Sussex Escape to the Country

A thousand years ago, on these shores,

an event took place that has been recounted by history teachers

to their students for almost as long.

I'll tell you what it is, and where I am, in just a moment.

But here's a clue. It involves a king, a throne, and the tide.

On today's show, I'm helping two urbanites

flee the congested streets of London

for the quiet calm of a coastal county.

The countryside has a liberating effect on our buyers.

-It would be like permanently being on holiday.

-That's the idea.

And things aren't always what they seem.

-Goodness me!

-You weren't expecting that, were you?

-No!

Today, I'm in West Sussex, and this is Bosham.

It was here that King Canute the Great sat on the beach

and commanded the tide to stop rising.

But it wasn't to demonstrate that he COULD do it,

rather to demonstrate to his flattering courtiers

that he could not.

And it was said that after demonstrating his own humility

that he never wore his crown again.

It's a good story, huh?

It comes from a good county.

West Sussex is bordered by Surrey to the north,

Hampshire to the West, and East Sussex.

With its spectacular Downs, it's a county of great beauty.

In the north, lies the Sussex Weald,

once concealed by an impenetrable forest,

but now peppered with affluent picture-postcard towns and villages.

The gentle, rolling hills of the Sussex Downs

is a tract of Outstanding Natural Beauty,

where a grassy blanket covers chalk and flint,

nature's building materials, used in much of the local architecture.

Along its 40-mile coastline are arguably some of the best beaches

in the whole of the British Isles,

with quieter spots such as Climping,

an expanse of pebble, shingle and sand,

characterised by its wooden groynes.

So, whether you're looking for tranquil, sleepy countryside,

or the quiet seclusion of the coast,

West Sussex is a county that has it all.

Property shopping in West Sussex is an expensive business.

In fact, it's the priciest of all the coastal counties

in the south-east.

The average price for a detached house here is £362,000,

that's £100,000 over the national figure.

And, there are at least three reasons for that.

One is that it has excellent links up to London,

not that everybody who lives here is a commuter,

two, is that the South Downs National Park

runs through the whole county,

and three, that it is, in fact, the sunniest county in the UK.

What more reasons could you want to move here?

Let's meet our buyers and find out.

Born and bred in London, Carl and Katie

have spent the past 20 years in Harrow, Middlesex.

Now, with their three children having left the family home,

they feel it's time to relocate for a quieter life

in the West Sussex countryside.

We have been here in London all our lives, and the benefit

of the transport particularly, and all the local amenities.

But I'm really excited about being able to walk out of your front door

and walk.

And have space and air and room, and not to constantly hear sirens.

It's been really nice being able to get into town,

especially for all the children, being able to get about.

But it's all getting a little bit congested, just through traffic.

-It's just frenetic, isn't it?

-And shops and everything.

I think we're both real urbanites, really, aren't we, at heart?

That's a little bit scary for us, isn't it?

But, they're not the only ones who are making the trip south.

My mum and dad are hopefully going to move with us.

My dad is at an age that it would be nice to move now,

so we can enjoy the new location before he gets too much older.

There's also a family reason behind their choice of location.

Kate's brother lives down in Chichester.

I don't want to be too far away from my dad, who still lives here.

So, be able to get back to him to visit and look after him if needs be.

And, ideally, they'd like to be within reasonable distance

of the local Catholic church.

We've always been involved in the church, so we hope

that would be our way into a new community and a new lot of friends.

A change of scenery will allow Carl more scope

to hit the road on two wheels.

But there's an artistic side to this biker.

I have some hobbies, like stained-glass window making.

I also do woodwork projects and general DIY.

That would be something really nice in the property,

if there was room for that.

Katie is also looking for enough indoor space

to satisfy her creative streak.

I'm a bit of a 1950s housewife!

I love baking.

'I decorate wedding cakes, First Holy Communion cakes, that sort of thing,

'for friends.'

It would be fabulous to have a room for me

where I could have all my knitting, and my sewing stuff.

And she's keen to exercise her green fingers.

'I love pottering about in the garden.

'I think it's something to do with nurturing things,

'when you haven't got your children to nurture.

'It's just lovely to see things growing up there.'

So, what are the financial details for the move?

Our budget for the move about £750,000, in that region.

Katie and Carl have asked us to focus our search in the south-west

of the county, not too far from Katie's brother in Chichester,

on the edge of the South Downs National Park.

