Oh.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-With stairs!

-Yeah, now, the stairs, you would think go to an ensuite.

-Yes.

-They go to a huge dressing room.

-Oh, brilliant!

-Oh.

THEY LAUGH

A huge dressing room up there,

but it's the master because the family bathroom is right next door.

So, it's not technically ensuite although it's just round the corner.

-But it could be another reception room if you wanted it to be.

-Hm.

-It's nice as a bedroom though, isn't it?

-Works as a bedroom, doesn't it?

I mean, not everybody's into bedrooms on the ground floor

but that's the kind of compromise you might want to make

because we've got two bedrooms upstairs, OK?

So it would mean, effectively, that you would give up

the bedrooms down here and effectively have only a two bedroomed house.

-Hm.

-But with four reception rooms.

-Yeah.

Well, it's not like we'll be putting it on the market

and it doesn't matter, does it?

Well, it sounds like Alan's moved in already,

and we've still got the upstairs to see.

There are two more bedrooms in this stunningly stylish property.

One is currently being used as a music room and the other is

the room with an ensuite that could work as a master for them.

-So, come on in. This is the ensuite that the house offers.

-Ooh!

-That's different.

-Isn't it?

-Yeah!

Something of a sort of throne, almost...

-ALAN LAUGHS

-..for your, your master bed!

-Wow!

This is a nice room.

-It's a good layout, actually. Well-designed.

-Happy?

-Hm, yeah, I like it.

-I can't tell you how relieved I am!

THEY LAUGH

Believe you me, I'm very relieved at this point.

Well, I'm delighted that they like this house,

as I think it could suit them very well.

Outside, they've asked for a decent amount of space

and this garden certainly delivers.

As well as having a luxurious hot tub with decking,

it also has a nicely furnished summerhouse

with stunning views out onto open fields.

-What are your initial thoughts of property number one?

-I like it.

I think it has a nice feeling to it.

Is it not... I'm a bit concerned that it might be too small.

I didn't find it small, no. It didn't feel that at all.

No, I think there is potential to knock it about a bit.

Which we were bound to do anyway!

Well, how much work you may do to it all, obviously, will have

some bearing on the price that you eventually have to pay for it.

-Hm.

-We've got a very generous, what, £6-£900,000 to spend.

-Where do you think this one comes?

-About 800,000.

-£800,000 yes? Alan?

-I don't know. 775.

-775.

-You're right!

-Really?!

-No!

-Spot on!

-Oh!

He said, "I don't know," and then he gets it spot on!

That sounds like a set-up!

No, £775,000 will get you property number one.

-I think you should have another look around.

-Yeah, we will do.

-Off you go.

-OK.

-OK.

-Brilliant!

Well, there we are, it's not often that a buyer gets it absolutely

spot on, but Alan managed it, as well he might.

This is a perfect house for them, but downsizing isn't always easy.

They've got a few hurdles to overcome,

but this, they might just do it.

Falling within their budget at £775,000,

this property looks very promising indeed.

It has loads of reception space downstairs,

four bedrooms, a huge garden and attractive views.

I really like this property. I'm surprised, but I do like it.

It doesn't feel small.

Sometimes you get a feel, you go,

"This is a nice house, I could live here."

It's probably up there in the top five,

let's say, of the properties we've looked at.

Worthy of serious consideration.

Right...out you come.

Well, how do we feel about downsizing now we've seen

property number one?

-Yeah.

-Pretty good. Yeah, I like it.

-Still happy?

-Still convinced it's the way to go?

-Yes.

-OK.

-Well, let's see what you make of house number two.

-OK!

The Hampshire town of Alresford came into existence

around the 13th century, when a great weir was built to create

a reservoir known as Old Alresford Pond.

The pond supplied fish for the Bishop of Winchester's palace,

as well as a steady flow of water for mills further downstream.

Nine miles north-east

of New Alresford is the tiny village of Chawton,

and it was here that the renowned British author Jane Austen lived

after making her own escape to the country from Southampton.

Earlier in the week, we arranged for Alan

and Julie to meet guide Anne Channon on a tour of the setting that

inspired some of Austen's greatest works.

-Welcome to Jane Austen House Museum.

-Thank you very much.

When did she come to live here?

