Roller Coaster Ride

It was touch and go when Mary and Martin fell in,then out of love with their Victorian villa…But now they’re home for good. 

- Katherine Sorrell

Life’s been a bit bumpy for Mary and Martin Bradley since they took on this house. Five years ago, they made the big move from city to country and were enjoying family life in their Victorian villa just outside a large county town in Kent. But 12 months later, they had put the house back on the market and couldn’t wait to move on. Disaster. Fast-forward to today, still in the same house, and they couldn’t be happier. What went so horribly wrong? And then so wonderfully right?

‘We’d been living in a large terrace house in south London, which we’d converted and extended to the max,’ says Mary. ‘But we had three growing children and longed for more space, so it seemed like a good idea to move somewhere not too far away that ticked all the boxes in terms of good schools and a reasonable commute for Martin.’ This house was only the second one they viewed and they ‘fell head over heels with it immediately’.

‘It overlooks the countryside, but is a ten-minute walk from all the shops, bars and restaurants and it has great character, with high ceilings and a fabulous feeling of space,’ explains Mary.

The love didn’t last. Not only did it slowly dawn on the couple – as their house fell apart around them – that a huge amount of modernisation was required, but also that the configuration of rooms ‘just didn’t work’.