Hampshire Escape to the Country

This magnificent mansion played host to not one but two British kings

and their royal mistresses.

Find out where it is and who lodged here in just a moment.

Today, a couple with an empty nest

are on the hunt for their slice of rural England.

To me, this is an ideal country kitchen.

It gives you that feel with the beams and everything else and so on.

I think, yes, it gives you that country feeling.

But will the idea of outdoors country living be a step too far?

Are you keen to have chickens?

-No.

-So that could be another garden.

THEY LAUGH

Today I'm in Hampshire and this is Avington Park.

Back in the 17th century it passed into the hands of George Brydges,

the groom of the bedchamber for Charles II.

It's thought that Brydges made the house fit for visits

from the King and his mistress Nell Gwyn,

while he was waiting for his palace in Winchester to be finished.

Around a century later, it also played host to George IV who

came here with the catholic widow Maria Fitzherbert

who he had married secretly and illegally in his 20s.

These royal associations make sure that Avington earns its place

in the pantheon of Hampshire's great historic architecture.

Hampshire sits in the south of England,

bordered by Surrey and West Sussex to the East,

Wiltshire and Dorset to the West and Berkshire to the North.

In the east of the county lie the South Downs,

England's newest National Park.

Covering over 600 square miles, an area the size of London,

the Park spills over into West Sussex and beyond.

Within its boundaries are rural villages

such as East Meon,

which counts the impressive Norman All Saint's Church

amongst its treasures.

It's the oldest building in the village

and contains one of only seven black Tournai marble fonts

in the country, gifted to the church in around 1150AD.

and depicting the story of Adam and Eve.

Also in the Park is Butser Ancient Farm,

an archaeological site which

displays replicas of Iron Age buildings.

Together with Roman villas and Neolithic houses,

the site spans a fascinating 11,000 years of ancient history.

Towards the centre of the county is the market town

of Bishop's Waltham, providing a more recent step back in time.

Old terracotta tiles top the roofs of artisan shops

and eateries, including the 16th century coaching inn which

provided lodging for up to 200 captured French and Spanish

naval officers during the Napoleonic wars.

With delightful towns and villages steeped in history and a rich

and varied landscape, Hampshire presents an enticing

choice for escapees in search of a country life.

It's no secret that Hampshire is an expensive place to go

property shopping.

The average price for a detached house here is just under £400,000.

That's £114,000 above the national figure.

That's particularly true of coastal hotspots like the lovely Georgian

Lymington or Buckler's Hard,

but that's also because they're in the New Forest.

A little further north, in the Test Valley,

or around Andover, your money definitely goes a bit further.

So which part of this lovely county are our buyers interested

in looking at?

Let's meet them and find out.

Retired personnel manager, June, and her retired marketing manager

husband, Malcolm, first met when they worked for the same company.

That was almost half a century ago.

Malcolm's very much an extrovert and I'm an introvert

and we balance each other out really.

-Yeah, I suppose that's true, yeah.

-And we don't agree on everything.

But you compromise, don't you?

Mm, yeah, we sometimes agree to disagree.

So that's how it is, isn't it?

They've lived in their five-bedroom detached house in Cheshire

for the past 25 years, alone for 15.

We have one daughter.

She works in London now and basically that's why

we want to move because we just want to be closer to her.

Mm, cos we do quite miss her

so what we've tried to do is to look for places near West London.

Basically something within an hour, an hour and a half

travelling distance which roughly equates with Hampshire.

It's not a place that we know anything at all about.

As a matter of fact, it's a blank canvas.

It'll be a big change for our pair, relocating from North to South.

And they're hoping for a quieter life when they get there.

We currently live in Bramhall.

It's a very nice place but quite busy

and the traffic can be horrendous at certain times of the day.

We just really want somewhere quieter.

I love the countryside cos it's so peaceful.

You just feel as though the air's been let out of you

like a big balloon that's gone puff.

And although they love their current home,

they feel it's time to scale down their living space.

What really we're looking for is something very similar to

what we've got in terms of individual rooms but fewer of them.

Because it's just far too large for just two people.

-It's a family house.

-It is a family house, you're right.

-Mm.

They're hoping their new home and environment will also give them

a chance to indulge in their hobbies.

I think we both are quite active in what we do.

I like to take video film and edit it

and produce actually small sort of films.

Sometimes holiday films but other times they're documentary films.

I like to garden. I enjoy sewing. I did a floristry course.

I love flower arranging.

-You enjoy cooking as well, don't you?

-Yeah, I do, yes.

With their house on the market, June and Malcolm are all set to

up sticks and begin the search for a new home

closer to their daughter.

