Village, big house, small garden, would you?

[soonbesailing]

We are townies who are thinking of a move to the country.

We have viewed a good property that needs doing up (that's what we are looking for) but in is in a village where it seems like nothing much happens,
it has a pub (that isn't very nice) and a small shop.

The garden to the property is walled and enclosed but not very big and the wall is on the main road through the village, when you are in the garden it is lovely and private not really overlooked and has a view of the church in the background, but its not the type of garden I had imagined village life would bring.

Do you think that this could be a problem? when done up the house and attached barn would be about 7 bedrooms, do you think it sounds like it could feel unbalanced and be a problem when we come to sell as we don't think we would stay for longer than 6/7 years?

Do most people who live in the country want a big garden?

I wouldn't buy it. I do think it would be unbalanced with the house, and for me a big garden is important. Even more so if I was moving for country life.

We had a house years ago that we lived in, in a nice village with a fair sized garden. By the time we moved out my dad had extended it to a huge house and a modest garden.

He sold the house, but not for anywhere near what the 'house' was worth on the right plot. People who want to buy big expensive houses usually want big gardens. There will always be someone who doesn't but the majority will.

You can change the house, but you can't change the plot. Buyer's of 7 bed country houses will most like have a gaggle of children, nannies, grannies, dogs, cars, bikes, garden furniture, logs, hens and plans for veg plots and will want plenty of outdoor space for them all.

I'd also add that other things people actively avoid when buying a country house are being on the main village road and in-your-face church bells that chime quarterly, day and night.

Also, don't imagine "nothing much happens" in the village. I've lived in the town and the country and, despite appearances, life is more active and social in the country....quizzes in the church hall, fundraisers in the marquee, carol services, flower shows, real ale festivals and enough trick or treaters at halloween to eat you out of house and home.

If you're after making money, you might do better elsewhere. But this house is probably a bit cheaper because of it's quirks. You could move in, enjoy an easier life with a smaller mortgage, do the place up as you'd like it. You might fall in love with all the quirks of the house and of village life and live there happily ever after.

No. Did it. Hated it. Stuck it for a few years then got out. Moved to a small market town...smaller house - bigger garden and now a life....a choice of shops, pubs, the odd eatery and coffeeeeee mmmmmm.

And telling about the "Not really over-looked"......Not really? It either is or isn't.

And a pub that "isn't very nice".

I would wait. It is a big move to a village anyway. If you are not sure about the house or the village then wait.

You have to think about how the house got there.

In our village, few of the "character" houses have big plots except the former manor/lodge and a couple of bigger Victorian "villas". They were originally cottages and farmhouses built beside the road (before "main roads" had noisy traffic) on the minimum necessary land sliced off the edge of productive fields. If the house was split off from the farm, only the yard might have come with it. They were never planned to have aspirational big gardens.

Only the 1930s properties onwards, or ones where they are next to bit of odd land that floods or something, have more space. Some of the properties that once had bigger plots have had a modern cul-de-sac built around the side/back and no garden at all .

keep hunting for the needle in a haystack though!

My ideal house would be large with a small garden. We need a big house for our large family, but detest gardening, hedge-cutting, grass-cutting etc.

We currently live in a 4/5 bedrooms detached house Wth what most people would consider a courtyard garden. We love it.

Thank you for all the replies all very interesting, confirms what I have been thinking.

I think it is a case of the right house in the wrong place and the wrong plot, but it is on the market for a good price and obviously there is always a reason for that.

I'm worried that we would spend a lot on doing it up and then find that the village does not command the price we would need to sell at the recover your costs, I know this is a really bad way to think but some of it is to do with the reality of thinking about leaving a good London market where property still goes up (although not as quickly as in the past).

Fishfingers I know you have commented on a previous thread I posted, as the area I am looking at is near where you live and I know you are doing up a house at the moment, so I am really interested to hear what you say.

My teenager was slightly aghast at the village when we took him to see the house at the weekend, and that has been stuck in my head since!