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FunTranscript
00:02some couples share a dream that can differ on the details and he's happier to be more isolated but I
00:09would like to be attached to a village of some kind he's always said he'd like to walk to a
00:12coffee shop there can be confusion over which direction a house search should head I'm gonna
00:19flow this way oh yeah they've already got their separate entrances and exits so we like to offer
00:28a reminder of the bigger picture this is incredible the views are amazing this is what you move for
00:35absolutely yeah absolutely
01:04the heart of Scotland a fertile mineral rich landscape bestowing wealth influence innovation
01:13and some very beautiful countryside homes so join us as we head to the central lowlands
01:21caught between the wild beauty of the highlands and the gentle rolling hills of the lowlands
01:27Scotland's central valley is a true sweet spot it's the kind of place where you can hike up a
01:33hill in the morning hit a gig in the evening and still be home before the midges get you
01:42also known as the central lowlands the central valley spans Scotland's waistline covering council
01:50areas including parts of the Scottish borders the Lothians and North and South Lanarkshire it's
01:56relatively flat fertile soil along with iron and coal fueled settlement and it's where three quarters of
02:04Scotland's population now reside enjoying a combination of remote rural terrain with no fewer than six of
02:12the nation's eight cities so we are quite very central very central hub here excellent routes to
02:19Stirland to Edinburgh to Glasgow people come from all over it's very easy to get to here you're quickly
02:26into one of the wildest or most exciting and fresh environments of nature you want to explore it within
02:33reason respectfully and you also use it as a way to recharge historically lowlanders spoke Scots closer
02:40to English than the Gaelic of the Highlands and developed a culture based on the bar or community
02:47which continues today I think the sense of community can really be measured by the amount of volunteers that
02:54are giving up their time really there's lots of opportunities for volunteering and people of
02:59different faiths and cultures coming together is always a welcome sight from the prairies of Canada to
03:14the picturesque central lowlands of Scotland leaving vast open spaces for scenic landscapes and historic
03:22towns today's couple had a full-on life in Canada but for one of them coming back to their Scottish
03:28roots
03:29was always part of the plan my name is Stuart and I'm Derek and we arrived here from the Canadian
03:36prairies January 2025 Scotland was the natural choice for us because Stuart's family is from here
03:43originally and he's still got loads of aunts and uncles everywhere eight aunts and uncles and about 25
03:48first and second cousins married couple Stuart a financial planner and Derek a professional fundraiser from
03:56the Canadian city of Winnipeg are following Stuart's lifelong dream to return to the land his parents
04:02emigrated from using their respective ancestral rights to UK and Irish citizenship they're staying
04:09with extended family in the central lowlands town of Bowness while looking for new jobs and a new home in
04:16terms of
04:16escaping from Winnipeg to Scotland the weather goes without saying or maybe it doesn't because people in
04:22Scotland have been apologizing for the weather here since we arrived people here keep saying oh my goodness it's so
04:27chilly there's a chilly wind but where we're from in the Canadian prairies minus 30 for almost half the year
04:33people
04:33here can't comprehend what it's like for us joined by their canine companion Susie master gardener Derek is keen to
04:42take on a large swathe of land he can turn into a biodiverse and climate resilient landscape in as
04:49secluded a spot as possible and Stuart seeks community connections in the land of his Scottish ancestors
04:58i'd actually be okay without having any neighbors within sight although i think
05:02Stuart might prefer to have some closer by i would our Winnipeg neighbors in particular they were like our
05:08family and i question whether we can be without neighbors here armed with a 700 000 pound budget
05:15the couple want a detached property with large rooms including two separate receptions and three bedrooms
05:23it should have a sizable plot and they'd like glasgow or edinburgh within an hour's reach
05:40this is such an epic move and it's been something that stuart has been planning for years he spent
05:47his summers here growing up they've already started living their life here and the final piece of the
05:52puzzle is finding them a home to call their own our viewings kick off in the scottish borders village of
06:04west linton where i found one of the many quiet spots for derek stewart and i to get acquainted
06:13derek and stewart i can honestly say this is the first time that i'm helping someone
06:18move to scotland because of the warm weather here
06:23do i need to take your temperature are you feeling okay you have looked at a few houses you
06:30haven't found somewhere yet what isn't there so we've seen some houses that look like they might
06:35have the acreage and be okay houses but they're just a little bit too far that wouldn't give us
06:40the convenience of access to the cities that we're looking for and derek is it for you it is the
06:46outside
06:47space a little bit more absolutely i will spend my time outside shaping the property and making it
06:53wildlife friendly and gorgeous and that's where i spend all my time and yet you both want a life
06:58because you want to be in the city when you need to be as well yes yeah yeah you want
07:01it all yeah we
