Hampshire Escape to the Country

We're in a county with a coast, and a pretty blustery one at that!

It's a place that bore witness to one of the most ingenious maritime inventions

of the 20th century,

one that was powered by the biggest propellers in the world.

So, where are we and what am I sitting on?

Join me in just a few moments and I'll tell you.

Today's mission is to help a couple end a year-long quest finding their perfect country home,

so it's quick-march to places with real potential.

I'd knock that wall out and have a big kitchen-diner.

-She's a quick thinker, isn't she?

-She is!

And we're making great strides in one property.

One, two, three...

Over there is the Solent, beyond it the Isle of Wight,

and that means that today we are in Hampshire.

It was on this stretch of coast, just outside Gosport, that back in the late '50s

one Sir Christopher Cockerell turned his imagination into a reality

with the invention of the hovercraft.

Now, of course, these extraordinary vessels are known the world over.

Later on, I'll be finding out quite a lot more about them.

One thing I can assure you of, there's a lot more to Hampshire than just hot air.

Bordered by the Home Counties of Berkshire and Surrey to the north and east

and Wiltshire to the west,

Hampshire holds an enviable position on the central southern English coast,

with 34 miles of Solent shoreline.

Although Hampshire is one of the most populated counties in England,

there are many quieter pockets,

home to rural villages and surprisingly vast swathes of countryside.

The lowland heath of the New Forest lies within the county's borders,

as does a large part of the South Downs,

England's newest designated national park.

The splendid natural surroundings here

were a formative influence on the Hampshire-born literary great Jane Austen,

who spent most of her short life in the county

and whose final resting place is in Winchester Cathedral.

When it comes to property prices, Hampshire may well make your eyes water.

The average detached property here will cost you around about £346,000.

If it sounds like a lot of money, well, it is.

It's a cool £90,000 above the national average.

Why? Well, it's commuter country, with great links into London and the south coast.

It also benefits from the draw of the New Forest.

You could comfortably add another £100,000 onto that top figure

if you fancy living within the forest itself.

But there is some good news. Head further west towards Andover

and you will certainly get more value for money.

As you would expect in a county as pretty and as historic as this,

there are some wonderful properties on offer.

Hampshire is not as rich in natural building stones as other regions,

but there are bands of flint that occur in the chalk heartlands of the Downs,

used in the construction of many handsome properties here.

Flint and red brick have been beautifully combined

in this detached five-bedroom house

in the rural village of Little London.

It's thought to date back to the 1700s

and is now on the market for £650,000.

Another building feature that defines the county's architectural vernacular

are its straw thatched roofs.

A prime example is this traditional property,

which started life as a Tudor farmhouse

and has been carved into three cottages, one of which is currently for sale.

It has three bedrooms

and a guide price of £399,000.

If you want to upsize that charm,

how about this detached grade II listed 17th-century cottage near Selborne,

that comes with three bedrooms

and a price tag of £550,000?

So pretty houses in pretty villages in pretty countryside -

what more does a county have to have to represent the ideal escape to the country?

Hampshire, it would seem, has it all.

Which is exactly why today's buyers want to be here.

The desperate plea we're answering today

is from a couple stranded on an island.

Fortunately for them, that island is the Isle of Wight

where Steve and Lindy are temporarily bunking down in their holiday cottage.

In their bid for the country dream, they sold up their house in the Surrey town of Camberley,

but now, almost a year later,

they're still searching for that elusive dream home.

It just seems that every property we've come across has some snag and it's so disappointing.

And, of course, because we're down here on the island,

we've had little time and little opportunity to be able to search every day.

We have to do a special trip for it.

Lindy worked as a legal secretary and Steve as a retired chartered builder.

So now they're not restricted by work commitments, and their five kids have flown the nest,

they want to pursue their rural dream.

We'd been in Camberley for 40 years and we knew that area so well.

We knew it when it was the beginning, it was just a small town,

and it's got busier and busier and busier.

And so we wanted to move to somewhere quieter.

We have done that, because we've moved to the island.

Yes, it's too quiet!

But a more leisurely pace of life

doesn't necessarily mean a less active one.

I've lived a life of sport. I've worn my body out!

When I play squash and tennis, they call me Bandage Man

because I have bandages on most limbs!

I like the tap and I would love to get back to the ice skating.