But before we begin our house hunt, I caught up with them in West Sussex

to find out more about what they're looking for in their new home.

-Morning, guys.

-Morning!

-Welcome to Sussex.

-Thank you.

A lovely bright day. First time out of London for both of you, isn't it?

-It is, yeah!

-Is that a bit nerve-racking?

Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

What are you looking for in terms of the location?

Well, we would like to be near to at least a pub. So, not too rural.

But getting away from the hustle and bustle of a big city, really.

And inside the house, what are you looking for?

We'd like three or four bedrooms for ourselves.

-Just to turn around the seasons?

-Yes!

-One for each season?

And then downstairs, accommodation or an annexe for Carl's mum and dad,

-who are coming with us.

-Yes.

They're coming from a big house to a little place with us,

so they need to be comfortable and happy with that, really.

And in terms of the accommodation, do you want that

sort of ready and made, or are you willing to do a bit of DIY?

I think we're looking to potentially refurbish

maybe a kitchen or bathroom, knock a wall down and reconfigure,

-but not really do major renovation work.

-Right.

Anything else about the inside of the house

-that you're secretly hankering?

-Yeah.

I would like a kitchen-breakfast room,

because we've always had one of them.

Yeah, and that's worked very well at home.

-And I'd like a bit of a garden.

-Yeah, what about the garden?

What would you like in terms of garden?

-You're coming to the countryside, the sky's the limit.

-Yeah!

I don't think we're looking for hectares,

but it would be nice to have, sort of, a 100-foot garden.

So, how much money have we got to play with?

£750,000 to £800,000 at a stretch.

We've got both my parents and our property

to take into consideration, so hopefully that will work out.

Well, we've got three lovely properties lined up.

Different places, offering very different things. So, come with me.

For a maximum budget of £800,000,

Katie and Carl are looking for three to four bedrooms,

an annexe or extra downstairs space for Carl's parents,

a large kitchen breakfast room, a good-sized garden,

extra living space for Katie's craft room,

all within reasonable distance

from Katie's family in Chichester.

We've found three first-rate properties to tempt them with,

and at each one I'll be testing their evaluation skills

as we guess the price.

The third is the mystery house, which could have them

seeking divine intervention.

What about the coast? Obviously, you've got lovely seaside here.

-Are you keen to be near the sea?

-Oh, that would be lovely.

But it wasn't something on our wish list,

purely because we didn't think we could afford to be near the sea.

You can never be stressed when you're by the sea. It's lovely.

We begin our house hunt the quiet hamlet of Lagness,

around 10 minutes from Katie's family in Chichester.

A few miles down the road

is the traditional seaside town of Bognor Regis.

Up until the 18th century, Bognor was a fishing village,

before its gradual transformation to a tourist destination,

one of the first English resorts developed specifically for bathing.

'House number one is a barn conversion

'in the village of Lagness,

'surrounded by farmland in a semi-rural location.'

-Come on in.

-Oooh!

-Oh, it's lovely.

-Oh, wow.

-It's enormous!

-A swimming pool as well.

-Oh, it's so pretty!

-See, you don't get that in Harrow, do you?

-A swimming pool.

-No!

-And then this...

-How pretty is that?

-I do like the look of that.

-..is the annexe for your ma and pa.

Yeah.

What are your first impressions, then?

-Oh, great. Let's go in!

-Yeah?

I really like the ambience of the garden,

and that extra little property looks lovely from the outside.

What do you think about the location?

-Do you know where we are?

-No.

-We're about two miles from the beach.

-Wow!

-And three miles from Chichester. So, very close to your brother.

-Yeah, great.

-We could cycle to the beach.

-Yeah.

But you won't ever need to go to the beach

because you have your own pool.

A swimming pool! SHE LAUGHS

But I'd like to show you this first, cos I really don't quite know

whether this is going to be big enough,

or the right size, for your ma and pa.

-Let's have a look.

-Lovely.

The annexe was originally an old stable block

converted into separate accommodation,

and I'm hoping it's big enough for Carl's parents.

So, step inside.

Yeah, nice.

Originally, I think it was laid out

so this was the sitting-room area.

And you've got a bathroom and a kitchen through the arch.

And then this would have been the sleeping alcove.

I think that would work better, yes. This is a lovely, big area.

Yeah, a nice big living room, then.

-And then you've got a lot of storage space.

-Oh, in the loft.