She moved here in 1809 with her mother, sister and a friend,

and Jane Austen's brother Edward,

who had inherited large estates in Kent and Hampshire,

offered them a home. And they chose to come here to Chawton Cottage.

Jane Austen's House Museum was established in 1947 and is owned

and run by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust, a registered charity.

The much loved author spent the last eight years

of her life in this 17th-century house.

As well as writing her novels here, she also enjoyed playing the piano

and helping with the upkeep of the pretty cottage garden.

This is the dining room where Jane Austen

would have sat by the window, at that table,

and written and revised her novels.

In 1809, when they came here, she got down to writing very quickly.

Revising Sense And Sensibility, which celebrates its 200th year

of publication this year, then Pride and Prejudice, and then she wrote

Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion.

All at that little table. So, to us, it's very precious.

Her sister Cassandra had taken over the role of housekeeper

with Martha Lloyd, their friend, which left Jane Austen free to write.

And without Cassandra Austen doing that,

we wouldn't have these wonderful books.

Jane and her elder sister had a close bond

and shared a bedroom together.

Right, this is the bedroom that Jane Austen

would have shared with her sister Cassandra.

Quite a small bed, was she fairly small?

She was quite tall for the time, five foot 6 to 7.

This is a replica bed of the sort of bed they would have had

and it's got a roped base to hold the mattress.

Hence the saying, "Good night, sleep tight,"

when the ropes had tightened to keep the base firm.

In a time when published female novelists were rare,

Sense and Sensibility was officially described as being written by "a lady",

and her subsequent books were all attributed to

the author of Sense and Sensibility.

It wasn't until Jane's death in 1817 that her name actually

appeared on her own novels,

when Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were both published posthumously.

But, for now, it's time for Alan and Julie,

the heroes of this edition of Escape To The Country,

to continue with their own story as we get back to the house search.

We've travelled around 30 miles from Hampton Court

to the East Hampshire village of Medstead.

It's a community of around 2,000 people with a Norman church

and a local convenience store with a post office.

For those special occasions, there's also an historic pub

that dates back to the 1800s.

A fairly modern build, our second property has oak frames

and was constructed in 1991.

-Well, there we are. House number two.

-It's big!

-It's big!

It is big, and I know we're trying to downsize

but the reason we brought you here is because we know you don't

want to be completely isolated in the middle of nowhere, hence we've

got a road, I'm afraid, but I think this is well worth looking at.

If you've never seen a green oak building, this is a great example.

-Let's have a look.

-If you want to build something from scratch,

you could always build one of these! Come and have a look inside.

Yes, it is a large house but Alan and Julie are definitely after

a lot of space downstairs at least.

So, let's see how we get on.

Right, come on into the kitchen.

-Let's start in here.

-That's nice.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Lovely, isn't it?

-Yeah, lovely kitchen.

-Yeah.

And dominated by these huge beams,

which are a feature of the house, as you might, you know, expect.

It's your classic, sort of, you know,

country look but without having to be miles in the country.

-Very nice.

-Yeah, this is quite nice, isn't it? Come and check this out.

This is quite a clever little link arrangement.

-Oh.

-This isn't part of the original build.

-OK.

-Wow!

This is only about five years old.

There used to be a little exterior courtyard here.

So, the current owners got the original builders back

and this rather complicated structure

is what they came up with and I think it works a treat.

It's very nice, yes.

-So, what, what's under there?

-That...

-It's not the garage, is it?

Yeah, that goes into a utility room that's on the ground floor

of the garage that leads onto the double garage itself

but the staircase gets us

up to something of a playroom with one of the five,

sorry about this, five bedrooms that is on offer, and that is ensuite.

-Right.

-Well.

So, you've got a separate, sort of, guest room, if you like.

So, just thinking about your daughter

with grandchild, potentially noisy baby...

Totally separate!

So, with the future grandchild space sorted out,

let's find somewhere for Grandma and Grandpa to relax.

So, back across the hallway, there's a nice little study in there.

-This is the main reception room.

-Oh, it's a good-sized room, isn't it?

Yeah. Goes the full width of the building.

-What about these beams, then?

-Yeah, nice.

-Solid, aren't they?

Yeah, that's very different to the other one!

