No, it doesn't.
We sold the first of only two houses that have felt like home to me back in 2007. It was a gorgeous 6 bed Victorian detached house on the south coast that we'd put everything into restoring (DIY) from several rundown flats/bedsits. It was in the perfect location and everything about it was exactly how we wanted it - but at 3500 sq ft it was way too large for us.
I pined for that house through the next two we owned and renovated. They both lovely in their own way - one was Tudor, the other a semi-rural Georgian thatched with 0.3 acre garden - but I never had that feeling of being at home in either.
Then, in 2014, we found a stunning detached mid Victorian three-storey cottage with an Arts and Crafts extension up in the Midlands. Despite having been empty for years and needing a ton of work, I felt like I was home from the first moment we viewed it. The garden - although neglected - had superb bones and the house itself was full of original features. We collected Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts furniture etc back then and I had visions of creating the perfect backdrop for our stuff. Sadly my dad had just died, then - three months after purchasing 'the dream home', my mum died too and our business also began failing. We struggled on for a while, stripping the house back (it was a forest of woodchip wallpaper), prepping it for rewiring, new kitchen etc, but eventually we realised we'd have to sell and made a loss when we did. Coming on top of everything else, I was heartbroken particularly as it's the one house we never finished renovating - I still feel I let the place down.
On the rebound we bought a little detached mill in Wales that had been repossessed. Yet again we put everything into making it a beautiful home, but our hearts weren't in it. Despite this, we lasted six years, during which time we created a 0.5 acre garden from scratch, as well as completely reconfiguring the layout of the house. By late 2023 we couldn't wait to sell and knew that we should start thinking about moving home to the south of England. Of course this meant potentially downsizing as we'd never get as much house for our money as we had in Wales.
Whilst we were in the process of selling/buying, our old Midlands house came onto the market again and I was so sad as now we couldn't afford to buy it back.
The little West Sussex semi-detached Georgian cottage we eventually bought was a compromise (but it is two minutes walk from the seafront 😊) and I hated it from the moment I stepped inside, which didn't bode well! We're gradually putting all the character back and DH - who loves it - thinks he can persuade me to make this our 'forever' home, but he's wrong. Whilst I love everything we're doing, it still doesn't feel anything like home, nearly 18 months on, and I can't see that it ever will.
I think that became we don't stint when we renovate, we do end up with homes that are lovely (imo, obviously!), but if that spark isn't there, whatever we do will never make it feel like home. Fingers crossed for next time🤞