Tell me about your mum and dad. What are they looking for?

What do they want to have in their space?

I think something like this would be ideal. My dad's 92,

and my mum's 14 years younger. They're both fairly active.

But stairs now are becoming more of a challenge.

-So, the idea would be...

-They'd be with us a lot of the time.

So, it doesn't have to be their entire...

And when they're fed up with us they come back here again!

-And when they're ready fed up, they can hide in the attic.

-Yes.

-"We're not here!"

-"Go away!"

Well, OK, so I should show you the place where you're going to live.

Yeah, let's.

'Off to the main property now.'

'Originally a barn, it was converted in 2000

'and it's packed with country charm.

'So far we're getting the thumbs up, with Carl's parents catered for,

'but now for our couple themselves.'

Come on through into the kitchen.

-Here we can see some of the original beams.

-Oh, wow! Oh, they're lovely.

-Yes, it's a nice kitchen, isn't it?

-Yes, good. Nice kitchen.

-Kitchen-diner.

-A nice island. Quite a hankering for an island.

And you've got this minstrels' gallery there.

I'll explain that later on.

How do you feel about eating in here?

Because this would be the designated dining room, I think.

I think there's plenty of room.

And most of the time at home we tend to eat in the kitchen-breakfast.

-It's got good points here?

-I think so, I like the feel of the kitchen.

-So far, everything's been really nice.

-Yeah.

Well, this is the kitchen area.

Let's move through into the sitting area.

-And then, this is your...

-Oh, yeah, really nice.

Wood-burning stove, I like that.

-That's a fireplace and a half, isn't it?

-A real fire.

-Little French windows onto the garden. More garden.

-More garden.

-This is also a lovely, natural eating space.

-Yeah, definitely.

With the vine over the top, it's almost like an outdoor living space

as well, isn't it?

It's as if they planned it!

What's nice is that you've got this space up here,

which you could also, if you are feeling very grand,

have this as a formal dining room up high.

-I think that might be my sewing room, Alistair.

-Nice, yes.

That's what goes into the minstrels' gallery

-looking over the kitchen.

-Uh-huh.

Does this feel like a house that you could move out of London to?

Yeah, at the moment everything feels really good.

The location, the garden, the accommodation.

It really looks good.

And it feels very different from a house in the town.

Let's look at the master bedroom.

'The property also has a utility room just off the kitchen,

'and an upstairs study area.

'There are four double bedrooms in all,

'accessed via the spacious main entrance hall,

'with bedrooms two, three and four served by the family bathroom.

'First, the master.'

So, there are three bedrooms on this corridor but this fourth one,

-this would be your master.

-It's fantastic.

You've got doors to the pool there.

You HAVE got doors to the pool there. And you've got an en suite.

-You can explore the bit later on.

-En suite, eh?

-Oh, yes.

And again, you've got this double aspect.

You've got gardens each side.

Really bright. And the beams again, going through.

It would be like permanently being on holiday, wouldn't it?

That's the idea, you see.

That's what it's like moving to the countryside. Holiday all the time!

And you can have your morning breakfast there on the terrace.

Let's step out this way, and past the pool,

let's talk about the garden.

'The mainly lawned garden lies either side of the property,

'including a raised deck area covered by vines,

'and a garage with a workshop, ideal for Carl.'

Ooh, look, stepping out to the pool.

-Oh, that would be lovely on a sunny morning.

-A sun trap.

It IS a sun trap as well, yeah. So, you've got a single-level dwelling.

-Was that what you were thinking about?

-It really works well.

I think it is very practical, the accessibility, to be honest.

And for Mum and Dad, you know?

For coming over from the annexe to visit us,

that wouldn't be any problem for them whatsoever.

-OK, so the final part of the puzzle is the price.

-Yes.

How much do you think this little parcel of West Sussex costs?

I'm really, really hoping you wouldn't be mean

-to us...

-I've been known to be mean in the past.

So, I'm going to go £795,000.

And I am going to be very optimistic

and probably hoping more than anything else, £780,000.

£780,000.

Well, in this instance, you should listen to your wife,

because she's exactly right. It's on the market for £795,000.

-Right, yeah, listen to me.

-Doesn't surprise me.

So, £795,000 gets you all this.

There's quite a few rooms that we haven't actually had a chance

to look at inside,

-so why don't you go back in and I will catch up with you later.

-OK.

