Lucia Paredes has lived in capital cities all her life — first her native Lisbon and then London — which made moving out to the sticks a true culture shock.
But changing her life for the sake of her young family has proved a revelation, prompting a career pivot and a completely new definition of happiness.
Lucia, 41, her partner Jamie Kirk, 50, and their two children, Chloe, eight, and Axel, six, traded a flat in Stoke Newington for a historic fixer-upper barn in Rutland, England’s smallest county.
Before leaving London Lucia was head of marketing for Universal Pictures, while Luke worked as a software designer.
“I loved my job but I would be on calls at 7am because New Zealand wanted something, and at 8pm, because I needed to talk to Los Angeles, and doing lots of weekend and evening events,” said Lucia.
“I enjoyed it but when you have two children and you realise you are not seeing them it stopped making sense. Careerwise a change was needed.”
“There was a part of the garden we didn’t even know we had. Inside it was falling apart.”
The other issue was the cost of housing in London — the couple had bought a three-bedroom flat but upsizing to a larger property was not going to be feasible.
In 2016 Lucia re-trained as a life coach, and when the children were very small she and Jamie began considering a move out of London. They looked all over Europe for options, but it was on a trip to Jamies’ parents home in Market Harborough that they found the solution.
“We took the opportunity to visit Rutland Water, and that was it,” said Lucia. “The sun shining, the glimmering water, the birds singing —and the people were smiling. It charmed us. Within weeks, we had returned back to London, put our flat on the market and started to look at properties in the area.”
The property they chose was a run-down barn in the village of Manton. Built in circa 1815, the property had been empty for several years. “Outside of the building was completely overgrown,” said Lucia. “There was a part of the garden we didn’t even know we had. Inside it was falling apart.”
Despite having no renovation experience the couple decided to take the plunge. They sold their flat for £755,000, and paid £445,000 for the barn. They then spent two years and another £400,000 on renovating and extending the property into a four bedroom family home.
“We had seen Grand Designs, we knew what happens, but we didn’t want to believe.”
The family rented a house and, until the pandemic, Lucia commuted to work in London — a six hour round trip.
Jamie, who is self-employed, could work from home but he was also appointed project manager. “It was a stressful time,” said Lucia. “I think we were naïve. We had seen Grand Designs, we knew what happens, but we didn’t want to believe. But it took longer than we had expected, and the budget grew.”
Finally, in 2018, the house was completed and the family could move in, and in 2022 Lucia was able to quit her job and make the career change she had dreamed of, working as a life coach and, more recently, running countryside retreats for frazzled city high flyers.
“Rutland has changed my life, not just from a practical and physical point of view, but mentally,” said Lucia.
“The rolling hills, being surrounded by nature, being able to spend time with my family, not having to always rush has been a great adventure.”
