My advice is to think very carefully. I moved from the city to a small village about 15 years ago (albeit nowhere near as grand as the property in your link).

My experience has been it is a lot quieter, less crime and hassle, school is small and performs well as a result, there is a real sense of community and there is a real feeling of having a bolt hole away from it all.

However, it can be very isolating in winter and bad weather. We have had to buy a 4X4 to ensure we can get in and out in bad weather. The community can be a bit suffocating in that everyone has a nose in everyone else’s business and it can be a bit exclusionary as you don’t have a pedigree in the area and you aren’t related to half the population like everyone else.

In addition, we have had the expense of having to keep two newish and reliable cars as public transport is virtually non – existent.

As the kids have got older the weekend is spent ferrying them to larger population centres for sports and social activities as there are no facilities locally.

An unforeseen consequence for me has been the effect on my health. No work locally and 15 years of commuting over 40,000 miles a year on poor roads has destroyed my low back.

I can see why you are tempted by the property though. Absolutely gorgeous but think about the downsides and plan for them. Don’t get carried away on a tidal wave of cupidity!

How much more would the dream house cost if it was 15 minutes commute from work.

Is the difference worth the commute?

Last we looked at moving in the UK anything halfway reasonable would have cost us about half a million quid. And still needed 150 grand spending on it.

(My numbers here are about £750000 for the house we want with an easy 15 minute cycle commute. Or £200 grand for a straight forward, but 40 minutes, by car.
550 thousand quid on the mortgage pays for a shit load of commuting.)

And I’m only 10 minutes walk/15 minutes hobble from the beach. And once i get fixed, got trails starting pretty much in the garden.

If you’re going to spend 2-3hrs per day commuting then you need to ask yourself how much time you’re actually going to spend ‘living’ in your dream house

8hrs at work + 2hrs commute + 1hr eating + 8hr sleeping leaves you 4-5 hrs per day to recover from your commute do all your daily jobs and then ‘live’ even less if you the. Spend half of that time driving your kids around too.

Sure you get weekends but don’t you go out and do things at the weekend?

That’s the killer for me, commute times, I’ve done a job with an hour or so commute in the car every day and it tired me out, wound me up, cost too much and caused too much travel angst for my liking, never again!

Circumstances will obviously be different depending on location, I’m lucky enough to live in a small city, 20mins walk from the town centre (5min by bike), work is 10mins ride away, and I’m only 10-15 miles from both Dartmoor and the sea, we compromised on the house to be in the city for weekday convenience, but even if we did move out of the city it wouldn’t be bad.

Last we looked at moving in the UK anything halfway reasonable would have cost us about half a million quid. And still needed 150 grand spending on it.

Have you thought about a compromise? Upgrade a bit where you are and see if you could get a weekend bolt hole somewhere?

Well, when tiny, badly built 2 bed terraces in crowded estates with gardens too small for your cat to shit in are starting at 150 grand. Anything with a garden, space to live in and not on an estate/in the countryside is going to be expensive.

And we haven’t got that sort of cash. And weren’t looking to relocate. So we didn’t move.

I guess if we had. Most of our neighbours would have had loads of money. Or massive, unsustainable mortgages.

Well, when tiny, badly built 2 bed terraces in crowded estates with gardens too small for your cat to shit in are starting at 150 grand. Anything with a garden, space to live in

You mean the kind of normal house that millions of people with families manage to successfully live in, some even with cats?

I’m sure you didn’t mean it to but your post did come over a bit condescending and loadsamoneyesque

Yes. And I’m sure a good percentage of them would like to move. But can’t.

1. Build own house on a slight hill.
2. Build own house that pays me to stay there i.e. high energy efficient.
3. Build on a plot of land that I can grow stuff myself to be “self-sufficient”
4. Build house that has cold storage to store food.
5. Build house that has a large shed for making things.
5. Build house not far from woodlands …
6. Build far away from river but not very far from a small stream.
7. 1hr or 1.30hr drive to civilization is fine.
8. House with panic room? Hell yes!
9. Alien sentry guns on four corners of the house … ensure pig farm or zoo not further than 1hr away.
10. Own transport should not be a problem if I can afford all the above.

Cheers. It really is a dream home in as much as it’s got fields and space around it, big garden, just a hugely fun looking area to allow the kid/s to play around in through life. It’s down your neck of the woods too nobeer.

But, I hadn’t actually thought about the transport issues when they grow a bit older (ps only 1 kid for now but I suspect a second will appear one day). Commute is likely to be up to an hour each way so possibly not too bad.

A similar house closer to where we’re used to would be around £100-120k more, which puts it well out of range. This one is affordable without a heavy financial strain (mortgage payable by either of us on our own), and being that I work 3 days a week and spend 3 days with the boy I like the appeal of having a space like this to spend time and run around chasing him!

I think we’re going to wait and see if anything comes up for sale closer to Glasgow though. A cosier house with similar outdoors space should come under budget and be cyclable, or at least a shorter 30 min drive to town. My wife works in town daily, though my work takes me all around the central belt a bit and it’s not so much an issue for me.

Great hearing people’s thoughts and experiences, especially those who have moved to more rural areas and adapted to the changes.

PS This is a picture of the place, to give you an idea of how tempting it is!

A similar house closer to where we’re used to would be around £100-120k more, which puts it well out of range.

Have you factored in the cost of commuting? I reckon it’s costs me ~£300 a month to get to work, that buys a fair chunk of mortgage.

Have you factored in the cost of commuting? I reckon it’s costs me ~£300 a month to get to work, that buys a fair chunk of mortgage.

Plus not having to use a car is worth loads in saved time / stress.

Two folk commuting, factor in the school run and all…. Wouldn’t be my choice. Unless of course the nanny takes care of that 🙂

Yes bob summers that’s my house and it will be a wrench but I am sick of grass cutting/gardening and maintenance, one good thing is I never have to drive past it as it is down a private road. Whoever gets it will have a fantastic place to live

‘Sacrifice’? You probably mean ‘trade off’. I feel lucky to live with easy access to the Peaks, the Lakes, North Wales, some of the Dales, and also be <20 minutes’ walk from a multi-screen cinema, and a short public transport ride from an active city centre. It’s a pleasant place with a park nearby and a reasonably-sized currently affordable house. I enjoy my work every day. My SO enjoys her work. Nearby state schools are good and easy to walk to. The climate is…temperate.

The picture makes it look like a rural mini-palace. Nice!

Though having said that, rural places don’t often feature 150mbps+ broadband or other stuff for children except for that ‘nature’ malarkey.

I grew up in a relatively rural location, nearest village was 10 mins drive/cycle and nearest town 20 mins drive. I loved it and wouldn’t change it for the world, I don’t have kids but if I did I would want them to experience the same.

You’ll have to drive to the shops and plan ahead so you don’t run out of stuff when you can’t get it but it’s not exactly difficult. My folks heated the main living areas in the house with a coal/wood stove (what stw types would call a log burner I guess), rest of house underfloor electric, life is possible without gas. Most people have oil or electric and get on fine.

It was 30 mins or something to school on the school bus, I’d ride to the stop or get dropped by my old man on his way to work.

We lived on a quiet road and almost all spare time was spent outdoors in the garden, playing in the fields, woods or riding bmxs up and down the road. I had a friend 4 fields away or parents would drive us to friends houses to play and vice versa etc. From the age of 13 all my free time was spent mountain biking in the woods, building jumps, skidding in the farmers crops and getting chased by him etc. My sister and her female friends seemed to have a great time too.

There is (arguably better) life without fast internet, local shops, streetlights, gas, go for it!

Is the inn in question the Blair Dan?

Edit – or the Sorn inn? Looks like a couple of houses locally tbh.

Yep it’s the Blair. Some great pictures of life in the fields being painted here, love it!

Thought I recognised it mate. That’s a busy road, think you’ve made the right choice.

I know that road fairly well Dan, it’s pretty busy and I wouldn’t want my bedroom that close to it.

wouldn’t buy on main road. Must be easy commute. 2 hours a day plus the cost? No thanks like 10 hours a week wasted life. I had three children. Id would have been worried that they would wander out on to that road and they need transport and friends. Wife needs own car for school run nursery etc

I moved after I retired early. It made sense to be close to work to cut commute to minimum. I cycled. Make life as easy as possible while I was working.

That main road would be a deal breaker. No way, not in a million years. If you want to move to the country, move to the country and enjoy the peace and quiet, not the constant rumble of traffic. That place has the worst of both worlds and none of the advantages.

As Crowded House sang….

I’d much rather have a caravan in the hills
Than a mansion in the slums
The taste of success only lasts you
Half an hour or less but it loves you when it comes
And you laugh at yourself
While you’re bleedin’ to death

Or as Phil and Kirstie say…. “location, location, location”.

Only you can decide what “location” means – Near to a tube station? Near to the sea? Near to your family?

How main is the main road?
Half an hour or so morning and evening Monday to Friday? Or busy all the time.

One i could possibly live with, the other. No chance.

I’m a 15 minute bike ride from work, otters live in the river at the bottom of the garden, we have 1/3 of an acre garden, a 10km run from the front door sees me out into field and woods, 2 hours on the train to London, 90 minute drive to the Lakes, 90 minute bike ride to Swaledale, decent schools, not on a main road, but it’s a bus route so gritted in the winter, parents and in-laws close enough to babysit. £500 a month mortgage.

Actually, I’d not really call it a ‘main’ road, thinking about it, it’s one of 2 roads between a provincial town of 40000 folk and Glasgow. The issue would be speed, that’s a stretch that folk will do 70 on, no question. My mates bro was killed just up the road last year.

I do think that transport for the kid(s) is a huge factor and I say that with a daughter who turns 6 on Tuesday.
We moved to the US and Mrs TT wanted a house ‘where we couldn’t see the neighbours from the kitchen window’. I pointed out how far we were driving to shuttle her to activities and what that would look like if we went rural, every year, until she could drive.
We didn’t buy rural.
With kids, you value your time more. Spending that time commuting is utterly dead time when you add it all up. I’ve never met a dad who says he spent too much time with his kids growing up.

throwing life for a ‘house’ no thanks

I grew up in the country on a farm in Cornwall, lived on it for years. People look at living in the countryside through rose tinted glasses. Certainly an issue when you leave school looking for a job. Countryside virtual zero employment without wheels.

Nearest place for children gym swimming, school, after school activity, day care, two cars, on a road, 2 hours commute a day, nearest shop, dental, doctor? Need I go on.

House, something people seem to pump money into their whole life. Then hang on to the four or three bedroom house in case the kids visit.

Don’t get me wrong I live within 1 km of the nearest wood and start of my trails. But I can jog to my gym in 15 mins, shop on the way back. Train station 20 min walk. 9 miles to motor way, 22 mile major city.

I was commuting an hour each way to work, and are moving further away, so with my diesel money we bought a cheap terraced house 5 mins from my work and I live there when I’m on shift (4 months per year total)

The new main house is a nice rural ruin thats being renovated, and it works very nicely atm. As you may guess though, we have no kids!

That road isn’t the best place in the world to be getting a house on, tbh you will find plenty more houses in the area that tick all the boxes but without the road on your doorstep. Stewarton and Kilmaurs would be my bet, right next to the 77 (M or A with the cycle track) and both have train stations for later on when your spawn want a night out in Glasgow. 736 just runs between two shite places, the faff of getting onto the 737 or through Paisley/Barrhead would be a deal breaker for me.

Just remember though, when it snows around there it really dumps, took a work colleague 3 hours to get home to Barrmill from West Kilbride last time we had a surprise flurry.