07:02do yeah it's such a small ass let's just get on with it come on let's get let's get you
07:07everything
07:13located in a conservation area the village of west linton offers a little of what both my buyers are
07:19after there's open countryside to satisfy derek's back to the land ethos and community for self-confessed
07:26people person stewart with a grocery coffee stop and brunch options the man who owned the first motor
07:33car in scotland was born here in 1855 so perhaps appropriately an a road gives swift access to
07:41edinburgh whilst a more climate savvy option is offered by regular buses but for us it's just a short
07:50stroll to the house we're here to see this is exciting as with many rural scottish homes it presents
07:59its best face to the garden so i'm sort of showing you from this way because look wow okay beautiful
08:10i think it looks great to see an old stone building is very scottish to me i am excited to
08:15see views and
08:16that's always a bonus um and the village looked to be very cute and he's happier to be more isolated
08:22but i would like to be attached to a village of some kind he's always said he'd like to walk
08:25to a
08:26coffee shop i think you're going to like the proportions but i can't tell because i'm five fun
08:35this stone house with tall shouldered chimney stacks gabled dormer windows and pointed arch doorways
08:42was built as a manse for the minister of the neighboring st mungo's church it's category c listed
08:49so faces more stringent planning rules than unlisted homes from the garden we head to the main door at
08:56the side so you come into this lovely entrance huge hallway and start our tour where two reception
09:06rooms have been knocked through to give an open plan layout and you've got this great double living
09:13room it's very high ceilings i love the coving work beautiful uh it's the size of the windows is great
09:21so there's definitely a view of rolling hills and it has the wooden shutters actually for folding in
09:26you could add a dining table in here there's so much beautiful light in here yeah right there's plenty
09:31room with all this furniture in here gives us an idea of how much um it can accommodate it's nice
09:36to
09:36have this opened up already crossing back on the other side of the hall is a smaller room so pop
09:42your
09:42head in there oh yeah this would make a lovely home office with the great views and to have a
09:48fireplace
09:49in the home office would be quite exceptional and moving further to the rear is a well-proportioned
09:55kitchen diner great size we did not have the number of skylights in canada i think probably
10:02because they would get covered in snow for five months of the year is maybe the reason but i love
10:07all the skylights here i'm noticing the neighboring house is right there but you know wherever we've lived
10:12our neighbors have become like our family maybe they're like you know future family members
10:18also on this floor is a cloakroom the stairs with a cast iron and timber balustrade lead to the attic
10:25level and four bedrooms starting with the largest featuring a dormer window so this is the main
10:32bedroom look at those views oh wow lovely rolling hills i'm also noticing the very full ceiling because
10:39we're not huge but you know you don't like to have your head cut off on the walls there's no
10:43guarantee
10:43to have this height in uh upper floors for sure that's great uh and the view is spectacular
10:49i'm sending derek and stuart to assess the three further bedrooms first a double with an outlook
10:55towards the village tennis courts and we can actually see if they're free before wandering down we'll
11:01have to pick up tennis okay okay at the back of the home is a bedroom laid out as a
11:07twin and next to
11:08this the fourth and final bedroom again with a gabled dormer window another good-sized room it is relatively
11:16open to the neighbors back here there's a shower room with a victorian style stretcher bond tile
11:23pattern which serves all the bedrooms but i'm not sure this former minister's house is quite preaching
11:30to the converted as yet outside there's a generous plot which provides areas for their dog susie to play on
11:38a variety of mature trees and a paved patio but how might this sit with derek's plans to create
11:45a biodiverse and climate resilient garden
11:51ideally prefer something more so that i can you know put in a pond and then garden with trees rather
11:57than just with plants and shrubs and sort of reimagine the landscape shall we have a chat about how much
12:04this property is on the market for five hundred and forty seven thousand pounds okay so derek's just
12:10jumped right in there we're keeping in mind it's offers over so offers over five hundred and sixty
12:14thousand pounds i'm wondering if it does reflect how you feel about the property because it is on the
12:19market for offers over six hundred and fifty oh wow that's quite a lot of house you're getting there
12:25yeah right on the edge of a village this former church minister's manse in the scottish borders
12:31may not be derek and stewart's idea of heaven but with period details outside and in a large kitchen
12:39diner and four double bedrooms it will surely answer someone's property prayers there's a plot of just
12:46over half an acre and it's on the edge of a village of course i'm the biased one who wants
12:51to be more in
12:52the country and maybe want to double check with stewart on this but we're walkers we don't have to
12:56be right in the village per se derek would prefer to be completely isolated so our compromise is sort
13:02of edge of a village i can walk in the direction of the village derek could walk into the into
13:06the
13:06going into the woods he can be off on his own somewhere