It's a challenge. It's an opportunity.

And it's something that we really want to do.

It's going to be an exciting experience.

I think we're both ready for a change now, aren't we?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Now is the time. We've got to do it now.

-If we don't do it now we never will.

-No.

BIRDS CHIRP

Our buyers have asked us to concentrate our search

around the northern half of Hampshire within

an hour and a half's drive of the daughter's home in Chiswick

in West London.

And before we get the ball rolling, I'm meeting them

in the county to discuss exactly what it is they're hoping for.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-What a lovely day.

-It's gorgeous.

-It's gorgeous.

-And a lovely spot.

-Yep.

-Welcome to Hampshire.

Is this the first time you've been here?

We have made one or two sort of trips around just to find out

-our geography, you know?

-Yeah.

It's quite a brave move to come from Cheshire, a beautiful county,

down to a county you don't really know.

What are you looking for? What would be your ideal property?

We're looking for basically a minimum, say, of three bedrooms,

but also we're looking for a study

so I can carry on my hobby of film-making which I do.

And we just want to make sure it's somewhere that's a reasonable

-size but not too big.

-No.

But as everyone does, we like the large kitchen/diner

and Malcolm wants a garage, at least one,

possibly two if we can get it.

The size of garden needs to be reasonable.

We're not looking for acres of land.

What about location?

Obviously you want to be, sort of, within driving distance of Chiswick.

But do you want to be in a town?

-No, no. Ideally we want to really move to a village environment.

-Yeah.

We don't want to be remote, in the middle of nowhere

and certainly we don't want to be on a very large housing estate,

that sort of thing. OK.

We've tended to live in more modern properties.

I think when you walk into somewhere you know

and that's what I'm looking for.

If you had to compromise, for example, would you be interested

in doing some development work?

If you had to knock the property around,

is that something you're interested in?

-Yeah, provided it's not too substantial.

-And you've got

a good healthy budget. How much have you got to play with?

700,000.

So £700,000 is a whopping budget.

-Unfortunately, Hampshire does squeeze that. BOTH:

-Mm-hm.

But we've got three lovely properties lined up,

I hope one of them tickles your fancy if not all of them.

-Me too.

-Let's go and see.

-Thank you.

-OK. Good.

For their budget of £700,000, June and Malcolm are open to the

style of property they live in, but they do want a large kitchen/diner

and they'd like four bedrooms, or three bedrooms and a study.

They'd be happy with a manageable garden with a double garage

and would like to be in a village

or edge of village location.

We've hand-picked a fantastic selection of properties

for June and Malcolm to view, but only after they've reached

the end of their tour of each will they be furnished with its price.

And the third and final visit will be to our Mystery House which

will offer them a priceless location and a home to match

if they're willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.

For our first stop, we're journeying to the hamlet of Lower Chute

which is just an hour and 20 minutes' drive

from June and Malcolm's daughter in West London.

The Chutes are a collection of five hamlets sitting in the countryside

of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

There's a real mix of architectural styles here,

all set against a beautiful backdrop of rural scenery.

Elevated Upper Chute boasts far reaching views

along with quiet residential streets.

While Chute Standen is home to a busy village hall which plays

host to numerous clubs which unite the local community.

I've stopped off with June and Malcolm en route to our first

house because I would like them to get their bearings.

We're right on the edge of the Hampshire-Wiltshire borders.

-Uh-huh.

-In fact that is Wiltshire and this is Hampshire.

And this is the Chute Causeway.

It's a Roman road and a boundary between the two counties.

Over here we've got a little cluster of villages called the Chutes

and that's where our house is.

-OK. So, let's go and visit.

-Thank you.

This very causeway is said to be haunted by Charles II after

he died in the area of the bubonic plague in the 17th century.

There's no sign of ghostly activity today though as we head to

Lower Chute, which boasts a 13th century traditional dining pub,

perfect for a night out and right on the doorstep of our first property.

-Here we have it, house number one.

-Wow.

-Oh, right.

-It's neat.

It looks very nice. Yeah, it looks very... Yeah, I'm quite pleased

-with it, yeah.

-And double garage.

-Yeah, there's a double garage as well, yeah.

-And you've also got

this plot here. There's a chicken run now but that could be

-a veggie patch or something on the other side.

-Mm-hm.

-Mm-hm.

-The land belongs to this house?

-Yeah.

-Oh, right.

Have you ever had chickens before?

-No.

-No.

-Are you keen to have chickens?

-No.

OK. So that could be another garden.

-Shall we look inside?

-Yeah, I'd love to.

-Yeah, excellent, yeah.

