Hello all. I am having a major house dilemma and dricing myself crazy so I have decided to see what the wise people of mumsnet think! My dh and I decided long ago that we alsways wanted to move out of London to somewhere more rural once we'd had our second child. We settled on two villages, one more practical (it has a school, two pubs, a gp, church, a decent shop open 7 days a week, village green, loads of stuff going on) in a semi rural location, and an idyllic village with a smaller village shop selling the essentials, a very pretty pub, and a school and church and village green. Both similar distance (two miles) from nearest station, both have a fairly decent bus service too.
We've found a houses we love in both villages. The one in the semi rural village is a show stopper in terms of size and rooms and it's very charming and has a big long garden and is set on a village street. But the second house in the more rural village is in a stunning location, a few mins from centre of village down a country lane and it's set on a plot with a front cottage garden and the back garden although a bit smaller backs onto lovely fields. But the house is smaller and would need an extention, which we have the money to do but still...
I know the bang on house in the semi rural location is the more sensible choice, but I always imagined living right in the country, and seeing it from my window. And it's not as if the pretty village is without amenities. But still I can't decide, or imagine how I will feel once I am there. I get more excited thinking about the rural location, but once I am living there in mid February and I have less neighbours on my doorstep will I feel a bit stranded?
What do you think I should do???