House number one comes in just under their top budget at £795,000,

and it gives them four bedrooms,

a separate annexe ideal for Carl's parents,

a large kitchen-diner,

a mezzanine area for Katie's craft room,

ample gardens, including a swimming pool,

all close to Katie's brother in Chichester,

and the splendid West Sussex coast.

I think my parents would really like the property.

As soon as you walk in through the gate you see the little annexe

and it just looks like a little self-contained house.

The only thing that we might change quite quickly

would be to change the shower room in the annexe,

so that there was a walk-in shower rather than a bath.

I really could see us here.

And all the family, and the kids, and friends coming over, too.

-It would be absolutely lovely.

-We'd be so close to the sea.

We've always thought about that, but to actually be able to do it...

I think this house is a real contender.

-I had to pull you out of that house!

-That was fantastic.

-Got the thumbs up, didn't it?

-Yeah, really good.

But it is only house number one.

The West Sussex countryside is ideal vine-growing territory,

thanks to a semi-continental climate and the geology of the landscape.

Dry, cooler nights

and a fertile soil make this area suitable for wine production.

It's no surprise, then, that the county's vineyards

cover over 500 acres,

making it the largest wine-growing area in the UK.

With Katie keen to flex her green fingers,

we sent them to the Bolney Estate

to meet wine sales manager Stuart Barford

to discover more about viticulture in West Sussex.

How long have you been here in West Sussex, and what you produce here?

Bolney Wine Estates was established in 1972.

We started with three acres, and now we're up to 39 acres.

We go against the grain of most English vineyards.

In fact, we produce more red wine. We've got some Rondo,

which is an early ripening grape variety, which goes into our red.

We've also got Dornfelder as well.

These grape varieties were grown

because they ripen very well

in the West Sussex microclimate we have here.

The climate here causes the ripened grapes

to retain high levels of natural acidity,

vital for fine wine flavour.

The soil, comprising of sandstone, clay and chalk, drains well,

which is key for successful vine growing.

And the topography is similar to the Champagne region of France.

Vine canopies need constant care and attention,

and our couple are meeting vineyard manager Sue Osgood

to help out with a very important task.

So, at the moment we're tucking our shoots in,

so we keep them nice and neat and tidy inside the metal wires.

If so, we can obviously drive the tractors up and down the road,

and obviously come harvest time we want the grapes nicely exposed

so we can find them.

So, if you'd like to take hold of some vines and tuck them in for us.

-How long do they take to flower?

-On a usual year, about two weeks.

Then straight after flowering they'll go into fruit set,

which is what they are now.

-So you can see the little grapes developing.

-Oh, yeah!

And then they'll continue into bunches of grapes.

Do all the grapes ripen at the same time?

Not quite all at the same time.

We are looking here at the Pinot Noir,

which have just gone through fruit set.

If you look behind us over here, onto this side,

this is the Rondo grape, and these have moved slightly further on

than fruit set, so they're now developing into pea-sized grapes.

-Oh, yeah!

-How many bottles do you get out of a vine?

Between one and three, depending on the variety

and depending on the year.

With the help of a grant from the Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs, Bolney Estate invested

in a state-of-the-art winery,

enabling them to produce wine for smaller neighbouring vineyards

as well as their own.

Time, perhaps, for Carl and Katie

to sample the delights of the West Sussex countryside.

What's unique about Sussex wines

are that we kind of make them so they're more fruit-driven.

If we take the still red, the Lychgate red,

it's made out of Rondo and Dornfelder grapes.

You should get strawberry

and kind of redcurrant and blackberry out of it.

Now that our buyers have tasted the home-grown produce

of this beautiful county,

it's time to return to the task of finding them a home.

For our second house,

we're travelling northeast into the South Downs National Park

to the hamlet of Watersfield, about 30 minutes from Chichester.

A short distance down the road is the village of Bury,

which sits beside the meandering River Arun.

The village has an abundance of thatched and barn properties

dotted amongst its leafy lanes, many of which are listed buildings.

A Post Office and a shop, along with farm shops,

provide a variety of locally produced food and drink.

House number two, an ironstone-built property,

can be found at the end of a quiet lane in Watersfield.

-Swing the corner...

-This is nice.

-Wow.

-House number two.

-It's lovely.

-It's like a little country cottage.

-It's gorgeous.

-So, this one has floors.

-Floors, yes, indeed! Yeah.