This detached chalet-style house dates back to the 1960s,

but the extension to the right of the front door was completed

just over ten years ago.

We're heading through the hall straight to the kitchen-diner

at the back of the house.

The kitchen side was extended when the work to the house was done.

It's a little bit smaller than what we had hoped.

You've got all the white goods and everything back there.

-You've got a utility room.

-Right.

-Yeah, yeah.

So you could knock that through and make this whole area bigger

-if you wanted.

-Oh, there's a thought, yeah.

The good thing about this property is downstairs you have

lots of rooms to play around with.

This room at the end here, through the door,

is currently a very nice study.

-It has French windows out into the garden also.

-Mm-hm.

But at the front of the house you've got a dining room

-and a sitting room.

-Oh!

So you could, technically, knock that wall through

and make the kitchen-dining room a very big space with two French doors.

Oh, yeah, that would be good. Certainly that's workable

and probably it gives even more than what we've got now.

It's very difficult also because you haven't seen the rest of the house.

-No.

-So let's continue the tour.

-Sure.

-Yeah, I'd love to.

I wasn't joking about this floor.

It's a maze of rooms and I've saved the biggest till last,

another reception room.

It's quite a reasonable width. It's very comfortable, yeah.

-Are you feeling the vibe of the house?

-Yeah, I like it.

Yeah, quite like it.

The first time we came in, I thought,

"Oh, it's going to be a little bit small."

Then suddenly it seemed to expand.

It's like a TARDIS. It seems to, sort of, get bigger as you come in.

There's also a cloakroom on the ground floor.

And as we move upstairs through the hall-cum-library,

the first-floor landing connects the old side of the house with the new.

This is the master suite which was added into the eaves

as an extension over the house.

-Then you've got a walk-in shower in the en-suite room.

-Oh, good.

-Oh, that's nice.

-Are you looking for an en-suite?

-Yes, we are.

-Yes, yes, we are.

At the moment we've got two ensuites so we're very lucky.

-But then we are supposed to be downsizing.

-Downsizing, yes.

That's the thing about downsizing, you do have to let go of things.

Yes, you do. You do, don't you?

-The thing is, the only thing I can see is the wardrobe space.

-Yes, yes.

It seems to be...

-Yeah, because of the sloping ceilings.

-Cos of the ceiling.

-I have a lot of clothes.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-Have you thought of downsizing your clothes?

-Could do.

Could you take one of the bedrooms and make it a dressing room?

-Good idea.

-That's not... Yeah, yeah.

Well, there are two more bedrooms to choose from on the other side

of the Hall. One on the other side of the house with views across

fields and one at the back, overlooking the garden,

already set up as a sewing room for June.

They're separated by a white family bathroom.

Back downstairs there's plenty of access to the garden

which wraps around three sides of the house.

A patio leads to the lawn which is dotted with flowerbeds,

shrubs, hedges and plenty of nooks and crannies.

I'd be interested to hear

whether you think this is big enough as a garden.

-Oh, yes, yes, definitely.

-Yes, yes.

-Ideal.

This is big enough to enjoy.

For privacy, you know, you've got the back here.

No, it's great.

So I feel your enthusiasm for the property is rising

-as we go around.

-It is. It's surprising.

We thought it looked a bit small.

We're comparing what we've currently got instead of comparing it

-with what we actually want...

-Yes.

-..which is the main thing.

We've just got to make that step, haven't we?

-Yeah. And what we want, I think, is contained in there.

-Yeah.

It all depends on how much it is and what we can afford.

Well, since you bring that subject up,

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

Oh, it's difficult to say.

I'm going to go for 630.

No, I think it's on the market for 650.

Well, to be honest, if you split the difference you'd be spot on.

-This is on the market for £640,000.

-Right.

-Right.

I'm going to let you go back inside and then I will see you out

-the front when you're done.

-OK. Thank you.

This extended chalet-style house

has rung in at £60,000

below June and Malcolm's budget.

It's managed to come up trumps

offering everything

they've asked for.

There's a study for Malcolm

along with just the number

of bedrooms they want,

plus a perfect-sized landscaped

garden and a double garage.

Yeah, I think it has good possibilities.

There's a lot of work I would want to do to it to obviously

put our own stamp on to get it to work the way we would want it to.

But I think it's a very good start.

I think this would be the storage room, yeah.

-For all my clothes, darling.

-HE CHUCKLES

Basically what we would like to do would be to extend

the kitchen-dining area and make it a sitting area at the end.

So we have kitchen-dining and then a sitting area, which is

basically what we have at the moment and we'd like to replicate that.

You all done?