13:26derek and stewart are in the process of rewilding their former city lifestyles
13:31lots of tourists lots of locals accents from everywhere and in the central lowlands town
13:37of falkirk a former brownfield site that once held industrial estates has been transformed into an
13:45eco park spanning 350 acres it features giant equine sculptures that have become one of scotland's biggest
13:54tourist attractions guide kirstie connell is on hand to explain how the ancient spirits of the land
14:01have come to raise their voices here once more so christie excited they come to be what was the
14:07vision and and they're massive like they absolutely are they're the world's biggest horse shaped
14:13sculpture so we believed a long time ago there were magical water spirits that lived in the water
14:18and come onto land and turn into a horse because if you touch a kelpie you become stuck to them
14:24they then drag you into the water where they drown you then they eat you which is lovely okay the
14:31artist
14:32andy scott who has a very strong connection to falkirk wanted to celebrate falkirk's history as a
14:37foundry town so that's why the kelpies are made of steel and he wanted to celebrate the clydesdales that
14:43used to work along the fourth and clyde canal which is what runs through the kelpies in falkirk as well
14:47so that's why they are modeled after clydesdales as well but not all the town's industrial and
14:54engineering prowess has been put to pasture what an engineering marvel i actually really like the
15:00building too at the intersection of the fourth and clyde and union canals is an eye-catching 21st
15:08century boat lift the falkirk wheel is the only rotating boat lift in the world you see people just
15:13watching it turn nice and slowly around with the boats in in pure amusement so there's a giant gear
15:18and that keeps the two gondolas turning either side through water displacement archivede's principle
15:24water displacement both gondolas always weigh the exact same amount so it's always in perfect balance
15:28and that's what makes it so efficient to operate as well as canal boats travel to and from the town
15:35includes trains with a station serving the edinburgh to dunblain line and another on the glasgow to
15:41edinburgh route and an eclectic selection of shops also caters to those who prefer to arrive by broomstick
15:52falkirk shows that the central lowlands can deliver derek and stewart that sweet spot between coffee
15:59culture and green surroundings look they're sitting over there another cafe and swans we'll have to get
16:05some swans swans and who doesn't love swans now to see if we can unearth a home that feels like
16:12their
16:12natural nest too
16:22my next option for them is a mile and a half from the west lothian village of west calder where
16:28intriguing
16:28hills tell a tale of the world's first ever oil refinery opened by chemist james young in the 1860s
16:37plant life now covers the spoils to form a protected heritage site romantically named the five sisters
16:45for those looking to green their own fossil fuel output there's a train station and a good choice of
16:51buses add in plentiful shops and services including a cycle outlet and reducing car use is made that bit
16:58easier it's just a nine minute bike ride or half an hour's walk down a quiet country lane to the
17:06rurally located property i have lined up it's actually that okay the white cottage all right
17:13that sort of classic low scottish cottage but i want to make sure that derek is taken care of first
17:20okay so we're gonna head this way all right let's come you can come we're setting the stone cottage
17:29built during the local oil boom of the 1860s to one side for now and heading into the wild woods
17:38around an acre and a quarter of tree-covered bliss that could be derek's own private nature cocoon
17:46you already have a woodland that comes with the property that's there but he's across the road
17:52out of his hair yeah mature trees are fantastic it's a great mix of trees too you've got broadleaf
18:01and you've got pine you've got tall mature trees you've got a shrub layer you've got a ground layer
18:06with the ferns it looks like a healthy ecosystem is that a fire pit can we have like fires there
18:11do you
18:11think it's your land as long as it's respectful you can do what you want yeah i'm very excited this
18:18is a great way to start and if you're happy you're exactly i'm generally happy if he's happy should we
18:24now go and see the house sure love to yeah let's do that back back across the quiet lane a
18:31sizable
18:32purpose-built cattery run by the current owners until recently sits beside the long rendered and painted
18:39single-story 19th century cottage yeah what do you think of it i think it's pretty yeah i like the
18:47white sucko fence on the cattery on the house unifying it all together yeah it looks like a complex
18:54then yeah from the central front door a small hall leads to a reception room
19:02so if you use the front door which you might not this is what you'd come into nice what i
19:09like
19:10about it right away is that there's flow there's three different doors going to three different
19:13places you're quieter now we've taken care of derek but sure you're quieter well i'm thinking that this
19:19room is almost like a bit of a hallway right because everything sort of works through here i'm also
19:23wondering is it the only lounge in the houses well it's an open plan kitchen diner living space okay
19:32let's head over here okay perfect
19:37located at the back the well-appointed kitchen opens into dining that could also work as an
19:43additional sitting room with doors out to the garden
19:48i think this would make a nice tv room bit outdoor seating there outdoor seating here this is