With various sports and social commitments back in Surrey,

they'd like a location which keeps them connected

but also opens up new opportunities.

We'd like to be able to walk out of our house and go for a walk,

followed by a drink in the local pub.

They converted their five-bedroom holiday home from a former hospital,

which took them three whole years to complete.

Even so, they're up for a similar challenge again.

Our friends think, "What do you want a project at your age for?"

-"You must be mad!"

-It's very satisfying to take a place

that's a shell, or not in good condition,

and make it yours.

All that's left is to find out what budget they've earmarked for this final move.

The maximum figure that we really want to spend,

when we include all the work we may be doing on this project,

is £550,000.

Mindful that they want to maintain their sporting commitments and long-established friendships,

Steve and Lindy's ideal location

would give them less than an hour's drive back to Surrey.

We'll be concentrating our house search

in the rural villages from east to west of the county,

but all with easy access to the M3 for those good road links.

And it's in a quiet Hampshire spot

where we're all meeting up to nail the specifics of their move.

-Hello!

-Hi there!

-How are we, then?

-Fine!

-Nice to see you! Lindy, Steve, welcome to Hampshire.

-Thank you.

This is all quite exciting! But there is some pressure with this move, isn't there?

Well, yes, we have been looking for nearly a year!

We sold our house a year ago and we haven't found a house yet.

How many houses have you looked at?

It must be at least 50 houses I should think.

-You're going to sort this all out for us!

-You think! I hope we will!

But the fear is, having looked at so many,

are you looking for something that's so elusive that it doesn't exist?

-It might be true.

-Are we very fussy? I don't think so

-because we usually do go along with an open mind.

-Yes.

What's interesting about this is that, whatever we find you

will almost certainly differ from what you end up with in the future

because you are clearly going to make some changes to whatever it is.

-BOTH: Yes.

-The whole thing is that we can see something and we have a vision

and we can usually see what we would like straight away.

But in broad terms, what would you start with?

Give me a sense of bedrooms, kitchens, that sort of thing.

Well, I suppose a minimum of two bedrooms.

The big thing is, we'd like a bit of space and a large garden.

All of those are reasonable considerations.

-You're clearly good fun, you're up for a bit of a project.

-We are!

Let's see what we can find you. Come on!

For a top budget of £550,000,

Steve and Lindy are looking for a character property,

with potential to develop further by renovating or extending

but whose bare bones consist of at least two bedrooms, spacious living areas

and a large garden.

Location is key, as they're dreaming of somewhere pretty and peaceful

but close enough to continue their cross-county hobbies.

Hopefully, our fine selection of textbook country properties

will have the character our buyers crave

but also appeal to their creative senses.

I'll be keeping them guessing as to what the houses are worth until the end of each tour.

Then, to top it off, there's the mystery house,

which presents a different challenge altogether.

Without a property to sell and with money burning a hole in their back pockets,

let's head straight to our first location

in the village of Goodworth Clatford over in West Hampshire,

giving them around an hour's journey time

to their respective out-of-county commitments.

The River Anton meanders through this lovely village,

and there's a warm close-knit community

who have all come together to run the village shop and post office.

We're stopping off here to meet Jane Eastwood

and find out more of what this village has to offer.

-Good morning!

-Good morning.

It's often said that the heart of a village is its shop and it makes the community tick.

-You would know all about that.

-I would indeed.

It was my husband's and my shop.

He died in '03,

and it is impossible to run this on your own.

So very kindly, the village got together and took it over in '04.

It's the focal point for so much. This is a brilliant village, too.

-There's a huge amount going on.

-Pubs in the village?

Two!

-That's quite unusual, to have a choice!

-How about that?

There's a lot going on. This month, we've got the Harvest Supper,

which is a church thing but the whole village is invited.

We've got a film show. That's just one month!

Finding a free night to hold anything is difficult.

But it depends on the property. It's a balance.

Well, you've raised an interesting point, of course.

We're talking hypothetically.

Without the property, who knows what's going to happen?

-Thank you very much, Jane. After you.

-Bye!

-Bye.

I suspect our gregarious couple will be spoilt for choice with two pubs on the doorstep,

and one of them is right opposite our first house.

Here we are, property number one.

-It's very pretty.

-It is pretty, isn't it?

It's a classic image. Roses round the door, wisteria...

Heart of the village, obviously.

-It's the heart of the road, actually!

-It is!

-It was built back in, what, mid-17th century.

-It's a quiet road.

-So, we're happy with thatched? We like where we are?

-Yes.

-Come on, then, let's tempt you.

-OK!

With authentic history and character, this property is grade II listed,

but as they'll see, the internal space downstairs

has been updated and opened out to suit modern living.

-Come in, guys.

-Thank you.

There we are. We'll start with this bit.

This is quite an interesting addition. It's only been here, what, ten years or so.

But I think this garden room really improves what's on offer.

-This would be a lovely room for entertaining, wouldn't it?

-Fabulous.

-Brilliant.

-Entertaining goes on into here.

I think this space all works rather nicely, the way it all flows.

You've got the contemporary of the garden room

and then you've got the old of this bit.

I think it's a fabulous-size room. It's quirky.

You've got the staircase. You've got a beautiful fireplace.

The inglenook - lovely. Again, going back to the origins of the building. So far, so good.

-So far, so good.

-So far, it's fantastic.

Fantastic! Wow! Does that happen a lot?

That might've been over-emphasising it a bit!

-Let's see if we can qualify that!

-So far, so good!

-Let's see if we can keep it fantastic.

Then you've got this little snug. Cosy, isn't it?

-It's full of furniture! There's a woodburner in there.

-Oh, possibilities!

And then it all flows through back into the kitchen.

Yes, it's, erm...

I'd say it looks a bit probably too small.

I'd knock that wall out there and have a big kitchen-diner.

-She's a quick thinker, isn't she?

-She is!

-Quick as a flash!

-"That wall's going!" Have you got a hammer?

-Yes!

That wall can go

because this is an extension, so nothing listed about that.

But we're getting into the potential and that's what's exciting.

-At least we've got a bit of a project, haven't we?

-Yes!

We've got to find something we can do to change it!

-Well, there's plenty to do upstairs.

-Is there?

-Can't wait!

We don't want any more than this to do!

Come and follow me. Look at this...

'Wrapping up the ground floor, there's also a fourth reception room being used as a study

'and for storage, along with a smart cloakroom.

'That takes us full circle back to the living room

'and the staircase, which leads up to the first floor

'where there are three bedrooms, all served by the family bathroom.'

Now, this is technically...

-..the master bedroom.

-Right. OK.

-All right?

They are all of a muchness, the bedrooms on this floor,

I think you'll agree.

This one, however, might lend itself to becoming a kind of master suite

because that wall there is just a stud wall and that can go.

What it's doing is, it's cutting in half a lovely little fireplace.

-You can see one half of it there.

-I can see an alcove. That's it, is it?

-Exactly.

That's one half of it.

Let's have a look at the other side of that fireplace

and, hopefully, the whole thing will begin to make some sort of sense.

That's the other side of the fireplace itself, all right?

Here, of course, the staircase,

going up to what is technically the fourth bedroom and a landing.

But the technical challenge here, Steve,

I think, is to rejig the staircase to allow you a huge master bedroom,

with the fireplace as a central feature,

but still allowing you to get up to the top.

Yes, it's a space-planning challenge, isn't it?

Well, we've given them scope to fuel their creative instincts

but I'm not entirely convinced they're buying into the potential here.

Let's explore the garden and see whether the figures stack up.

So finally, the garden...

What you see is exactly what you get.

-An apple tree!

-Not huge, though, is it?

-It's not acres.

-No!

-It's certainly not acres!

-So, Lindy...

-SHE LAUGHS

-Why me first?

-Make me an offer. Go on.

Erm, well, I would think...

..525?

-525. Yes. Steve?

-495?

-495.

I can see who's the optimist in the relationship!

You are right to be fairly optimistic

because this could be yours for £485,000.

-So automatically...

-I was closest.

-You were!

But automatically, you've got 75 grand to throw at this,

which I think would go most of the way to doing it.

-Go and scratch a bit deeper.

-Will do!

-I'll catch up with you later.

-Let's go and have another look.

-Off you go.

-See you later.

With a guide price of £485,000,

our first house is a listed timber-framed thatched home

that has the potential our buyers were after to make improvements,

subject to planning permission, of course.

In its current state, it stands as a generous family home,

with four reception rooms and four bedrooms.

What's more, it's set at the heart of a friendly and lively village.

I love the open spaces downstairs.

I love the potential that we have to improve things.

Fantastic location, beautiful village,

but I just think the garden might be too small for us.

-Right, out you come. That's it.

-Thank you.

This house-tour business is pretty straightforward, isn't it?

-Piece of cake.

-Piece of cake! Easy-peasy!

-Show us another one!

How about another two?

Around Hampshire's historic maritime ports

lie coastal areas with a distinct heritage of their own.

Just east of Portsmouth is the traditional seaside resort of Hayling Island,

which became a popular destination in the early 1800s

when the well-heeled gentry came seeking the medicinal benefits of sea air and salt water.

Health is still very much on the radar,

as Hayling Island is home to a unique club

where the historic sport of real tennis is being championed

by a team of local enthusiasts.

So, what better place to send our fitness fanatics Steve and Lindy,

where they met up with real tennis expert Nick Jones

to find out more about the sport's origins.

Real tennis has been around since the 12th, 13th century

and lawn tennis purportedly started in 1850, 1860.

I've heard it's a bit of a thinking game.

It's not just racing around that court.

It is possible to play it that way, but there are markings on the court,

which are targets,

and you only serve from one end and you win the right to serve.

But it means that you don't necessarily hit every ball

or win a point with every rally.

-It sounds complicated.

-It is quite complicated, but when you get on court...

Sounds like you're going to exhaust our brains rather than our bodies.

Played on an enclosed court, the game is likened

to a cross between squash, cricket and chess.

This particular court has just celebrated its centenary,

built back in 1911 by the scientist, insect expert

and accomplished real tennis player John Marshall.

When you look out at that court, there's some strange shapes out there.

There are 13 different surfaces to play the ball off.

The balls in real tennis are very passive. They don't bounce much at all.

You use the tension of the strings to move the ball around,

whereas lawn tennis, everyone knows you drop a ball on the floor, it bounces back to your hand.

Real tennis balls are tailored to suit each individual court

and are all handmade within certain size and weight restrictions.

They started with a certain amount of cork, which we usually use crushed up wine corks,

and they put a bit of that in a cellophane wrapper.

You then get this dressmaking tape for hems

and you wrap it tightly until you get to a certain size and, more importantly, weight.

And then, you get some twine and you actually tie the ball in a certain pattern

-and that tightens the whole thing up.

-Right.

Then you get this ball cloth and you cut it into shorter pieces

and that is then tacked, as we call it, onto a ball, and then the ball is sewn.

So they actually sew it and cut it as they go.

-Would you like to try them on court and see how they bounce?

-That sounds a good idea.

-Yes.

The sport is often referred to as royal tennis,

due to its popularity amongst the aristocracy and the monarchy.

It's even thought that Henry VIII was informed of Anne Boleyn's beheading whilst playing the game.

So having got to grips with Hampshire's sporting heritage,

let's hope that no more heads roll as our property search continues.

Our next house lies over to the east side of the county in Newton Valence,

just that bit closer to Steve and Lindy's interests back in Surrey.

As it's a rural hamlet, the nearby village of Selborne

is the best place to pick up essentials,

as it's served by a convenience store and post office, as well as a couple of pubs.

Off the beaten track back in Newton Valence

is the semi-detached cottage we've cherry-picked as our second house.

-What is this? A little cottage!

-It is indeed.

-There we are. Very sweet.

-Very pretty.

Really nice. I like it.

We're in something of a hamlet here, so we haven't got the village that we had in property number one.

But we've got a nice little semi for you.

-It looks beautiful, doesn't it?

-It's very sweet, this one.

The thought that you had in the last property, "How do you order the space?"

with this one, it's slightly different.

We're going to be thinking about "How do we extend it?"

-But I know you're up for that.

-We're certainly up for that.

Come on, then. Let's get you in.

The core of this cottage has a history that dates back to the late 17th century,

but it's been considerably extended to one side,

where the front door takes us into the main living room.

I'm going to start in here.

Oh, another fireplace!

-Another nice inglenook fireplace.

-Yes.

-Nice square room again.

-Yes.

-It's a...

-It's a nice room.

-It's light and spacious.

-Yes.

This, I think, is the room that really describes this house.

And when we talk about its origins,

from what you can see, going back to 1680,

that's really kind of it.

-There's an old bread oven tucked away in the back there.

-Yes!

But also, you can see, immaculately done. That's the point about this.

-I love the room.

-It's a good size, as well.

It's worth starting in here because it sets the scene.

-It's a great living room, actually.

-This is an amazing fireplace.

-Let's see the rest of it. Let's continue our tour through here into the kitchen.

-OK.

In many ways, this, I suppose, is where it all kind of changes!

-Yes.

-A little bit!

-It gets smaller.

-It gets a bit smaller.

-It's a lovely kitchen.

-It is.

-But the point about this building, because it's not listed, and that's exciting news...

-Yes.

..I think you could have quite an interesting conversation with the planners

-about pushing the whole thing that way...

-Forward.

..and you would create a very nice, I think, kitchen-diner.

-Yes.

-And I think it needs it. I think the house needs it.

You could go forward, but maybe you could go backward, as well.

Well, behind us is quite a generous bathroom,

so bearing in mind we have got a bathroom for you on the first floor, you could sacrifice that.

-It's got a nice feel about it, actually.

-Good.

-OK. Let's carry on, then.

-Lead the way.

So there's the bathroom behind the kitchen, which you could extend into.

And through this little kind of lobby is this,

which is described on the spec as the dining room.

-Right...

-Wow.

-Which is not the biggest dining room in the world.

-No.

-Cosy.

-It could make a nice study, though.

-That's my thought.

If you've created this lovely kitchen-diner next door,

this would automatically become a snug, a study, a den.

And I think where this house also scores

is that the upstairs arrangements are much more obvious again

and don't really need any great imagination at all.

-They're going to be spectacular!

-Come and have a look.

-Let's have a look.

-You tell me!

'Downstairs does give them that mix of authentic character and the scope to renovate,

'so let's explore up here.'

-A little study currently in there.

-Oh, yes.

Let's finish off in here.

This is obviously the master bedroom.

-Oh.

-It's a big room.

-Big size. Lovely large room, yes.

I mean, tiny bed at the moment...

-We can replace that.

-..which I guess is the odd thing about it!

-Yes, it's only a single bed. But it has got fitted wardrobes.

-It does indeed.

'This is the largest of the three bedrooms,

'which has the same footprint as the living room below.

'Since the third single bedroom sits above the kitchen,

'if the extension we talked about was double-storey,

'this would substantially increase its size.

'With the second family bathroom right next door,

'the plumbing is already in place to create a rather fantastic master ensuite.

'But this all depends on the price.'

OK.

Let's deal with the garden first. The garden is what you see.

-It's a vegetable plot.

-It's unusual, it has to be said!

-I suspect you might want to reclaim a bit of lawn.

-Yes.

So of your £550,000, Steve,

how much are you going to have to part with here?

I would think it's...

-..470.

-470.

Hm... I think it's probably 480.

480.

-You two are getting quite good at this!

-Go on, what is it?

It's four...

-..seventy-nine...

-Ohh!

-..500!

-480, then!

-480.

-I think we'll give that to you.

I think you should give it to me. You've got one, I've got one.

Let's call it 480. Call it quits on the guesses so far. One each.

Right, have another look around. I'll catch up with you later on.

-Off you go.

-Thank you.

For a fraction under £480,000,

this semi-detached extended character cottage comes with three bedrooms.

And with 17th-century origins,

it still retains its historic features in the two reception rooms.

However, the property isn't listed so, subject to planning permission,

there is the possibility to extend.

And as it's £70,000 under budget,

there's a generous pot left over with which to make alterations.

When I first came here, I loved the location.

I didn't feel completely cut off because there were houses near by.

Actually, it could work. It could work for us, I think.

When we came into the house,

I think we felt it was quite small, and it is quite small,

but it is a village we've looked at before

so I think we would be considering this house.

-How far would you bring it out here?

-Let's see. One, two, three, four.

-As I said, it's about four-metres wide.

-Yes.

I feel like I've walked into the Ministry of Funny Walks!

-Is it as big as you thought it was?

-Er, yes.

-Yes.

-Right then, so we've got a plan.

-I think so.

-Right, then. This way.

-Follow me. Ready?

-Here we go!

-One, two...