-Yes.

-Excellent.

-Er... Yeah, it's grown on us.

-Good.

-Let's see if the second house grows on you too.

-Jolly good.

-Thank you.

Food production has always been a part of Hampshire's identity

and much of the county's home-grown produce is on offer in the

cathedral city of Winchester at the largest farmers' market in Europe.

June and Malcolm have come to Laverstoke Park Farm in Overton

to meet owner Jody Scheckter.

He used to race cars for a living

and has a Formula One title to his name.

But for the past 12 years he's been farming organic food.

We follow nature very strictly. We have two main keys.

One, slow-growing animals and plants are generally healthier

-and taste better.

-Yeah.

-And biodiversity is a key to healthy, natural environment.

-Yeah.

Start in the soil, in the grass, in the animals.

We look at every element of it from the soil right through to the plate.

-Soil is 90% of farming.

-Yeah.

Why is the soil so important to your product?

Well, everything comes from the soil.

Your grass comes from the soil and animals eat your grass.

I have a saying, it's healthy soil, healthy grass, healthy animals,

healthy meat and milk and healthy people,

and it can't be anything different.

But soil is very, very complex.

If you think a handful of good soil will have more living things

-than people on Earth.

-Really?

And the biology in the soil is a very complex biology.

When you first took on the farm, did you have an awful lot to do

to get the soil into the right condition for you?

Yeah, well, basically I concentrated everything on getting the soil right

-at the beginning.

-Mm-hm.

-Compost,

animals on the field seem to be a very, very good

way of building up the soils as well.

What animals do you have on the farm?

Lots and lots, so why don't you come and have a look?

Ooh, lovely.

Jody's livestock doesn't just eat grass,

his herds feast on a mixed salad of over 30 different herbs,

clovers and grasses providing them with a variety of nutrients.

There are 4,500 acres here, home to a variety of rare

and traditional breeds, including sheep, pigs, wild boar,

Angus cows, the rarest breeding England,

and some new arrivals, baby water buffalo,

just three weeks old.

How many buffalo do you have on the farm?

Well, we have about 300 here,

but then we have about 2,000 altogether on six other farms.

-And two other farms milking for us.

-Really? Wow.

-Oh, really?

What makes buffalo good for dairy?

Well, it's the ultimate undeveloped bovine,

-so it produces half the milk which is not very positive.

-No.

But the milk has got twice as much of most things in,

so lovely, lovely milk.

With his herds' yield, Jody produces around 100 tonnes

of buffalo mozzarella a year, which is sold in shops all over the UK.

-Morning!

-Hello, good morning. Nice to meet you.

-Welcome, welcome.

-Nice to see you.

-Thank you.

In the cheese processing dairy, dairy manager Margarita Hermann

is going to show June and Malcolm how it's made.

She's taken last night's milk which has turned into curd.

It's being closely watched and when the curd reaches the correct pH,

it's time to take the stretch test.

So if you take a piece of curd and just pull it apart

-and just crumble it in here.

-Oh, I see.

-That's it.

Margarita adds hot water to the curd which melts it

so that it can be tested for its elasticity.

There we go. See?

So my Italian master told me that if I can see my hands or my hair.

Hands through it. Yeah.

But I don't have any hair on my hands.

-He had very black hair on his hands.

-THEY LAUGH

Once the mozzarella has passed the test,

it's put through the stretching machine,

where it's also shredded before being moulded into the balls

we recognise from the supermarket.

But how does this carefully created buffalo mozzarella taste?

June and Malcolm are about to find out.

Jody's waiting for them in the farm's walled garden.

Is this very healthy for you?

I think it's healthy because it's very natural.

There's no other ingredients except milk really.

You'll feel it's a little firmer than you're probably used to,

but it'll also have a fresher milkier flavour.

-You just get, sort of, a fresh, sort of, feeling on your tongue.

-Mm.

Well, Jody, thanks very much indeed.

-Really enjoyed it and thank you very, very much.

-It's a pleasure.

For our second offering, we're travelling to the hamlet of

Great Shoddesden, which is an hour and 20 minutes'

drive from West London.

Just five minutes away and across the border into Wiltshire

is the town of Ludgershall.

Here, all the necessities can be found alongside a 16th-century

dining pub and the ruins of a medieval fortress,

the late 11th-century

Ludgershall Castle.

Less than two miles south and we're in Great Shoddesden,

rural and rather wet, and where we find our next house.

I'll wheel you around here, because this is our second property.

Oh, nice size. I quite like it. I like the size.

-Malcolm, you're pulling a face.

-Don't like it.

-You don't like it?

-No? No?

-It's a fairly good-sized house.

It just doesn't do anything for me. It doesn't have any kerb appeal.

-But you're quite taken by the style.

-Yeah, I quite like it.

-Oh! There you are.

-Yeah, but we're often different.

It's actually quite a classic Hampshire cottage

in the sort of the use of the brick and the flint.

Oh, yes, I accept that. It just doesn't...

It's not ringing your bell.

No, it's not. I'm sorry.

It's not ringing your bells at all, is it?

-I want to be honest, you know.

-Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, inside it might be gorgeous. And maybe that might change.

-Let's look inside.

-OK, sure.

Mixed reactions for property number two.

This brick and flint house has grown from humble beginnings,

with the oldest part dating back to the 1800s,

when it would have been a two-up, two-down.

But there have been several later additions.

We're walking through the dining room, which is

in the original part of the house, to the

kitchen/breakfast room in one of the extensions.

-Oh, it's a good size, isn't it?

-Good-sized kitchen.

-Is this more what you were thinking of?

-No, it's nice.

Yeah, it's a nice size. I like this.

To me, this is an ideal country kitchen.

Gives you that feel with the beams and everything else,

and the way that they've done the butler sink and so on.

I think, yes, it gives you that country feeling.

Seriously, this is the most modern bit.

-Let's go back in time and look at the oldest part.

-OK.

-Uh-huh.

Back through the dining room

and across a small hallway is the sitting room.

This one goes back to about 1800, they think.

You can see the great big beams with all the hooks

-hanging from the ceiling.

-I love the fireplace.

-It's very cosy.

We've never had a house as old as this before, have we?

-No, we haven't.

-I quite like it, but I don't think it's Malcolm's thing.

It's very nice as it is, but we'd prefer something a little

larger than this.

Unlike the last property where they had a lot of space downstairs,

this one has quite a lot of space upstairs

because there's four bedrooms.

-Shall we have a look at that?

-Yeah, sure.

Also downstairs in a further extension, there's

a cloakroom and a study, which would be perfect for Malcolm.

Then moving upstairs,

there's a contemporary family bathroom for three of the bedrooms.

There's a particularly large double in the extension over

the kitchen. Then in the original side of the house, there's

a smaller single and an even more compact room, which could

easily double up as a dressing room.

That just leaves a room for June and Malcolm.

-This one is the master bedroom with an en suite.

-Oh, lovely.

Oh, that's a bonus. I like this room very much.

And it's, you know, nice and light with the two windows.

I like this very much.

-Good, let's go into the garden and talk about price.

-Yes.

-OK.

Well, it's true that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover,

as Malcolm has begun to warm up after his very cool reception

when he first arrived.

Here the entire garden sits at the front of the property

and makes for a pretty spot, despite the dreadful weather.

So, the rain has set in,

but if we stick ourselves here, we can get a view of the house.

You can see the new extension there.

The extension's been sympathetically done, hasn't it?

-Matches it very well.

-You've also got two sheds and a double garage.

-Uh-huh.

-And the size of the garden?

-Yeah.

It could do with a little bit of trimming back,

but nevertheless, as far as size is

-concerned, it's fine.

-That's just our...

OK, so what do you think the price of this property is?

I think it will be 625.

I think it will be more because it's been very sympathetically

extended, and it is an older property.

I think it will be 670.

That's interesting because this is actually on the market for £595,000.

Oh, really?

Why don't you get back inside into the dry and have a little

-mosey around and I'll see you at the front when you're done.

-OK.

-Lovely.

-Thank you, Alistair.

-Thank you.

This attractive home is priced

£105,000 below

June and Malcolm's budget,

and it does pretty well

meeting their requirements.

There's a generous-sized

kitchen/diner and a study for Malcolm.

Here they get one more bedroom than

required and, outside, there's

both a manageable garden

and a double garage.

This property, I quite like. I like the size of the kitchen.

I particularly like the dining room,

but I don't think I'd ever get Malcolm to live here.

-Oh, it's a nice room. I can see this being my study.

-I know.

-It'd be a good study for you.

-I'll put a reserve on this one.

-OK.

I didn't care for the appearance of the building,

but inside there were a lot of things that

I think were quite appealing.

But overall, I'm afraid it didn't really do it for me.

-Here you go. Your brolly awaits, madam.

-Thank you.

Let's find somewhere dry

-where we can digest what we've seen today.

-OK.

It's the second day of our journey round Hampshire,

hunting down a new home to bring June and Malcolm from

Bramhall in Cheshire closer to their daughter in West London,

but in a rural country location well away from the city.

And with a budget of £700,000,

we're looking for a property with room for guests and hobbies.

We've still got our Mystery House,

with a rather special outlook, to come.

-I think it looks sweet.

-I do like the location.

-Good.

It's...that's spot on.

And I'll be seeing how some spectacular furniture is created.

This really shows off the handmade nature of the work.

-It pushes the other one up.

-Yeah.

Today's going to be an interesting day for June and Malcolm

because what became apparent yesterday is that Malcolm,

in particular, is very strongly opinionated about his houses.

And today the Mystery House is,

well, it's a bit of a challenge on that front,

because it's a beautiful property and it could be a dream home,

but they need quite a lot of vision and quite a lot of thinking through,

and we'll have to see whether those are forthcoming.

For our Mystery House, we are journeying to the

hamlet of Monkwood, which is

an hour and a quarter's drive from

June and Malcolm's daughter in West London.

Just under three miles away, is the larger village of Ropley.

Here, quiet lanes are flanked by character cottages, sheltered by

blooms and hedges, with classic brick and flint a recurrent theme.

There's a village shop, a post office

and a village hall offering various events for locals.

The 800-year-old Grade II listed St Peter's Church was almost

completely destroyed by a fire which ripped through it in 2014.

It's currently at the beginning of a long process to restore it.

Six minutes' drive from the centre of the village

and we're in rural Monkwood, at our third and final house,

a larger undertaking, perhaps, than June and Malcolm would choose,

but I think it's a trade-off that's more than worth it.

We are starting off at the back of this character cottage.

Here we have it. Now, hold your horses, especially you, Malcolm.

This is the Mystery House. I know that you are big on kerb appeal.

But what are your first impressions?

I think it looks sweet. Yeah. I really do. It's very nice.

-It's not to my taste.

-Oh!

-But I do like the location.

-Good.

-It's...that's spot on.

-This is the Mystery House.

This is all different rules here because this is a very special spot.

Over there, on the other side of that lane, that is

-the South Downs National Park.

-Really?

-You can't build on that view ever.

-Oh, wow.

-It's all protected.

This side of the road is not the South Downs National Park,

and that means that you can extend this cottage, June.

-Are you with me on this?

-Yeah, I'm with you.

I want to see inside.

-Let's go in and see inside.

-Come on.

Our single-storey Mystery House dates back to the 19th century

and will really test our buyers

on their mission to downsize.

It's already been extended, not by the current owners, but they do

have planning permission to expand it even more by going up and out.

The back door leads straight into a long kitchen which runs

from the front to the back of the house,

with the sitting room to the left.

Quite open-plan L-shaped kitchen.

You've got one kitchen on that side,

-and then a sort of second kitchen here.

-Uh-huh.

What are you thinking? June.

Well, I'm trying to think just what I would do and what it would cost.

Personally, I can't see the point of having a kitchen area there

and a kitchen area here.

And I think make this as the living space

-because you've then got the view over there.

-Yes, I would.

And take this out of here and make the kitchen area over there.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, for me, I'd like to see it as an empty space.

-Could you imagine living here as it is?

-No.

-No?

-Not as it is, no.

Could you not do it as a very short-termism,

-whilst you're working on the rest of it?

-Yes, I suppose I could.

As a short-term you could move here,

we could still live in this area here.

-And bit by bit, you could move things around.

-Yes.

So let's continue the tour,

and I'll show you a bit more of the house, OK?

June and Malcolm have definitely got their own take on our houses.

I just hope they have the vision to see the possibility

the Mystery House offers.

We're heading to the other side of the chimney breast.

This room is a bit of a through-room, but it could be a

dining room because you've got a fireplace.

But the reason I wanted to stop here is because, in the plans,

this bedroom here becomes the keystone entrance and this would be

the hallway and the staircase would go up,

and then you would go upstairs.

Because the thing about upstairs is that it's got amazing views.

And they've got plans for five bedrooms,

-but you could do anything you like with the upstairs space.

-Yeah.

This cottage has loads of potential.

Currently, there's just one bathroom here that serves two bedrooms.

And we're heading to the second, the master, in an extension

just on the other side of the

through-room-cum-dining room.

Through there, you expect there's an en suite

but actually it's a utility room.

But it would be crying out to turn that into an en suite.

-Yes, it would.

-Yeah, yeah.

Is it the sort of place you could imagine sleeping?

I would still want to see it as an empty blank canvas,

speak to an architect and see what could be done with the space.

I'm quite happy to put in new kitchens and en suites and

bathrooms, but to take on a whole house project at our time of life...

I'd like to just think about how much it's going to cost.

What the timescale would be.