I don't know, I don't feel quite the same as I did in the other one.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Is it because it's too big or...?

Yeah, actually, I think it is. I think it's too big.

-But we haven't been upstairs yet!

-I know, but this is not downsizing.

-This is the same size as we've got now.

-I don't feel that.

I think I prefer this one inside. It's nice because it's...

I like the wood and it's more modern in its way.

Alan seems to like this place

and I'm hoping the upstairs might win Julie round.

There are four more bedrooms at this end of the house.

One a lovely spacious double with feature timber uprights

and its own adjoining ensuite shower room.

There's also another bright double with those oak ceiling beams

which also feature in the single room.

All these share the large family bath and shower room

but we're heading for the biggest of the lot.

This is the master. Come on into here.

-It's beautiful.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. Beautiful bedroom.

-Have a look at that.

-Dressing room in there.

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah, walk-in wardrobe, kind of thing. Yeah?

-Yeah.

And, through there, very nice, very funky ensuite bathroom.

-Just look at the bath.

-Oh!

-Yeah?

-Yeah. Lovely.

-Ha-ha-ha-ha!

So, that's the sort of style we've got up here.

-I like the way the ceilings go into the loft.

-Yeah.

-Really opens it up, doesn't it?

-But is it floating your boat, Alan?

That's what worries me!

It is mine, I don't... I'm not sure it is Julie's, though.

No, it's not doing it for me, is it? It's a beautiful house, but it's...

It's, it's a big house and that is what we have at the moment.

This is the problem, though, isn't it?

THEY LAUGH

I know what you're after.

You want three bedrooms on the upstairs

and Buckingham Palace on the ground floor.

THEY LAUGH

Aargh! I don't know what we're going to do!

-Can't we just forget there are five bedrooms?

-Just close them off!

It is a beautiful house. Very well put together.

With opinions still split on this property,

the only part left to see is the garden, which certainly meets

the requirements of a decent size, to say the least.

The price on this one is clearly going to have a bearing, as ever.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now, you were right on our last one.

-He was.

So, I'm going to let you go first on this one.

I'd actually go, probably over budget. So, let's say 915.

£915,000, yeah? Just over your top spend.

-I think it's less than that. I think... 875.

-875.

OK, you're both wrong.

Here's the good news, this is on the market for 795.

-Good grief!

-OK.

-Do you think that is cheap?

-I do.

-For the amount of house, yes.

-Yeah.

Go on, work your magic! Take her off!

-THEY LAUGH

-Twist her arm!

At £795,000, this stunning and spacious property

is well within their budget and offers a great deal.

It has a lovely social reception space

and four bedrooms in the main house.

There's also an annexe area for when their family

and future grandchild comes to stay and outside has a good-sized garden.

I think that this property is not downsizing,

it's as big as the house we've got now.

I think that the room sizes downstairs are really good.

I'd like them in a slightly different configuration

so that they could flow into one another more.

For me it's perfect in terms of construct

and the fact that it's modern,

but in the main house there are four bedrooms

and we probably only need two.

So, upstairs is too large at the moment,

unless we found a different use for it.

Out you go. There.

Now then, the big question is, did you manage to persuade Julie?

-I'm not going to tell you!

-THEY LAUGH

So, as the sun sets on Hampshire's scenic countryside,

it marks the end of the first day of our property search.

Alan and Julie are looking to downsize

from their five bedroom house

in Woking, Surrey, to head for the Hampshire countryside.

The big but in this plan is that they want

to keep a large amount of space downstairs,

while reducing the space upstairs.

So far, they have agreed on one house

and disagreed on another, but coming up,

our mystery property gives them all the downstairs they could imagine.

-There you go!

-Which one?

-The whole lot.

-Wow!

-Good grief!

And it's all aboard a very special

train to the watercress capital of the UK.

Well, as you can see, it's a glorious start

to our final day of househunting here with Alan and with Julie.

A couple who have looked at, well, dozens of properties over

the last two years, but have yet to find one they like.

To call them picky, well, frankly,

that's something of an understatement!

Now, when we started,

we suggested that they might need something like a pyramid.

So, our mystery house is anything but.

Well, our mystery house is the final offering.

-What do you think we've got in mind?

-I think it'll be a complete wreck.

