Having an empty nest made married couple Jackie and Michael rethink their lives, and at the core of the desire to start a new chapter was the location of their home - they no longer needed to commute to London with graphic designer Michael able to work from home and good schools on the doorstep was a 'wish-list' criteria from the past.
St Albans, Hertfordshire was hopefully going to be ditched for the stunning Cornish landscape, with one of the driving forces being Michael's hatred of living near a noisy road - peace and tranquillity was the aim for their house hunt and they thought Cornwall could give them this in abundance.
The couple had a 'wish-list' of a large and light three-bed property with a garage and studio potential and the priority of no noise, and they had a budget of £750,000 for BBC's Escape to the Country team to try and achieve it.
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The first property presenter Steve Brown took the couple to see was near the village of Trenance and was a pretty white-washed cottage. Jackie and Michael seemed to like the house but there was not really a bright spark of excitement emanating from either of them and the main issue was the size of the spaces for entertaining family and friends, but at least there was no road noise. It was on the market for £695,000.
And it's just as well the pair didn't fall for property number one because it was actually, at the time of filming, in the process of being bought by a couple that the programme had house hunted with when they visited Cornwall too - that could have been awkward.
Past participants on the show Gary and Alison were at home, on the sofa, with a brew, watching the programme and watching Jackie and Michael having a tour around the house that they had already had an offer accepted on - find out more about that here.
On to property two near the hamlet of Roscroggan and the stunning, symmetrical detached Georgina gem could hardly fail to impress, and it certainly did, and maybe a bit too much. Jackie said: "It looks lovely. I'm just slightly surprised because it seems much grander than anywhere I picture myself so that's quite a weird sensation - it feels above my station.
"I hadn't expected to come across a very fine Georgian building, it's very grand. Being a Jane Austin fan it does have that feel, that you could be in a Jane Austin novel and you'd have to be very polite over your tea while sizing up the neighbours."
Michael was enchanted by the house, inside and out. He said: "It's beautiful, magnificent, exactly what we were looking for. I wouldn't change much here at all, it's lovely. For me a house with this façade with this entrance is our dream home."
There was half an acre of garden plus the planning in place to build a double garage with a studio above it, but Jackie spotted a problem, she said to Michael: "It might be yours (dream) but it's far too nice to keep chickens in!"
But there is more of an issue here than just the worry of where the chickens might go and would they feel comfortable living in a real-life Jane Austin novel. Michael said: "I was so shocked it was exactly what we were dreaming of, I never thought we'd see anything like this. From the moment we came along the drive everything just seemed to click, everything seemed to be right, I was feeling like we'd found the house of our dreams.
"Unfortunately after just a very short period of being here we realised that one of the things that wasn't quite right was the road, the house is stunning, we would buy the house, but what you've made us think about is that the road noise is the most important thing, it's shown me that it doesn't matter how beautiful the house is, the main property is peace and tranquillity.
Even the under budget price tag of £700,000 could not beat the road issue into submission and Jackie is upset, saying it wasn't fair, and Michael quipped the £50,000 they'd save on the purchase price they'd have to put towards building a by-pass.
Jackie looked glum and said: "The road is a big issue, it's upsetting because this is a house you can say yes to because it is perfect." Jackie underlines her disappointment when Steve asked her if she is happy and the answer was a definite no.
Maybe the mystery house could bring a smile to the couple's face, and this time the setting of the cottage near the village of Coverack was perfect because it was silent, with just birdsong to hear and a stunning sea view to captivate.
The price of £675,000 did not impress the couple but the location and view was a winner so Jackie and Michael decided to go for a second viewing but all that did was reinforce the view that the house itself was not for them, so the couple wandered off into the Cornish sunset still look for the prized property combination of stunning house and serene setting.
This story was featured on Escape to the Country series 22, episode 25, currently available to view on BBC iPlayer. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here and join the Amazing Welsh Homes property Facebook group here. For the latest TV and showbiz news sign up to our newsletter here.
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