And then, sort of decide because, to be honest with you,

-the view is absolutely fantastic.

-It is. The location is perfect.

And that's the thing that's pulling me towards it.

Well, let's go and look at the view and talk about the price.

There's a big step here, so mind yourself.

This pair might know what they want

but it doesn't seem to be the same thing.

Outside, the grounds are at the side

and rear of the property, with a gravelled seating area,

perfect to soak in the views. Along with a veggie patch,

greenhouse and, at the front, a garage.

-OK, so what do you think this is on the market for?

-Well, I think...

-390,000.

-I'll go...

-..420.

-420.

-And we're going to be miles out, I know.

-Yes, you're miles out.

-Yes, I thought it might be.

This is on the market for £575,000.

-THEY GASP

-Yeah.

So why don't you go and have a look around, and I will pick you up,

and then we can go and find somewhere to mull it all over.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, Alistair.

Our Mystery House may be priced

above their guess, but it's still

£125,000 below June and Malcolm's

budget, meaning plenty of cash

spare if they're willing to take

on a project and make it their own.

It's got open-plan living quarters

and the remaining rooms offer

flexibility.

Outside, the garden - with its views

across the National Park -

gives our buyers a chance to live

in a very sought-after location,

but only if they're up

for the challenge.

This house, initially, I really liked it.

I liked the view, I liked the open aspect of it,

it was a very sweet country cottage.

I was not a fan of this house from the first impression,

but I do think the location is perfect.

I think Malcolm has more vision as to what could be done with

the house than possibly I do. I see the practical side of it.

But I think Malcolm, if he had enough money,

would like to take this project on.

It wanted an awful lot of work doing to it.

It needed a lot of reconstruction,

and it needed an additional layer which would put the cost up.

OK, Mystery House done, all three houses done, in fact.

Time to find a place to reflect upon them, OK?

Amongst the wealth of beautiful properties found throughout

Hampshire is one sitting high on a ridge overlooking

yew and beech woodland.

This cottage was once home to the celebrated British furniture

designer and maker Edward Barnsley.

It survives, not only as a cottage designed during

the Arts and Crafts movement, but within its walls,

it also keeps alive the legacy of the influential late 19th

and early 20th century design principles of the movement.

Traditional skills and ideals were employed to produce high-quality

handmade products as a protest against mass industrialisation.

I've come to the cottage in Froxfield

in the South Downs to meet the workshop manager here,

furniture designer James Ryan.

Edward Barnsley was the son of Sidney Barnsley, and Sidney Barnsley

and his brother Ernest and their friend Ernest Gimson,

they were kind of the Arts and Crafts pioneers.

So they actually left their city life,

they went off to the countryside, and they made things.

Edward was born in 1900.

He came down here for the very first time in 1919.

And he worked with a chap called Geoffrey Lupton.

Geoffrey Lupton had built this cottage.

So, aged just 19, Edward Barnsley trained with Geoffrey Lupton

and learned the skill that would make him his name.

He then worked as an Arts and Craft architect and cabinet-maker here

in Hampshire and, aged just 23, he took over the workshop from Lupton.

So what characterises the idea behind the

Arts and Craft movement at that time?

It was about kind of going back to basics.

It was about truthfulness of materials,

so the Arts and Crafts furniture is using things like oak

and walnut and just showing it in its natural form.

Edward Barnsley lovingly created over 7,000 pieces of furniture

that he hoped would be pleasing to the eye and give real joy in use.

Up in the cottage are examples of some of the beautiful

handcrafted pieces of furniture made here by James,

and also a special item by Barnsley.

This is a really important piece.

It was designed by Edward in 1976.

It's a writing bureau in English walnut,

and it has some really nice features.

These panels, these are actually called feather walnut panels,

and they come from the main trunk of the tree where it

splits off into two branches.

That crotch, that double back figure you get there,

that's used to a particular effect here, a decorative effect.

-And can we open it up?

-Absolutely.

And then we've got...these open.

Oh, they open so beautifully.

And they support the front flap.

What are the things that fascinate you about it?

I think it's the refinement and sophistication of it.

Things like these little divisions here, you know, you can see they're

very thin and it takes a lot of confidence

to just design it to be that thin.

You know, it doesn't need to be any thicker than that.

How long would it have taken to make something like this?

About 900 hours of work.

And to put that into context,

most of our craftsmen here will do about 1,100, 1,200 productive hours

a year, so it's almost a whole year's worth of work.

You are now kind of the head designer.

Have we got a piece of yours that we can compare and contrast?

I'll bring this over.

So, this is a piece I designed a couple of years ago.