-And a big garage, look.

-A big garage. Something there for you, Carl.

-And your motorbikes.

-Yep.

-And if you look to the left, through the hedge.

Another little house for Mum and Dad!

-A separate annexe for your mum and dad.

-Yeah.

-Is this more what you were thinking?

-I think this is what I envisaged.

So, yeah. Just a normal, detached house.

Well, in good country style, we're not going to go into the front door.

We're going to go round the side.

'Built in the 1950s, the property has undergone radical modernisation,

'mixing contemporary interior design with a traditional exterior.'

-Come on in, through the boot room.

-That's a lovely big boot room.

-Straight into this.

-Oh, gosh! Fantastic space.

-Nice kitchen.

-Wow!

-Goodness me.

-You weren't expecting that, were you?

-No, no.

You could have everybody in the kitchen while you were cooking here!

It's slightly unusual because you've got the old kitchen, the prep room.

That's got all your white goods, washing machine, fridge.

And then this is the more kitchen,

in the sense of this is the space where you'd eat and have breakfast.

So, if you come through in here, you can see

-the layout of this spectacular add-on they've got.

-It a sun trap.

It IS a sun trap.

It's quite hot now, but the great thing about it is

that you can open up every single one of these...

-And be outside.

-And be outside.

-Folding... I don't even know what you call them.

-Yes. Concertina doors.

-That really lets the outside in.

-That's quite something!

So, this, really, would be your main walkway, because you can see

there's a sitting room there, and at the end there's a study as well.

So, you can access all of the rooms from the back

and the front, as it were.

-Is it's nice though? Do you like it?

-I do like it, yes.

It's very different.

Yes, getting my head around what you've got here,

-and how you could use it.

-It is different from the last property.

-Let's look upstairs, and you can see the upstairs layout.

-Yes.

'The downstairs definitely has that wow factor in terms of space.

'But they seem a little over-awed by just how much there is.

'Upstairs there are three double bedrooms in all.

'Bedrooms two and three are served by the family bathroom,

'with a square plunge bath.

'And, before that, the master.'

-Oh, look at the stained glass.

-Look at the stained glass, yes!

This is a nice sized room.

-Up the stairs it's more like a typical 1950s look.

-Yes.

-A lot of storage in this property.

-Good.

-All your storage here.

And this one has a very nice, modern en suite, wet room.

-Right.

-And a bath tub.

-That's something, yeah.

-How are you feeling about this house?

I feel that last time you were...

I'm a little ambivalent towards this house

because I'm confused by the additional outside

and front part of the house, and then the back view just shocked me.

But it's quite a quirky house.

And I guess the clincher would be what the annexe is like,

-for Mum and Dad, really.

-Well, let's go and look.

-OK.

Excuse me, I'll lead the way.

With Carl and Katie somewhat dazed and confused,

I think the annexe is going to have to be a knockout

to put this house into any sort of contention.

Come on in.

What we have here is a much more substantial annexe,

in the sense it's got three separate rooms.

A bedroom up this way.

And separate mains, separate electricity.

So it's all completely separate.

It's really all finished beautifully, isn't it?

-How does this compare to the last one?

-Different, isn't it?

Because this is a larger space, isn't it?

And it's much brighter, and more open, isn't it?

-Obviously it's got less stuff in it.

-A totally different feel.

There is more room here. It's a bigger area, isn't it?

-It doesn't have a kitchen.

-OK.

-That's the difference.

And you would have to get planning to put the kitchen on.

We're not sure how much of a problem would be.

-I'm sure they'd always be eating with us.

-Right.

But first you need to know how much it costs.

So, let's go out into the garden and talk about money.

'The gardens are mainly laid to lawn,

'with a paved terrace area

'leading on from the sitting room,

'looking out over splendid rural views.'

-And the missing piece of the puzzle is the price.

-Yes, the price.

-What do you think this is on the market for?

-You go first, this time.

Well, one less bedroom... Still really nice location.

So, I'm thinking maybe £775,000?

-Oh, and I was sort of going there as well, at £780,000.

-£780,000?

-Yes.

Well, it might be the deciding factor.

-This is actually on the market for £835,000.

-OK.

Hmm, I still think the issue for me is the mix of the modern

-and the traditional.

-Well, go and have an explore,

because we didn't look at the rooms upstairs,

and you can have another look around in the annexe.

-And I will see you at the front.