I was thinking a barn or something like that, maybe.

A barn? A wreck of a barn?

-Yeah, it could be a wreck of a barn!

-Maybe a bit of both, yeah.

-Maybe a bit of both?

-A barn with no roof!

-Let's see what you think.

We are travelling to the Surrey village of Pirbright

and its outlying communities.

With most of the houses based around a large village green,

its church was rebuilt late in the 18th century in true Georgian

style and it offers amenities such as a parish shop and a cosy pub.

For our mystery house, we've taken the biggest demand on the wish list

and really run with it. They wanted a spacious downstairs -

well, they'll find this property

is ALL downstairs,

being a Grade II listed barn conversion that's on one level.

-Another nice day!

-It's a lovely day.

The perfect day for our mystery house! There it is.

You got it right, you said barn, it's a barn.

-Alan, a barn.

-Yeah. There you go.

-Which one?

-The whole lot.

-Wow!

-Good grief!

-Yeah. It's really interesting, this one.

It's all what we'd call single-storey living, as it were.

-Can we look inside now then?

-We can look inside, provided you buy it!

THEY LAUGH

I'm pinning my hopes on this property.

Alan and Julie seem impressed with the frontage and grounds

and I've got a feeling they may be equally taken with

what's behind the front door.

Come on in.

-Oh, lovely room!

-I mean, there are barns and barns.

-Oh, wow.

Erm, and this is what this one is all about.

These timbers here are originals. These lovely shoulders you can see.

But, for all the listing, actually, most of it is, essentially,

a brand-new house.

-It is, it's beautiful.

-Alan, what are your thoughts?

-Yeah, very spacious.

The sort of thing we're looking for from a living area point of view.

Let me just - sorry, it's the sort of thing we're looking for?

-I've not heard that this week!

-THEY LAUGH

Excellent, good.

OK, well, let's see if the rest of it is what you are looking for.

Yeah.

This is the, the kind of link between the two barns,

this L-shape, but it leads us into one of the four bedrooms here.

There we are.

I apologise now, we've got you one more than you wanted,

but here's the thought, one of them, they're using as a study,

-so you've only got three!

-OK, right, good.

-OK.

So, three bedrooms but, yeah,

it's got a lovely ensuite as well, round the corner.

-OK. Nice size.

-Well, this isn't the master, this is just a guest room.

-OK.

-Alan's nodding sagely but I'm still not sure what's going on.

-No, I like it!

-Not giving anything away!

-I like the ceilings again.

Nice high ceiling.

So, the space and character of this place are both going down well,

but can we keep it up in the kitchen?

There we go. Again, lovely high ceilings in here.

-I really like the kitchen.

-Again, great size.

-Yeah.

-And the sort of size we are looking for, so that all works for me.

-Yeah.

It would be nice to put doors along here and open up a lighter bit.

-Out onto the patio.

-Yeah, you're right.

-We said that in the first one as well.

-Hmm.

-I think we're just going to do that wherever we go.

-Put the doors in!

You're just desperate to knock something around, aren't you?

-It's so beautifully finished, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Notwithstanding the fact we've got one bedroom on this side.

This is a sort of kitchen wing, utility room, bathroom and so on.

The other side of the living room is the kind of bedroom end of it.

-Come and have a look at that.

-OK.

So, again, the link between the two barns is here.

Back to the living room.

Moving through here leads us

to the three other bedrooms in this gorgeous conversion.

There's a bright, good-sized double that could suit their son

when he visits from university

and a single with plenty of storage,

which is currently being used as a study.

But we're heading for the largest bedroom of all.

This would be your master.

-Good size.

-Oh, lovely, yeah.

-Light. Nice ceilings again!

Well, I'm delighted you've picked up on the ceilings

because it does make it, rather.

Now, we've got an ensuite there, and this, you're going to love this.

How about that? Huge walk-in wardrobe and dressing area.

It's good. I don't know where Alan is going to put his clothes on!

Well, yeah, here's the thing! So, in terms of, you know, one level,

-how do we feel about that? Now we've seen the whole thing?

-I like it.

I think it's a nice property.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not hung up

-about having an upstairs or any of that sort of thing.

-Yeah.

Would you have come to see this one in particular

if you had just seen it on the internet?

