Our Dorset Life

We’d always talked about living by the sea. My parents had retired to Dorset, and every time we visited, it planted a little seed. But like many people, we thought it would be a “maybe one day” kind of dream.

That changed when Nick’s job became fully remote. Suddenly, we didn’t have to stay in Surrey and with our children still young, we realised if we were ever going to make a move, now was the time. We started to think seriously about what we wanted long-term: more space, a slower pace, and the chance to live closer to family and the coast.

We began our house hunt with a pretty fixed brief (or so we thought). I was clear that I didn’t want a renovation project, absolutely not. Nick, who comes from a family of renovators, was more open-minded. We initially found two properties that seemed ideal, one that was fully renovated and another with the right number of bedrooms, but both fell through. With our own buyers already lined up and time running out, we needed to make a decision.

That’s when we widened our search and came across the house we live in now in a gorgeous seaside town.

It was in a village we loved, close to my parents, and ticked so many boxes, apart from the fact it needed a lot of work. We’d written it off at first because of that. But with other options disappearing and the location being so good, we decided to take another look.

Because of Covid travel restrictions, I couldn’t go in person, so Nick and my parents went to view it. I joined via FaceTime. They saw the potential immediately, and by the end of the call, I felt the same. We made an offer the next day.

The house was a 3-bedroom 1980s detached in need of modernisation, but it had good bones and space to grow into. It wasn’t what I thought we were looking for, but something about it just felt right and three years later, I can honestly say I’m so glad we took the leap.

I’ll be sharing more about our journey so come back soon for more.

Love Sarah x