-Thank you very much.

Priced at £835, our second house has come in over budget.

It offers three bedrooms, a huge kitchen-breakfast room,

a living room with folding doors and windows on all three sides,

a two-bedroom annexe, a good-sized garden,

all around half an hour

from family in Chichester.

I don't think I'm quite so enthusiastic or emotional

about this house as the first house.

And although all the elements of this house are just great,

somehow, for me, it doesn't quite fit together properly.

Overall I like the property,

but I found this area a little overwhelming in its modernity.

I find the mix of traditional and modern

a little bit too much of a clash from me.

-Here you are, guys. Taking in the view.

-Yes.

I couldn't imagine ever living in a house with a view like that.

I think moving to the countryside is going to open

all sorts of imaginary doors.

-Well, that is all the houses done for today.

-Right.

-Time to digest and have a little rest.

-Indeed.

-Let's go.

It's the second day of our property search in West Sussex,

with Carl and Katie from North London,

who have £800,000 to spend on a new country home.

Coming up, the mystery house blows their mind.

This is beyond my wildest imaginings!

And I'm caught napping on the job.

Oh!

Day two here in West Sussex,

and Carl and Katie's house search continues at pace.

I think there was a clear winner yesterday,

but we have a mystery house today.

And I'd like to be able to say why we are showing the mystery house,

but actually, it's quite mysterious. It's just a great house.

And you've got to remember that they're churchgoers.

Oops, did I give it away?

For today's mystery house,

we're heading further east to the village of Warninglid,

putting them about an hour away from Chichester.

Before I reveal the property, I'm taking Carl and Katie

for a stroll around the village to get a feel for the surroundings.

-So, this is the mystery village.

-It's really pretty.

A little preview of your surroundings

before I show you the house. It goes back to Saxon times.

An interesting name, Warninglid. There was a lot of building in the 1950s.

A lot of these houses are very nice 1950s houses.

But copying the same sort of mathematical tiles

-hanging from the front of the old buildings.

-Yes.

It's won Best Kept Village three times in the last quarter century.

Impressive.

So, this is what you could be buying into if you like this house.

'In the heart of the village is our mystery house,

'a converted property that was once the hub of the community.'

Here we go. It's the mystery house!

-Oh, my gosh.

-Oh, wow!

-What do you think this used to be?

-A church!

-A church.

-That's amazing.

-I said I liked going to church, didn't I?

-You did.

You don't even need to get out of bed, you're in church.

-Is that all one property?

-It's all one property, yes.

-Good heavens!

So, from 1935 to about 2000,

this was the Anglican Church of Warninglid.

This, on the other side, is a new addition,

so it was converted by an architect in around 2000.

-And they put on that extra building.

-Oh, beautifully done, isn't it?

-And look at the stained glass, Carl.

-Yeah.

-What are your thoughts and feelings?

-Amazing!

-Amazing.

-Let's look inside.

-Let's.

'Built in 1932, the church has undergone

'a substantial refurbishment,

'and bearing in mind their reaction to the mix of styles

'in our second property,

'I'm hoping this sympathetic modernisation

'will elicit a more favourable response.'

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh!

It's enormous! It's echoey, listen to it!

-It is echoey.

-What a living space!

This is beyond my wildest imaginings!

So, let's walk down to the... Well, I suppose down the aisle...

to the kitchen.

This would have been where the altar was, the east end of the church.

You've got the more elaborate stained glass above the cooker.

Beautiful colours.

-Good heavens, indeed!

-It's quite a signature kitchen as well, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That dark units and the contrast with the white surface.

-And really modern-looking.

-Is that pleasing?

I think that looks really nice, yeah.

So, this is clearly the sort of like pazzang space,

that's full of the sound of the angels.

Through the archway is the more modest living space.

I wonder what your mum and dad would think about living in a church!

SHE LAUGHS

'We're certainly getting more than our fair share of wows

'with this property, but as we head to the new extension,

'it's time to address the question of space for Carl's parents.'

The second half of the house is a bit more modest,

although anything would be modest after that first room.

-Has it got the same windows?

-Yeah.

-It's very tastefully done, yeah.

So the challenge of this property, and I will be frank,

-is that it doesn't have a ready-made annexe.

-Right.

However, it does have on this floor a massive, beautiful family bathroom

with a massive shower, which is suitable for wheelchairs.

-Right, brilliant.