-Yes, because of the view.

-Ah, OK.

-Hm.

Well, it's the best view we've had for you, to be honest. Erm, OK.

-Well, let's go out and enjoy it!

-Yeah!

-It is fab.

-Yeah, follow me.

This property offers a quarter of an acre of very sociable garden.

So, plenty of room to relax

and enjoy those fantastic views of this part of the North Downs,

also known as the Hog's Back.

Well, there we are, that is rather nice, actually, it has to be said.

-Stunning view.

-Well, the view, of course, comes at a price.

-Particularly in Surrey. So, £6-£900,000 you have.

-Yes?

-Go on then, Julie, what's this one worth?

-Well, I think it's top end.

-So, I'm going to go 900,000.

-£900,000, yeah? Alan?

-I'll go 920, I think.

-£920,000. Well...

This was on the market for one million but they've

knocked off 100,000, so this could be yours for 899,950.

-50 quid out!

-Let's face it, at 900,000, who cares about 50 quid!

Yeah, it's an interesting one.

It's in a different part of the world

than we've been searching so far. Is it still of interest?

-Yeah. Can we go and have another look?

-You know the drill.

-OK.

-Off you go.

A whisker under their top budget of £900,000,

there's all the downstairs space they could possibly want

in this single-storey barn conversion.

It has lovely sociable reception rooms, four bedrooms,

spacious grounds and lovely views.

First impression was, was really good because

I just saw the view straight away.

It's been converted beautifully and it's just spectacular inside.

All being on one level takes a little bit of getting used to

because you've got a fair old walk from one end to the other,

but, erm, good. I'm impressed.

Well, that's it! Mystery house is done. House tours are now over.

-We've done, what? 48 now!

-Yes!

-Well, you have.

We've only had to do three of them, thank goodness!

-Erm, yeah, lots to think about?

-Yeah, lots to think about.

Well, you've been thinking for the last two years,

so let's go and add on a few more hours. Come on.

Now, Hampshire is the watercress capital of the UK

and the town of Alresford in the north-east of the county

is home to this, the Watercress Line.

It was opened in 1865 to aid in the speedy transportation

of the perishable watercress to London.

Today, the line offers nostalgic trips on its steam trains,

which run up and down the 10 miles of heritage track

from Alresford to Alton.

Well, the railway, like Hampshire's watercress farms, is still

booming, so I'm off to meet a man who's dedicated the last 30 years

of his life to studying this rather simple yet tasty looking leaf.

Dr Steve Rothwell is the technical director of production

here at Fobdown Farm, where watercress has been produced

every week of the year for over a century.

How big an area are you, well, farming, I suppose?

Well, our total watercress area is about, in old units, 58 acres.

This farm is about 7.5 acres. So, it's sizeable for watercress.

-We're going across here?

-Balancing across what we call a carrier,

where water is moving from one block to another.

Right, OK. Well, this is interesting, yeah.

It's not too deep if you fall in! THEY LAUGH

Hey, look at this! It's very... it's very idyllic, isn't it?

It is a beautiful setting. I mean, we're fortunate that

all watercress farms tend to be in the bottom

of very pretty chalk valleys.

That's where the pure water rises.

-It's beautifully clear, isn't it?

-It's so clear

because it's so pure. It's filtered through the chalk.

Rain falling on the chalk hillside takes

anything from 50 to 100 years to migrate through the chalk

and then push up as springs in the valley bottom.

Not only does the water provide

the watercress with the minerals to grow, the fertiliser

if you like, but also, because it's coming from quite deep in the chalk,

it's a constant 10 centigrade, which in the winter, warms the crop

against frost and in the summer,

cools it. So it's that constancy of temperature.

There are 40 watercress beds here on the farm and approximately

10,000 gallons of water per hour are pumped for each one.

-Here's a crop just about to be harvested.

-Right, let's have a look.

Can I just grab a handful?

Yeah, it's fit to eat straight from the bed.

I mean, you know, clean water, clean product.

Mmm, that's delicious! It's got a very peppery aftertaste, hasn't it?

The pepperiness is something called phenethyl isothiocyanate,

which can be abbreviated, thankfully, to PEITC.

And that compound has been shown

to have very powerful anti-cancer properties.

