To think this house is too remote to be feasible

[HungryHouseHunter]

Name change. Posting in AIBU for traffic. We are considering putting an offer on this house. It's exactly the style we want with more land than we wanted but I'm worried it's too far from Winchester where we started looking. To get the train station I'll need to drive, to get to the shops I'll need to drive! Does anyone do this ? Do you end up resenting the inconvenience? For example I couldn't just pop out for a big shop, I think I would need to drive to Winchester and pay for parking etc. Would need to pay for parking at train station when using it (at least twice a week). Do these things just get more and more annoying. Currently live somewhere where car isn't even really needed.

Also value for money?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145236887

It can be hard to get a mortgage on a barn conversion, many lenders won’t do it. I was a mortgage underwriter for a few years and never actually saw an application for one.

Not saying don’t try, just something to think about as it could be a lot of hassle. I’d love a property like that if I could afford it.

My first thought is how hideous the heating bill will be, all those roof voids mean you're wasting an awful lot of heat on heating open space above you.
It says 'Oil gas' under the utilities, gas will be VERY pricey, oil if you have a large tank you can shop about and monitor the price, we buy with several neighbours and bought last week at 55.5p/litre vs todays' price of 56.9p/l - in winter this will typically be 70-80p, so you can buy in cheaper in summer.
Being a barn conversion you've a lovely big roof but unlikely to be allowed solar, so do check what an average monthly bill for heating and electricity is for this property - it's a big property and I think will be shocking! My friend lives in a similarly edge of urban but rural much smaller house, and has nailed the heating down to about 700l oil a year and £65/month electricity. As she's pretty much retired that's ideal.
Then, you are quite near the motorway, this will be VERY noisy, so do make a point of standing out on the patio and listening on a busy weekend day or evening. I personally wouldn't live that close, we're further from the M4 motorway and it can annoy me if the wind is in that direction. However where you are it'll rumble with lorries through the night going to/from the docks.
Then there's the lane: it's very narrow, how are you at reversing? Because with that farm there I bet you'll have to get used to it!
With just over 3 acres, this is too big for your average farmer with big machinery to come in and mow the paddock or cut and take hay, so unless you plan on horses or sheep that'll be a cost/hassle too - either your own small tractor or a subcontractor with tractor.

Really appreciate your thoughts

Motorway noise would be a turn off for me.

It doesn't look very cosy.

It was built originally to house hay, or perhaps cattle. And it does still feel somewhat barn-like.

I wouldn’t get distracted by a barn amid farmers’ fields if your intention was to move to Winchester - they are very different propositions, even if Winchester is nearby. Think of the potential effects of bad weather (whether snow or flooding - eg roads ungritted, last to have electricity restored as priority goes to the towns and cities, flooding, etc, making 3 miles to town suddenly feel a lot further than that); a large, isolated house feels very different when you are alone at night - the “nobody to hear you scream” effect, and also potentially attractive to burglars, so would require excellent security. Also, far more land than you were anticipating. If your original dream was not to buy a spacious money pit in the middle of beautiful countryside, then I wouldn’t buy it, as it’s clearly not what you are actually looking for, so is just a surface fantasy.

Oh god. Doubt!

... I'd be inclined to look for a house designed to house humans from the outset....

If I had £2.6 mill to spare I'd consider that one very seriously indeed. Also I'm fascinated by the current owner's somewhat eclectic tastes!

This made me chuckle.

I'd hate all those beams, and I never understand why people who do barn conversions think those massively high ceilings are attractive: I would always be worrying about how much I was spending to heat empty space, and how on earth I could ever clean up there.

OP, if you want cafés on your doorstep, and I wouldn't blame you in the least, this one seriously is not for you.

^ It's the need to always drive there rather than the actual distance. I'm used to 5 cafes outside the door !^

You will need to drive to do pretty much anything. Unless you can find footpaths to go cross country. Rural roads aren't safe/pleasant to walk along usually.

It probably isn't for you if you want to maintain a cafe-on-your-doorstep lifestyle.