As the sun sets across the countryside,

the first part of our Hampshire house-hunt comes to an end.

Retired couple Steve and Lindy sold up their Surrey lifestyle a year ago

and have been staying in their holiday home,

whilst searching for a property with scope for a project

in the Hampshire countryside.

So far, they've seen two houses with that potential,

both of which fell within their £550,000 budget.

But still to come, the mystery house is full of surprises...

-This is nice!

-Ha-ha!

I was expecting a small kitchen!

..and I take off in a vehicle designed and built on Hampshire's shores.

There's nothing like starting the day in good company.

How about this lot? Morning, boys and girls! How are we?

They all seem fairly happy, as indeed do Steve and Lindy.

We're having quite a bit of fun on this house search,

but we mustn't let that detract from the serious business of trying to find them a new home.

They've made it clear they're up for a project.

We've looked at two properties which certainly lend themselves to that.

But for our mystery house, we thought we'd flip the coin

and give them a property that isn't a project at all,

one in which they can simply move in and get on with it.

And like all mystery houses, it may challenge them

but hopefully, it'll thrill them.

Well, what a sensational day to finish up on.

It is. It's fantastic.

Are we getting there? Are we any further down the road

to helping clarify what your new home may look like?

The second house we saw yesterday got closer in location.

-The first one was closer in size, wasn't it?

-Yes.

Well, let's hope the mystery house seals the deal.

Our final stop is back over in West Hampshire,

in the tiny hamlet of Little London,

which makes for a really rural escape

but is still well connected to road links for Steve and Lindy's numerous hobbies.

The neighbouring village of Smannell is within walking distance,

with its mid-19th century brick-and-flint church being a local landmark,

as well as a family-run pub.

But it's this delightful detached thatched cottage in Little London

that we've chosen as our mystery property.

So here we are, then, at long last.

-Really, really nice.

-Beautiful.

-Quite big it looks like from the outside, too.

-It is.

-It's also...

-A garage!

-..got a garage.

-Yes. Essential.

Now, guess my next question. Has it got a pool? It is listed?

-No!

-Oh!

The other reason it's our mystery house

-is because it's not a project.

-BOTH: Ahh!

-Mm.

-Is that good?

-I don't know!

-Well...

-It has to be pretty spectacular inside, then.

-It's pretty spectacular, I would say.

-Is it?

-You could just... live!

-Move in.

-Right, then, let's have a look! Come on.

-OK.

'Although this is another cottage dating back to the 17th century,

'it's already been significantly extended and modernised throughout.

'But it remains to be seen whether it's to our buyers' tastes.'

Right, let's start in here. Come on through.

-Wow. Yeah!

-It's fantastic.

-What do you reckon?

-It's a lovely room.

Really nice. In terms of kitchen-diners,

-this, without doubt, is the best one we've been able to show you.

-It's a beautiful size.

A lot of work has been done on this house over the last five years.

It's only partly furnished at the moment, it's not lived in currently,

so it does allow you to see the space without too much clutter.

But it's nicely dressed to sell.

-The kitchen continues through here. Have a look at this, Lindy.

-Oh!

-Yes!

-Oh, this is nice! JULES LAUGHS

-I was expecting a small kitchen!

-Not a small kitchen!

-No, it's...

It's fantastic, actually.

-Brilliant for entertaining, I must say.

-Good.

Well, the entertaining space continues. Let's go through here.

This is the first of two reception rooms that you've got.

-Oh, gosh!

-Ahh!

Woodburner there, as well.

This is the older bit of the building, as you can probably tell from the beams.

It's a lovely room. Nice colours, as well.

-Are you pleased we came to the mystery house?

-Yes.

-I am.

-You just quietly said, "This might be the best one we've seen."

-It is.

-Yes...

-We don't know yet.

-Show us some more!

-It might be the best one you've seen!

Let's hope it is! Come through here.

So back across the hallway...

..into the extension, we've got this,

-another lovely snug.

-Oh, wow! Another...

-Another room.

-Another room!

-Yes.

-You've got two big, officially, reception rooms.

-Yes.

-We can have a living room each.

-That sounds a good idea to me.

You've got a nice woodburner over there.

-And another door.

-Stable door out to the garden, which is nice.

You could open that up and let the breeze through.

-This is the extension?