But, that aside, what else does it contain that makes it worthwhile?

Well, it has more vitamin C than oranges,

more folic acid than bananas.

Got more B vitamins in it than blackcurrants, it's a good source

of magnesium, it's rich in copper and zinc.

I'll just keep eating it if that's all right?

You just keep telling me how good it is!

In Victorian times, watercress was known as poor man's bread.

Eaten in a sandwich by workers for breakfast

and even without the bread if they couldn't afford it.

It was a cheap alternative to the orange as a source

of vitamin C and protection against scurvy.

And it wasn't just the Victorians that loved it,

apparently the Romans did too.

The Romans were great advocates

of watercress helping them make bold decisions

-and soothing a troubled mind.

-And what's this?

-Well, this is white wine vinegar.

-Oh, yeah?

Which, apparently, in Roman days, was restricted just to the nobles,

you know, the upper classes.

We're not going to drink this, are we?!

No, if you take a little bit of watercress

-and then just dip it in the vinegar and then just eat it.

-Hmm.

You get a really bite of the vinegar and the mustard of the watercress.

-That, actually, is really nice.

-We're emulating the sort of

Caesars of the past.

I mean, this was a... to them, a real brain tonic.

They made those bold decisions, they would take watercress

and vinegar before going into battle, for instance!

Amazing. Do you know what?

If it was good enough the Romans, Steve, it's good enough for me!

THEY LAUGH

So, after that tangy taste of history, it's time to get

back to the present and the outcome of Alan and Julie's house search.

Well, we've now reached that point in the show

when we get to find out if we have indeed managed to find

Alan and Julie the house of their dreams.

Now, given that they have now looked at 48 houses...

you'd have to hope so.

Well, Julie, Alan. When we sat down like this a couple of days ago

we were talking about the 45 properties

that you had seen and not liked.

We wondered what we would do over the course of three properties

and whether we would find you one.

I think there's one that has our attention.

Well, that's interesting. You kept that one quiet because I have no idea which one it is.

OK. Let's just think about the properties that we had a chance to show you.

That lovely old laundry, the red brick building.

Say what are your thoughts on that now.

Yeah, really liked that one. It gave us the potential to do something

-that would be our stamp on it.

-OK. All right. Alan?

-A lot of it is downstairs so you could...

-Use it all.

-..use it all.

-Yeah.

-Interesting. So property number two then.

A new green-oak structure.

Too big. Yeah, definitely. Beautiful house inside.

I mean, the decoration and the wood was just superb.

And certainly, of the three, that one had the best interior.

OK, well let's have a think about the mystery house then.

Really lovely. And I liked the house,

but it was the noise of the road that I could hear that put me off.

OK, well, you suggested that there was one that was a contender.

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark

based on what you've just said.

-Number one.

-Mm.

-Mm.

Because it's really captured your imagination

-in terms of what you'd do with it.

-Yeah. And it's a bit quirky.

It's got some interesting bits.

-That house didn't feel claustrophobic or small in any way.

-OK.

-Well, I'm delighted. I mean, I wait for the phone call...

-THEY LAUGH

..to hear that you've finally bought one,

but maybe house number 46 is the one that may be your future home.

-Lucky number.

-It could be your lucky number.

It's certainly mine now, if you buy it. It's been a real pleasure.

Thank you very much, we've had a great time.

-As ever, let us know how you get on.

-Yeah.

-Will do.

-Brilliant.

Well, I have to confess that when I first met Alan and Julie,

the alarm bells were ringing very loudly indeed in my ears.

Let's face it, any couple that have looked at so many properties

yet failed to find any one of them that's going to move them enough to want to buy it...

Well, there clearly is something else going on.

We only had three more properties to show them,

but we've managed to do it and I'm beginning to wonder why.

Maybe it's what Julie said. She said that, actually,

a small property doesn't have to feel small,

and of course these two are definitely trying to downsize.

Many people come on this show wanting to do just that,

few can really take on the challenge.

So, with any luck, they have got the smaller property they're after

in Hampshire with a pub next door. That's rather nice, I think.

But, after some deliberation,

Alan and Julie decided not to go back to see our first property.

They're now considering whether to stay put

and make improvements to their current house.

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

or England and would like our help, then please apply online at...

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd