I live in any old farmhouse, parts of which date back to 1700s.
I absolutely love being in the country. Even better when you are starting out young on a project like this! 😃💪
Agree with what pps have said about battling nature as every year we have a different plague: rats, mice, wasps, ants, slugs even frogs! And the mosquitos at night are unbelievable. We sleep under nets now.
Agree also about letting an old house breathe and any insulation used must be breathable and natural.
Our main issues moving from town to country have been:
-lack of available help (there is loads to do on the land such as fencing and land management of hedges and drainage) the work is often fairly back breaking!
-good tradesmen are hard to find for the house too, and when you do find them, they are booked up two or three years in advance. It’s a nightmare tbh!
-the cost of everything plus extra petrol costs
-you mention a school; make sure you check out secondaries as well as primaries! Time goes fast and it will be your teens doing the daily commute and you will be chauffeuring to friends and extra curricular events. It can have a huge impact on their social life. Think about this carefully. Also if there is any drug/county line problem where you intend to buy.
-the way you interact with your neighbours. This is kind of the reverse of what you think it will be like. In town you can be relatively private. In the country, even though you may seem them less, you are forced to interact with your nearest neighbours more, because you rely on one another in case of extreme weather events, sudden illness or accidents, escaped animals. And you all have to get along however difficult the personalities can be. It’s wise to be friendly with all of them and attend and help out at village events, but remain strictly neutral when it comes to village disputes!
-one huge advantage is the ability to keep animals which is not only thoroughly enjoyable in itself - they also bring new friends and acquaintances in to your life, especially if you go to local shows, or horse-ride or rear animals for profit or leisure. It’s a great way of meeting people.
Good luck with your decision!