"Escape to the Country" : Sort of an English House Hunters
Only much better than House Hunters! kswl2 mentioned this BBC show in the thread on compromise, so I searched and found many episodes on YouTube. I watched several of them yesterday and I'm already addicted. The show's premise is much like HH, except they follow a couple moving from an English city to the country, viewing three properties with a "mystery house" shown to them at the end. The houses are so charming and interesting to me, but of course I have long had an affinity for all things English, so this is right up my alley. The couples don't annoy me by whining about things that aren't "updated", and it's very interesting to see where their priorities lie. Big, family-gathering kitchens and outdoor spaces for entertaining. (Yes, they do talk about entertaining a good deal!) It's fascinating to see the interiors of 16th century Suffolk homes and Cornish fisherman's cottages. I never before longed to live in a barn conversion, but now I certainly do. Looks like the couples don't always end up choosing any of the homes shown to them, so it feels more real than HH in that regard. The houses are so pretty - of course, it helps that the price ranges (at least in the episodes I've seen so far) are 350-650k GBP! I am going to have a total binge-fest for some time to come watching all of these. I'm really enjoying seeing a lot of the places I've visited, and discovering new little villages that I never even knew existed.
Anyone else an addict?
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agoRelated Discussions
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8 years agomsmeow
8 years agoUser
8 years agoschoolhouse_gw
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Gooster
8 years agoUser
8 years ago
annac54
8 years agoOh good, something interesting to watch! We spend a week in Britain this summer, most of it outside of London. Some of our relatives were there staying in a "cottage" owned by some friends who now live in the US. Can I say I was in heaven? I think I would have changed some things in the cottage, but not much. So beautiful there, especially since I live in drought-cursed SoCal. The cottage was in a part of the country where they film a lot of the historical BBC shows because it's not very developed. I think I could live there. Here's a picture of the scenery nearby.
cacocobird
8 years agoUser
8 years agoOh, annac54 - how glorious! That is a view I could just sit and stare at for hours! It reminds me very much of this photo I took in the picturesque village of Snowshill in the Cotswolds. Such a lovely pastoral scene!
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8 years agoUser
8 years agoYou can stream from the BBC via a VPN service like Tunnel Bear. You can also change certain settings on your iPad to stream some content---at least you could in the olden days about five years ago. ITV is a different story, though, you have to be on a pc or Mac through a VPN, as their player app is unavailable to people whose apple accounts are registered in the U.S.
some photos:
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8 years agoI know, MizGG! Impossible to decide, really! I think I'll stay at The Tryst, because that's a brilliant name for a cottage, and I'm longing to sleep in this bedroom.
My mother and I were in Suffolk three years ago and drove to Kersey one day. We peered into this rental cottage (there were no guests at the time) and oooh'd and aaaah'd appropriately. Truly, my heart goes pitter-patter. The history! The loving care with which these places have been restored and conserved. I just love it.
jlc712
8 years agochisue
8 years agoannac54
8 years ago
nhb22
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoThank you for posting. I am getting really tired of HGTV. ;)
My husband and I returned last month from a trip to England among other countries. We spent 5 nights in London, and took a day trip out to the Cotswolds. I am ready to live there, but at 5'10", I am not sure I could take the low ceilings day in and day out. Boo!
Here are a couple of cottages that we saw. We even had a proper English tea in one of the homes.
Thank you for the photo posting tip. :)
This is the cottage where we had tea.
Cotswold Village
Storybook Cottages
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8 years agopatty_cakes42
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
LOL! That's the spirit, patty_cakes! I have become once again obsessed with Emma Bridgewater, thanks to spotting a couple of her adorable dotted mugs on the kitchen table in an episode I watched last night.msmeow
8 years agonhb22
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI just finished watching my 1st episode, set in the Cotswolds, of course! I am in love and cannot wait to go back.
I forgot to mention that we saw some property that was featured in The Holiday movie,while over there. One was Rachel Wards (Thorne Birds) family estate. Cameron Diaz and Judd law had lunch there.
CORNWELL MANOR (Rachel Ward family estate)
Te other was a far away view of Kate Winslet's real home, set upon a hillside, with a beautiful view of the rolling pastures including sheep and rock walls.
User thanked nhb22raphaellathespanishwaterdog
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoOoh, the last pic in kswl2's post at 3.55pm on Thursday is of Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset - five minutes drive from our last house on the Wiltshire side of the Wilts/Dorset border - see attached pic. For those that are familiar with the English tv ad for Hovis bread a few years back, Gold Hill was the location used.....although most English viewers apparently believed the street was much further north in Yorkshire ;)
Loving all these quintessentially English village views ladies! We are fans of Escape to the Country and Jules is our favourite presenter too, btw.......
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