You'll end up spending half of your life chauffeuring your kids, and it gets worse as they get older.

You couldn't pay me (or my kids!) to live somewhere they can't go round their mates house or wander down to the shops.

I had no idea that people with £2.5 million to spend on houses worried about the parking and heating costs. We really are all in it together, aren't we, comrades?

My absolute ideal of heaven!!!! Neighbours are annoying, I'd love to live far away from everyone!

It’s only three miles. They could bike into Winchester in ten minutes. We’re three miles from the nearest secondary, the local kids all bike or walk to school.

You have the option of shawford station also.
Badger farm Sainsbury's - parking is free.
It is a bit of a nightmare on those tiny lanes btw.

all those roof voids mean you're wasting an awful lot of heat on heating open space above you.

Also, spiders. Lots and lots of spiders.

I know where that is, you would be a 5 min drive from a big Sainsburys. It's not remote at all. But yes, you would have to drive to get places but that's what happens when you want country.

Also, you'll probably get traffic noise from M3

Looks beautiful in the daylight but imagine winter and being snowed in.

If the cost of parking at the station is a concern, then I can’t see how your energy bill will be affordable.

Barn conversions tend to look nice but are often expensive to heat and usually are surrounded by farmland. Whilst it’s not rural, I can see your point about needing to drive to get anywhere but that is something you do quite quickly become accustomed to. However, given it doesn’t really tick the boxes you are looking for, have you actually viewed it?

Yeah but opposite the petrol station- I used to rent near there then bought in Littleton. I know it quite well. Better houses in Winch for that budget.

It's one mile from the nearest train station.I live 5 miles from the nearest village and don't consider it to be too rural. The house really isn't shown off to full advantage, the photos are disappointing for the large asking price.

If you're concerned about these things maybe you shouldn't even consider living rurally, you're either suited to it or you're not and it can be an expensive (in every way) experiment to only discover you're not suited to it.

If I were you, I'd continue your search in areas closer to 'facilities' yet far enough to get a 'sense' of rural living in all seasons.

I don’t know this area at all but it seems a very similar setup to where we live and we have a 3 acre paddock. We’re a bit further from the nearest town - about 10 miles - and we also have two good sized cities about 15 miles away in opposite directions. We are rural but near enough to a motorway (proximity to the motorway was actually a required for us as we both commute a fair distance to work). You soon get used the road noise and to be honest when the birds are out you don’t actually hear it. Even if you do, the view and the wildlife make up for it.

You will also get used to the getting in the car and it will likely make you more organised. I very rarely run out of anything now as ‘nipping out’ is a bit of a faff.

Our closest neighbours are almost exclusively farmers. We have never had to worry about being snowed in as they have generally cleared the roads before we are even out of bed. Either the farmers kids or our ds mow the paddock for £50 (a bargain as it would take dh ages, even though he does have an industrial mower). Once or twice a year, the farmers also put their sheep in the paddock to pasture and they help keep the grass down - win win.

You will spend lots of time running the kids about. We mitigated that a bit by being pretty much an open house (then the other parents have to drop their kids to you). And like us you’ve a train station nearby so as they get older you’re dropping and picking them up from there which is far easier. It does give the kids an incentive to learn to drive quickly - dh passed his test after only 2 months.

Fwiw our kids absolutely love living here, even now. We’ve asked if they would prefer to live nearer town with more activities and both have said absolutely not. It probably helps that we’re still happy to collect after a day or night out and always have a car full.

Dh and I love it here too. We have plenty of space but neighbours not too far away. We all keep to ourselves but if we/they need anything we all know we can ask. It felt like home from the day we moved in and I’ve never felt unsafe at night, even when dh is away, purely and simply because if you didn’t know where we were you would never find us so I don’t think burglars would venture out to a place that they can’t stake out. But we do have a comprehensive security system and cameras all around the property just in case.

Ultimately it’s up to you but before I met dh I was a die hard city girl and now I couldn’t imagine living somewhere that hectic and busy.