-And this room.

-And then also on this floor, another double and a single room.

-Oh, OK.

So, that is basically a living accommodation and a bedroom.

Let's look upstairs, at your bedroom.

'There is enough space for their parents,

'but it remains to be seen whether the property offers enough

'separate space for Carl and Katie themselves.'

-So, a very nice modern bathroom.

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

Yeah, the quality is amazing.

-And then this would probably be your room.

-Definitely.

-Because it's got... Ta-da! Huge storage.

-My goodness!

-You'd certainly fit all your dresses in there.

-Yeah. Just, maybe!

-There is space over there for more storage.

-Yeah, dressing table.

Nice high room.

And even though it's a sloping ceiling, you wouldn't bang your head!

So, the challenge of this property is

that you only have four bedrooms in total to play with.

-And one of those is quite small.

-Yeah, OK.

It's just so unlike anywhere we've ever seen.

It's really got the wow factor, both from outside and from inside.

-That is why it's the mystery house.

-Absolutely.

There is a little bit of space outside,

so let's look at the back garden.

'Bearing in mind the Katie wanted somewhere to potter,

'the garden is relatively modest.

'At the front is a paved terrace, edged by box hedging,

'with a small lawn to the side,

'and the rear is mainly gravelled with a patio seating area.

'And there's also a garage for Carl to tinker in.'

Is it working for you?

It's beyond amazing, isn't it? But we're quite messy.

We've got quite a lot of things, and that house needs to be open

and clean, doesn't it?

So, I'm still trying to get my head around whether WE could live there.

There isn't an extra room that we could use for your sewing,

-or as a study to put things away.

-Yeah.

So, I'm struggling to see how that all really fits.

And how much do you think it is on the market for?

It's just incredible. The wow factor...

The outside, the inside,

I would have thought it would be way beyond the budget.

So would I, yes!

Given that it has to be somewhere near budget,

I would have said £850,000.

And I would have said near enough that as well, maybe £845,000,

something like that.

Well, you must really like it,

because actually it's on the market for 750,000.

Oh! Is it? I think they need to put their prices up.

-Well, why don't you go back inside to the church.

-Oh, yes.

-Have a pray.

-Indeed, ask the Lord to help!

-And I'll meet you in the porch.

Thank you.

Now, that's interesting, isn't it?

When someone guesses £100,000 over a property,

that says something about what they think about it.

It seems our mystery house has foxed them.

On the market for £750,000, it offers them bags of character,

with four bedrooms, a massive kitchen and living space,

a huge downstairs bathroom, ideal for Carl's parents,

a garage with workshop potential,

all set in a beautiful village location.

If it was just the two of us, I think that we could live here.

Because we would use perhaps one of the bedrooms as a study,

or a sewing room.

And then the rest of it could be clutter-free and minimalist,

how it is meant to be. I think that would work.

But it's not just the two of us, it's for four adults

and then, the kids when they come back.

So, yeah, I'm not sure it...

Although I really wish it would, I'm not sure that it does work for us.

-You all done?

-Yeah, thank you.

-I'm afraid that's the last house I have to show you.

-Oh!

-No more.

Well, they've all been amazing, the three you have shown us.

Ended on a real high.

Good. Well, let's go and find somewhere to gather our thoughts.

Thank you.

Many English counties can be identified not only by their

landscape, but by their buildings

and the materials used to construct them.

With an abundance of flint found in West Sussex,

it's become a defining feature of the county's architecture.

One such building made from this durable quartz is West Dean House

in the village of West Dean.

Originally built in 1804, for the politician James Peachey,

this Georgian Gothic manor house

eventually became the West Dean College in 1971,

a centre teaching traditional craft skills.

I've come to meet college tutor and flint mason Gerry Williams

to find out more about this hardy crystalline.

-Morning, Gerry. Nice to meet you.

-Welcome to West Dean.

What an amazing building.

-Now, you are a flint fanatic. Can I call you that?

-A fanatic, yes.

Absolutely. I'll go along with that.

I can see that this is a very unusually white

and very orderly flint. What information does that give you?

Basically, when this was built, they left they left the cortex,

-which is the outside flint, still on.

-Cortex?

Cortex, which is like a rind of a cheese.

What about West Sussex?

What's typical about this building?

Is there anything you'd spot as being typically West Sussex?

Well, only the fact that there's galleting here.