🙂 As expected we’re having all sorts of thoughts. At present we live where we live. My commute is typically 15-45mins anyway and my wife’s is 45-50 mins by bike or 30 by car, so 1hr isn’t much different.

Tonight’s main focal point is schools! It’s so hard to find real world feedback instead of tables of numbers.

Viewing a house tomorrow that’s under an hr commute and comes with views of open fields and includes a paddock (i.e. pump track).

My wife and I both grew up in the countryside and I always thought I’d want in adulthood what I had in my childhood. To my surprise, we’re still city-dwellers and have settled in a very central (but near greenery) corner of Bristol.

At the moment, we both cycle to work: 20 minutes each way for my wife and 35 minutes for me. Our kids are a 5-10 minute walk to their respective school and nursery – they’ve both gone to forest school in the local woods and still spend a fair bit of time there. It’s a 10 minutes ride to the local man-made MTB trails and about the same to the centre of town and a mainline rail station.

We’ve looked at what it would mean to move to the “countryside” many times. For us, it would mainly mean 10+ hours of commuting; even more time spent at least one wheeled a metal box; consequently less time with the kids; and – perversely – less time in the open air than where we live now.

Good luck to all those who can make it work – but for this country kid, I can’t see how it would work for my family right now!

I wouldn’t stress too much about schools. How well your kids do at school has got a lot more to do with you than the school. Our kids go to schools in Midlothian which wouldn’t be a lot of peoples first choice but they are both doing really well. My partner works at a school in a fairly well to do area and the kids there in general aren’t doing any “better”. They do have better bikes though.

Partially agree on schools, also think its a bit more complex depending on your circumstances.

For example, if I wasn’t working or doing a ‘career’ job then I would definitely be looking to live out of town, that’s when you have the time to use it. Ferrying child(ren) around would be the biggest limiter. If I was working working I would value simple access, things to do and locality to other kids/amenities above most things. Saying that we live SW Edinburgh and get a decent balance – 15mins on bike to work, 5 mins to the hills, offroad running from the bottom of the road but lots to do.

PS This is a picture of the place, to give you an idea of how tempting it is!

I always think that the worse house has got to be one in the country, next to a main/busy road.

Isolated, as in you have to drive everywhere, but busy, as everyone drives past you.

With youngsters too I’d worry about a fast road, and you can see the current folk try to ignore it as there isn’t a front door.

Having exactly the same discussion with my other half. We both love the idea of a big garden and roomy house, but not the additional commuting time and maintenance.

We have just put in an offer on a house that is in a s.all town; close to a station (required for commuting), means we can continue to have one car only, is close to a high street and not too far from woods/trails. It might not happen, but in our heads we have made the compromise already, as in particular our commute is long enough already.

If location and circumstances were different, would love to be in the countryside, but as I grew up in rural Devon I know it has both proa and cons for kids.

I don’t live in my dream house (The Missus seems close, but to me it’s just 4 walls and a roof on the edge of the suburban sprawl), but I can comment on the commute.

I live 5-10min drive from work, 15min on the bike, or a 35min walk if the weather is nice, none are exactly nice though.

Draw a straight line between my work and the better trails and it’s about a 40min drive and I used to live about halfway, which was OK.

So my weekly driving has gone from:

10x20min commutes and 4x20min drive to/from trails = 4h40min per week.

To:
1hour commuting to work, and never driving to the trails, because 1h20 in the car isn’t worth it for a 90min night-ride.

So I’ve gained 2h30min per week, but I probably spend most of that in bed in the morning, and dithering round the house, washing up, etc, waiting for the missus to come home in the evening.

So in actual fact, I’ve lost 2h30min into the ether, and another 3h of riding. I don’t get that back in any kind of fun way, the house is just a little tidier, she does even less of the cooking and I probably have a few more ****s.

I’d rather have a 40min commute and trails on my doorstep.

As for kids and the countryside, I grew up in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think I missed out on anything.