Does the idea of of a hideaway Home appeal?

As did many things, Himself & I started looking at lots of programmes about hideaway homes during the pandemic. Not all were of the remote treehouse or rustic cabin in the woods variety, it’s also been our pleasure to browse video tours of gorgeous Italian properties – especially those in the hills of Tuscany.

It’s been really enjoyable living vicariously via all those people who have chosen to renovate Martello towers on the UK coast, to transform a disused Victorian water tower, to create a tiny home out of old railway carriages, and to save listed buildings across the country. It’s been fascinating observing from afar the process of planning and building new homes, especially those with a twist. Whether it was the property built entirely underground into the side of a hill, a barn in rural Portugal, or that actual treehouse – the ideas for creating a home, whether by throwing lots of money at it, or creating something out of very little, have been positively riveting. What has been surprising – and somewhat disturbing – is the variances in conservation practices and laws across the country, where there’ve been quite distressing examples of not permitting the practical and the beautiful, but allowing visual horrors in their stead.

Like many in our age group, we idly toy with the range of potential retirement lifestyles… even if the reality ends up being very different 😉 Not long ago, I had the option to live anywhere I chose – unencumbered by family responsibility or work requirements – and I found the prospect overwhelming. Without something practical as a starting point, and having the entire country (even the world to a certain extent) as my oyster, was a tad mind-boggling. In the end, we hitched our wagon to a part of the country where Himself had been offered a job he thought he’d like – and so here we are. But what about when we no longer have that requirement? The further away from people and city life, the happier Himself is, whereas I’m quite partial to urban amenities. Our present location is a compromise between the two – almost rural enough for him and almost cultured enough for me. It seems likely that we’ll end up opting for a similar compromise.

What & where remain the questions. Whether it’s somewhere on a Tuscan hill with the joys of ADSL (remember those days) or a windswept cliff-top house with all the mod-cons plumbed in, it’s going to be an interesting journey finding out. Although we could still end up someone uber-ordinary and traditional after going round & round in circles! 😀

If you had an option to live absolutely anywhere – what might appeal to you? Putting aside the practical and the pragmatic for now, would it be amazing vistas, historical architecture, fabulous weather, beautiful landscape, being one with nature, or something else which draws you?

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© Debra Carey, 2022