There's a lot of areas where there is galleting.

-Even in East Sussex, no galleting.

-What's galleting?

Galleting is the small slivers of flint

that are knocked off a big flint,

so you get all these little bits

that you can stick in round the joints.

It is purely to show a sign of wealth,

because it costs a lot of money to sit there galleting.

-So, this is a wealthy man's house.

-Absolutely, yes.

Found mainly in areas of chalk and limestone,

nobody really knows how flint is formed.

It is extremely tough, almost as hard as diamonds,

and it takes years to learn how to read the flint

so you can map it into the exact shape you want.

Time for my lesson, I think.

-Here we have the flint bench.

-Ah, look. All the raw material.

How do you work it? Because it's extremely hard. It's tough material.

It's tough material, but it's not specifically hard.

You have to look at it and assume where you're going to work it,

and then tap it.

-And then you're listening and looking at the same time.

-Listening?

You listen to hear how it rings. And then, off you go.

-You'll find out in a minute.

-Can we have a go?

-Yes.

I think you'd better put your gloves on.

-They're quite sharp.

-Very sharp.

-They used to make knives out of them.

-Knock a bit off.

-LOUD TAPPING

-You can hear it's ringing quite well.

Are there any tips?

Am I listening for anything in particular?

What we want you to do, just try and think,

you're going to try and knock that lump off.

What you want to be looking at is that nodule there.

Just give it a sharp crack.

That's it.

Yeah, it's gone.

-LOUD TAP AND CRASH

-Oh, my God!

Absolutely bigger than I expected!

It's got a mind of its own.

You have to work it.

-So, you can see here, this is the cortex?

-That's right.

This is the black, black flint. Wow, it's really amazing.

I'm getting the hang of it.

This is amazing. This has been so instructive.

-I have learnt knapping, gallets...

-Gallets.

-It's been a real joy. Thank you so much.

-Good. Good to meet you.

'I have a long way to go before I build my own flint house, I think,

'but, thankfully, Gerry is here to pass on these traditional skills,

'to conserve wonderful flint structures for years to come.'

For now, time to catch up with our couple

and return to their house hunt.

On reflection, I think

maybe the ecclesiastical portions of that mystery house

may have put the fear of God into Carl and Katie, quite literally.

But it's definitely between that one and house number one, with the pool.

So, which one is going to lure them from London? Let's find out.

I would bet this cream tea here that the two houses you like

-the most are the first and the last.

-Yeah.

-You're not wrong.

Yes! The cream tea is mine, excellent!

Have you had any thoughts about the first and the last house

since we've got back?

I think we could really see ourselves living in the first house,

as opposed to the third house, which was beyond fabulous

but probably not really practical for us all to live in.

Of course, your parents have been key players in this,

even though they haven't been with us. Has that been...

Sometimes I think you're looking for the house for your parents,

rather than yourselves.

Have you allowed yourself a bit of, "This house would nice for me?"

I think it's very much for both.

So, that's why the separate annexe

and all the accommodation in the first house really did fit

the bill, whereas the second house became a bit of a compromise,

and equally for the third, there was a bit of a compromise.

Not really having enough space for all of us.

Have you been telling them what you've seen?

Yes, I've been ringing them and trying to describe the properties.

So, we'll have to fill in him little bit more when we get back.

And hopefully get them down to see one of them.

So, the next step is what?

Well, certainly, initially to go back

and look at the surrounding area from the first property.

The first property is very close to your brother.

Yes, which would be so good.

To be able to see them on a more regular basis

and have my niece and nephew, over and play in the pool.

-With that pool you'd be seeing a lot of them.

-Yeah!

I hope it all goes well.

There's a few obstacles you need to get through,

but your excitement will carry you through, no doubt.

-We're really looking forward to moving.

-We're looking forward to it, yeah.

I feel good about the work we did with Katie and Carl this week,

because we overcame their anxiety, which is understandable,

having lived in London their whole life,

about moving into the countryside.

But that's a good thing,

because then, they will have all this on their doorstep.

And I think with their energy, excitement and ebullience,

they'll clear all the obstacles and make the move.

I hope that you, with all your enthusiasm,

join us next time for more Escape To The Country.

Well, the first property was ideal,

but having been back to look around the area,

Carl and Katie decided that although they love the house,

the location isn't quite right for them and Carl's parents.

So, they're continuing their search around Chichester

for their dream home in the country.

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