When Harry Parkes first set eyes on the house that was to become his family home he was unimpressed.
“My husband’s first comment was: “Please don’t make me live here,” says Abby Parkes.
The property in question was a contemporary eco home which, whilst energy efficient and characterful, was also neglected and dated.
Its 1.5 acres of garden and woodland was an overgrown wilderness, but Abby could see potential shining through the moss, saplings, and weeds.
She was particularly interested in the ramshackle garage block beside the house, which she believed could become a valuable extra income stream to assist her family’s move from Chiswick to Wiltshire.
At the start of the pandemic the Parkes and their two boys, Lucas, now 15, and Casper, now ten, were happily settled in a Victorian terraced house in Chiswick.
Harry designed digital products for a bank, while Abby ran her own small business, selling hand-dyed yarn and silk.
For years the couple had watched TV shows like Grand Designs and Escape to the Country and imagined making their own getaway.
“We had talked about moving out of London for years and dreamed about living in the countryside,” says Abby.
“Then lockdown happened, Harry was working from home, and I was just very conscious that we had two very boisterous, loud boys and there were probably about 300 pairs of ears on them every time they went into the garden.
“Both of us grew up in the countryside and we wanted our children to have their own experience of that.”
In August 2020, having sold their house in a matter of days for circa £1.35m, the couple moved to their new six-bedroom home in Alderbury, which is three miles south east of Salisbury.
The house had cost them £975,000 which meant they had enough money left over to fund a complete cosmetic do-over – new kitchen, bathrooms, and redecoration.
Then they turned their attention to the outside. They got planning permission to replace the garage with a one-bedroom timber clad lodge, which now rents out from £160-a-night (littlewillowbank.co.uk).
And the garden has been tamed, with trees thinned out, a new lawn and planting. “It is really pretty,” says Abby, 55.
Harry, 54, got a new job soon after moving, this time for an energy company. He tends to work from home a couple of days per week, with the rest of the time spent in London or Bristol.
Trains back to the capital take around an hour and 20 minutes. Abby, regretfully, shut down her yarn business and now manages the lodge rentals instead.
Leaving London was a wrench for Lucas, who very much missed his old friends. But he has now fully settled into country life. “He says he’s happy we moved,” says Abby.
Casper was much younger and found the move less stressful, while Abby has found a close group of new friends made at the school gates.
“My good friends from London come to stay, and I probably see more of them, and have more quality time, than I used to snatching a quick lunch or a coffee with them.”
She has also found the time to train as an ADHD coach, and hopes to work with children and families, and enjoys gardening and taking the family’s two lurcher dogs, Midge and Mozzi, for long country walks.
Looking back Abby doesn’t regret all the years she spent living in London and dreaming of a country life.
“I know a lot of people who did it when they were younger, and found it a bit boring,” she says. “I was 50 when we moved, my life had slowed down, and I am quite happy to go to bed at 9.30pm.”