-This is the extension.

It's been done very sympathetically, with these timbers.

-Yes.

-Nice wooden floor.

I think this is the most generous we've had a chance to show you

-and the most well appointed.

-BOTH: Yes.

-And the cheapest?

-I'm not telling you the price yet!

Everybody always tries to get the price out of me, but no!

Come upstairs.

'The ground floor also benefits from a cloakroom,

'and then up on the first floor is a fully-tiled family bathroom

'alongside four bedrooms.

'These include a good-size double, next to a smaller room featuring exposed timbers,

'and a box room.'

This is technically the master bedroom.

Unfurnished, but it allows you to see how much space there is.

And, of course, it's got an ensuite. Nicely finished.

-Nice big shower.

-Good.

I think our mystery house

seems to have put a smile on your faces

-in a way that the others didn't.

-Yes.

Well, it's certainly... Do you think it's one of the nicest?

-It's probably the best we've seen.

-Like all houses,

-they've all got their merits.

-They've all got pros and cons.

'The mystery house is working its magic

'and really getting our buyers thinking.

'The dilemma is whether or not they can bear to down tools.

'Time to find out whether the garden will convince them.'

-If anything's going to sell a white house, it's the sunshine!

-Yes.

Again, what you see is pretty much what you get,

but it's got this lovely bit here

-for al fresco dining, should you wish.

-Yes.

And then behind us, we've got the double garage,

but it's been subdivided to provide an office space here.

So garden office, should you need it,

-or maybe another den, Steve.

-Yes.

-Who knows?

-Another place where you could watch telly.

-Where you could go!

-Shall we have a think about the price?

-Oh, dear.

-Do we have to?!

-Oh, this is a difficult one!

Go on, Lindy. You've got 550

-at the top of your budget to spend.

-Yes.

Well, it's already done and it's not a project.

I think it's about 525.

-525.

-STEVE SIGHS

This is a difficult one.

I would've thought it's 550, 555.

555, just outside your budget.

-Your instincts are right, Steve.

-Oh!

Because this would set you back all of your budget at £550,000.

-Right.

-550.

-Which I think is fair enough.

-So it is the top end.

-It doesn't surprise me.

-You certainly wouldn't have to do anything inside.

-No.

Right, then, off you go. Take your time!

-Enjoy exploring our mystery house.

-BOTH: Thank you.

Right on budget at £550,000,

our mystery property is a beautifully renovated 17th-century thatched cottage

that really challenges our buyers to kick back against their preconceptions for a project.

Ready to move into, it gives them a large kitchen-diner,

two reception rooms and four bedrooms,

one with an ensuite shower room.

Outside, the garden has been immaculately landscaped

and has the added bonus of a single garage with an office.

It has got a lot going for it. Even though it looks perfect,

there are still things we would like to do with it.

The house inside - I love it. It's lovely inside.

It's a possibility, this house.

We'd need to think about it.

-So three properties, all very different.

-Completely different.

I think we'll have to put our thinking caps on

about these three different houses we've seen.

Put them on. Let's start thinking!

Hampshire's coastal location

has ensured a long and distinguished role in Britain's maritime history.

Based at the former HMS Daedalus site in the town of Lee-on-Solent

is the world's largest collection of hovercraft.

They've been brought together and lovingly conserved

by a voluntary group of hovercraft devotees,

determined to celebrate the legacy of this pioneering but somewhat eccentric example

of 20th-century British technology.

I've come to find out how it all got off the ground with museum trustee Warwick Jacobs.

-Warwick!

-Hello, Jules! Nice to meet you.

-Hello, mate. Nice to meet you.

This is absolutely fabulous, isn't it?

The collection here isn't open to the public on a regular basis.

You're hoping to transform this site.

We have six days a year where we have a hover show. The rest of the time is by appointment.

But we're hoping this is going to be a permanent hovercraft museum.

What happened to remove these craft from the seascape?

They'd done quite well, 33 years in service across the English Channel,

and they competed against the Channel Tunnel for ten years,

but where it went wrong was, duty free was abolished and that's where the profits lay.

-So that really is why these are now here, laid up forever.

-That's right.

These are all gas turbine, gas-guzzlers.

Four tonnes of fuel an hour they would use.

These huge skirts would support them. They look rather sad now,

all droopy and redundant!

