Back to the country

M0nica

lemongrove That is why I stopped watching Escape to the Country. With Lx3, it is the babies that seem to come thick and fast.

As well as babies ( always welcome!) expectations seem more realistic on Location, and houses featured seem to be bought a lot more, in other words, more serious buyers.

Have you noticed there are always beautiful bouquets of flowers in the kitchen / sitting room ? Somebody is tarting up these houses before they are viewed !

grumppa

They must have so much space for entertaining all those dear friends who are going to trek miles to admire their former neighbours’ kitchen island.

I have the Isle of Man in my kitchen, I'll have you know
Love those two posts

My friend’s house was on Escape to the Country.
I know of two houses near here which the viewers did buy.

I find escape to the country quite entertaining for all the reasons mentioned by others. My favourite episode was a couple looking at a house on the top of a hill. They looked across the fields and down the valley into the distance, where tiny cars were just visible and dismissed the house “because of the traffic noise!”

A friend of a friend had a house on the market , but it wouldn’t sell , I think the price was unrealistic, it then was on one of those programmes and sold really quickly after , not by the ones on the programme , but the fuss caused by the tv people doing the filming awakened interest in it !

I do watch Escape to the Country, but get frustrated , when in a massive kitchen, it’s too small for the couple viewing, still you can see how the other half live. Location Location too just as mind boggling, too much money, not enough sense comes to mind, or unrealistic aspirations. My SIL commented the other day about a Place in the Sun, do they explain to all these house buyers in Spain, the massive taxes they will have to pay, annually, including a big bonus for the Spanish tax man when you sell it. Guess not or there wouldn’t be many takers. Now George Clark, much more realistic, and quirky homes, love it.

Grandmajean Of course they do, they have stylists in before the tv team turn up, but that happens as well when houses for sale hold 'Open Days'. Stylists or advisors will often come in ahead of the event and 'tweak' the interior.

What puzzles me is where they hide all the stuff which accumulates on surfaces in this house. Must have enormous cupboards somewhere to stash it all. I envy immaculate kitchens with empty work surfaces but know we couldn’t live like that for more than 24 hours.

I expect they hire a storage unit for the day.

I am sure I remember (or perhaps not) that when the programme first began, they were initially visited in their own homes to find out their requirements. The conversation which takes place seemingly minutes before leaving the first viewing, where they outline their needs is pointless. Let us hope that those who actually purchase a home for their retirement, are always able to drive/ manage all those stairs/ cope with living miles from doctor,hospital,chemist etc.
Having said all that, I still watch it, because I like looking at the houses and pointing out their drawbacks!

Should read “leaving for the first viewing”

I'm thinking of offering our house for one of these programmes - it would be wonderful to have it deep cleaned and styled!!

Yes, Lexisgranny, you're right they were visited first in their own homes. And they used to sit on the computer flicking through possible choices I believe.
It doesn't happen so much now, but I used to wonder at people who based their decisions on whether their furniture would fit. Buy a new sofa, in the bigger picture it isn't worth rejecting a property!

They all want a ‘veggie’ patch.

All want to be in walking distance of pub, shop, on the ‘edge’ of the village, want to be ‘part of the community’.

Expect they all imagine they will be joining the WI, the pub quiz team, ringing the church bell, helping out at the community owned village store, selling their own veg, home made jams, chutneys, pickles……

We need to remember that all these programmes are edited.

Some friends of DH were on 'Escape to the Country' and they were disconcerted how they were almost scripted to respond in certain ways to certain things and how the version of their trip shown on tv, was not how they ememebered it, but how it was edited to meet a format.

They didn't buy a house in the area they visited, but they did move to the country somewhere very different.

I think all of the real-estate TV programs are fascinating for about two seasons, but then they get so formulaic.

We have a show called Love it or List It, where the premise is the current house doesn't fit the family's needs. In come the home designer, and the real estate agent. They get a budget and a list of wants. The designer fixes up their current house, and the real estate agent looks for a new one. At the end they need to make a decision to stay or sell.

It was fantastic for the first few seasons, but now you can guarantee a demanding wife, a husband that wants to stay, a wall when opened up creates an unforeseen problem that will eat into their budget. I can't handle watching anymore. I will sometimes record it, and fast-forward to the ending.

All want to be in walking distance of pub, shop, on the ‘edge’ of the village, want to be ‘part of the community’.

One woman who was in the other day had palpitations if she could see the edge of the roof of another house within half a mile.
She didn't want neighbours; she was rather sharp and abrupt in her responses.
I did wonder if anyone already living nearby would want her as a neighbour.

We have a show called Love it or List It, where the premise is the current house doesn't fit the family's needs.
We have the British version here, CanadianGran.
I'm not sure if it is on tv currently, I did watch a couple of the programmes.

Why do people want to open up the whole of the ground floors of their homes?
You'd have to keep everywhere tidy.

The daughter of a friend of mine went on Escape to the Country and said that her wants and requests were completely ignored and she wasn't shown anything remotely suitable.
She does now live in a country home which she found for herself.
I do enjoy Love it or List it when it is on.House hunting and renovation all in the same programme just right for me.

I couldn`t go on any of these programmes, I`d be lucky to get £90,000 for this house, wouldn`t go very far on Escape to the Country!

Callistemon

^All want to be in walking distance of pub, shop, on the ‘edge’ of the village, want to be ‘part of the community’.^

One woman who was in the other day had palpitations if she could see the edge of the roof of another house within half a mile.
She didn't want neighbours; she was rather sharp and abrupt in her responses.
I did wonder if anyone already living nearby would want her as a neighbour.

Yes, probably best for all concerned that she was opting for
‘The middle of nowhere’?

On one episode ( filmed near me down a country lane) the woman looked around the vast interior of a barn conversion and said ‘not big enough for my Christmas get togethers’.
Alistair looked bemused and just raised his eyebrows.

Another very funny episode featured a woman who said ‘wow’ the whole time ( would have been a good drinking game.)

My friend’s sister was on the show and bought The Mystery House - a converted chapel in Glastonbury.

I agree about these shows being formulaic canadiangran the worst one is Grand Designs with Kevin McCloud. He trashes their work and ideas in the first half then builds them back up in the second half. Then we are treated to a monologue of the house's virtues. It's been the same for years unfortunately my husband likes the show so we watch it from time to time still.

My friend and I (country folk) are continually in fits of laughter about the ridiculous expectations of country living.
It is not all it’s cracked up to be, it can be idyllic on a lovely summer day, but that’s not the whole story.
Hundreds of villages now have no shop, school, pub. When we moved here, we had two pubs, village shop, post office, bakers, hairdressers, and fish and chip shops, now we have one pub and a shop, which basically now sells booze, cigarettes, and scratch cards, and possibly the counties biggest selection of crisps.
In winter the lanes are at best thick with mud, at worst treacherous, the country smells get into every corner of your home, and to get to work and get your children to school, you will be driving tens of miles a day.
We like it, we’re used to it, we don’t have a big island, or a herd of alpacas, not even a veg patch, and yet somehow we seem to struggle through.
I really wouldn’t want one of these aspirational couples moving in next door to me.