It's a little jewellery box.

You will see this kind of curved chamfering

on a lot of Arts and Crafts pieces.

And here I've kind of reworked it a little bit by incorporating

another wood underneath the chamfer.

So you move the feet and the lid pops up.

And then inside you've got a

ripple sycamore interior and this really shows off the handmade

nature of the work.

-And it pushes the other one up?

-Yeah.

And that is the difference between a few plane shavings

and it wouldn't do that.

James's beautifully crafted treasure chest is

priced at £7,500, and some items sculpted here have

even higher price tags,

like this beautiful scorched oak rocking chair at £25,000.

Before he died in 1987, Edward Barnsley made

sure his workshop would continue to nurture new talent, which it does.

As a charitable trust, it offers apprenticeships in furniture

design and craftsmanship, which is how James became involved here.

It's taken him over 20 years to reach his level of excellence,

and today there are four apprentices in the workshop

under the wing of craftsman-tutor Stephen Rock.

They learn about staying true to those

Arts and Crafts principles,

but gear them towards the modern-day market.

Sam is at the end of his year-long apprenticeship.

-Hi, Alistair.

-Hey, hello, nice to see you.

-This is Sam.

Sam, what are you making?

I'm making an occasional table with a drawer.

-So far, I've spent about 70 hours.

-70 hours? Right.

Can you give us a tour? What has it got involved?

-Most of the work is in this.

-Put together well. It's a good sign.

Yes, yeah, they shouldn't come off too easily.

Basically, you've got... it's made up of this carcass.

-Beautiful veneer, this.

-You can see it best looking at it like this.

These curves, they're straight inside, curved on the outside.

Then you've got a veneered top.

So what's your relationship with this?

If you spent 70 hours making this, I mean, is this like your baby?

I mean, do you kind of dream about it?

Yeah, it's a bit hard seeing it go, but it's what we're here for.

-Yeah.

-We make furniture for clients.

All the apprentices come to the workshop with an existing

interest in furniture-making, plus some experience under their belts.

When they join the workshop, what we ask them to do is to go back to

basics to make the first, perhaps, half dozen pieces entirely by hand.

Who's your client base? Who buys this stuff?

We have quite a few clients who are local to us.

We also have quite a few clients from London.

So, Sam, do you know how much your table is going to sell for?

Between 2,000 and 3,000.

Well, all the best. I hope it goes well,

-from strength to strength.

-Cheers, thank you.

Thanks for showing me round. I feel very relaxed.

It's comforting to know these skilled artisans are upholding the

Arts and Crafts mantle

almost a century after Barnsley first arrived here.

For a whole array of reasons, I think

we can probably rule property two and three out of the running.

But it will be interesting to see whether June and Malcolm

are still enamoured of Hampshire, and whether house number one

could be a contender.

-Good afternoon.

-Good afternoon.

-How are you feeling after all your house-hunting?

-Um...

-Confused.

But, nevertheless, I think we have a path forward.

-Guys, it's been an eventful week.

-Uh-huh.

Are any of the houses contenders?

The only one that, in my opinion, could be

a contender is the first house that we saw.

It did actually fulfil a lot of our requirements without any

alterations. And with minor alterations,

of course, it could actually be improved.

-We need to look more at the location of that one, don't we?

-Yeah.

But also to cost out some of the alterations that we think

we would like to make, see how that fits into our overall budget.

It's been a good learning curve for us,

and I think it's brought it home to us exactly what downsizing means.

We've got to think more of what our requirements will be,

and then make sure we keep to them.

What are you going back to Cheshire thinking?

I'd like to revisit the location of the first house and I would

like to search, in a lot more depth, the location of the last house.

And also, try to get some sort of pricing for alterations.

What would it cost to do this?

That will then determine as to what the price

we can actually pay for a property.

Well, I hope you find somewhere. I hope this week hasn't

put you off moving to Hampshire with its high prices.

No, I'm sure we will find something that

meets our requirements.

But it might take longer than we initially thought.

No, I think it's been a really, really good exercise.

To be honest, we are very grateful because, without it, I think

we would have been lost in where we were going.

We would never have bought anything.

But I think there's a very, very good chance now that we can

then move and find somewhere that we really like.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

-Our pleasure.

-Thanks a lot.

Downsizing is a tricky business, particularly

if you're moving from one county to a more expensive one,

so it ends up that you have a smaller house

for the same amount of money.

But I think that Malcolm and June rose to the challenge magnificently.

And even if they don't buy one of our houses

here in Hampshire, I hope that they will move to the county soon.

And I hope that you join us next time for more Escape To The Country.

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