-You've got 30 tonnes of rubber there, Jules!

-Amazing.

Invented by Sir Christopher Cockerell in the 1950s,

the hovercraft was a revolutionary form of transport

that floated on a cushion of air and could operate on both sea and land.

The museum showcases a medley of sea-faring vessels,

from mammoth cross-channel hovercraft, to five-fan beasts

and smaller singe-seaters for racing.

-These look like fun!

-Hoverboards, used at the Sydney Olympics, and the hover bike.

What about all that? That looks...

-They're the James Bond hovercraft from Die Another Die.

-Are they?!

They had a fleet of 15, 16, 17 craft in that film.

What's this? There's a lovely logo there.

The Sultan of Oman, this was his private hovercraft for getting from the royal yacht to his palace.

I suppose you can afford it if you're the Sultan of Oman.

He had three of them so he must've liked them.

-This is Cockerell's original model.

-This is it!

This is the SRM-1. It was later built into a man-carrying model,

which crossed the Channel in 1959.

-So, the idea is that air is drawn in through this huge fan in there.

-Yes.

-I guess it's got to go somewhere and it has to lift the hull.

-That's right.

The best way to show you how it works is to try it.

You get one end, I'll get the other and we'll show you.

I do love a good model!

-It's actually heavier than I was expecting.

-It is. You imagine it to be very light.

But the bigger a hovercraft gets, the more efficient it all works.

You watch in there as I start the motors up.

-You try moving it now.

-Absolutely solid, isn't it?

It is. Just a little bit of air...

You can start moving it.

-Can I push it?

-Yes.

Look at that!

Brilliant!

You could say that this original 1950s model

is the father of all hovercraft.

Within a decade, this technology was transformed

into the biggest passenger hovercraft in the world.

I've never had the pleasure of travelling on one of these extraordinary machines,

that is until now.

There's a first time for everything,

and today it's hovercrafts.

MOTOR WHIRRS

Look at that! Brilliant.

Hampshire, history and hovercraft -

a pretty good combination for a nice day out.

But we're not here to holiday, we're here to house-hunt.

Have we managed to bring Steve and Lindy's year-long quest to a successful end?

I wonder...

Well, Lindy, Steve,

when we first met, you said that you'd looked at over 50 properties in one way or another

and that maybe we could solve the problem with just three more.

Have we managed to do it?

Our first one, that lovely timber-framed thatch...

-The thing is, it satisfied the project bit, didn't it?

-Yes.

Downstairs, as a project, knocking the kitchen through, but quite a simple project.

Upstairs, knocking the two rooms back into one room

and maybe re-syncing the staircases.

I think we found that idea quite exciting.

-It's quite a challenge.

-But it would've been possible.

When we got to property number two -

something of a hamlet there - a semi-detached,

but we did need to consider a proper kind of extension.

Yes. I loved the setting of the house.

We saw how the house could be extended

but, again, we've got doubts about the size of the garden

as related to the amount of extension we'd have to do on it.

-You've really thought about the merits of these properties.

-We have.

But that said, we thought our mystery house, we'd make it easy.

-We said, "Let's give you something that's pretty much done."

-Yes.

-That was a lovely house.

-Beautiful house.

It's just the sort of house that we would like to have finished with when we'd done a project.

It was like walking into a house that's already been done.

-It was quite big.

-Yes.

It was bigger than the houses we've been looking at. But I don't know...

I mean, I think the truth is, we haven't resolved this problem.

-We have not found you your new dream home.

-You haven't.

But it's made us more aware that we could go out a bit further and get more for our money.

-So it's not all lost.

-Not all lost.

-But the search goes on.

-It goes on.

-I think it will be back to the drawing board.

-But with different parameters.

-Yes.

It's been a great pleasure, lots of fun.

-Let us know how you get on. Very best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

When I meet couples like Lindy and Steve

and discover that they've been looking for over a year

and still haven't found what they're looking for,

the alarm bells do begin to ring and it begs a question - why?

I'm not convinced that it's a failure of the property market.

When we're looking for a home,

we also need to find somewhere that can accommodate our lifestyle

and those things have to be in balance.

I suspect that for them, the scales are still a little uneven.

I do think they will move to Hampshire for all the right reasons,

but as to when - well, as ever, only time will tell.

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