19:53a big room it's a nice room come on through and that also goes through to the bedroom so when
20:00in you
20:00were talking in terms of flow yeah it does have that flow which is very helpful and beautiful view
20:05out this kitchen window yeah it is i'm actually thinking do we even need this table in here could
20:10this be like a bit of a family room with the kitchen because usually we're just either eating
20:14in front of the tv or we could eat at like the breakfast bar and when derek's cooking i'll be
20:18on the couch and make sure that everything's flowing okay and you've got the utility boot
20:24room space again that goes out oh great super can we see the rest of the house yeah i'm gonna
20:29let
20:29you do that on your own okay and then come and find me outside super thank you thank you i'm
20:34gonna
20:35flow this way oh yeah they've already got their uh separate entrances and exits
20:43and the bedrooms are a tale of two halves at one end a good sized guest double with a window
20:49to the
20:49front then next to this a smaller guest room also with a front facing aspect these are served by a
20:56family bathroom lovely size big bang and then window again this would do five at the other end of the
21:05home is the principal bedroom which has an ensuite shower room with a black and white finish
21:13this brick is very cool
21:16like that looks like a significant amount of storage closet space which was always nice
21:21and even a sliding barn door which i like excellent excellent
21:31derek is over the moon about what he has seen over there but i have not won stuart over i
21:38can tell
21:40outside there's more to woo derek with a garden approaching half an acre which already has a small
21:47pond and as well as the kattery building there's a garden studio previously used for recording music
21:53a task made easier by the very peaceful location but if all this seems to be catering to one half
22:00of
22:00my couple's wish list i have got a little something up my sleeve for the other half too
22:08the house comes with planning permission and this is what it could look like from here this is already
22:17in place this planning permission you have it for about another year that's a wow house that's something
22:21wow isn't it just okay stuff to think about do you know what i'm about to ask the hard part
22:31you think it's priced at 660 000 pounds yeah okay offers over 625 000 pounds gents it's on the market
22:43for offers over 550 000 okay so potential then to actually act on the redesign
22:56this mid 19th century cottage has an open plan kitchen and dining room three bedrooms and current
23:03planning permission for a significant extension there are one and three quarter acres spread across
23:09garden and private woodland and it's in a quiet rural location but close to a village with shops and
23:16services in terms of peace and quiet this is certainly a restful setting i don't think we've heard a car
23:22go by it's got nicely curated gardens with you know opportunity to do more
23:35the average price for a detached house in scotland comes in at just over 347 000 pounds but within the
23:44central lowlands that figure varies considerably approaching 413 000 pounds in west lothian but
23:53sitting at 313 000 pounds in north flanackshire
23:59i'm meeting zoe davidson from rights of campsy estate agents to find out what those less familiar
24:06with buying a house in this part of scotland need to know zoe i absolutely need your expertise
24:14on the local market here when i've looked in other parts of scotland perhaps a bit more west the offers
24:20over hasn't been always the case when it comes to the price but it feels like it is in this
24:25area yeah
24:26the west of scotland does do it a little bit different from other areas we tend to do the offers
24:30over because and that can help to drive a seller's price up a little bit for them and getting the
24:35best place that is out there and we're finding the houses in our area are selling you know within
24:39a week um it's moving very very quickly at the moment how can people be best prepared if they are
24:45looking in this kind of what's sounding like a seller's market yeah it's making sure that when you
24:50see a house that you do like you are ready to offer that you have all your finances in place
24:53you've got your solicitor ready a lot of people don't realize that if they're buying a house in
24:58scotland and they are from england you will need to have a scottish solicitor appointed as well in
25:01scotland anything over your home report you have to have that cash available it's not that you can
25:06get a mortgage on it so making sure you keep that in mind as well because it does differ from
25:09area to
25:10area but there's a lot of houses sort of that are still within sort of access of glasgow and edinburgh
25:15but those houses have increased in fact by about 30 percent since 2020. you're certainly busy aren't you
25:21we are yes sorry thank you thank you i know how busy you are so thank you so much you're
25:25welcome
25:27if all that sounds a little intimidating there are still fixed price options to be found
25:34for example this detached home in a village a few miles south of the town of falkirk is recently
25:40refurbished and offers four bedrooms and two bathrooms for the fixed price of just under 280 000 pounds
25:48on the other hand in west lothian where the market's a little hotter this detached four-bedroom
25:55three-bathroom village home calls for offers over 375 000 pounds
26:04for a short stay this two-bedroom self-catering cottage has that regional sweet spot combining the
26:11best of rural surroundings with the city of edinburgh just 10 miles away sleeping up to four it costs
26:18240 pounds a night you've caught me taking a breather before we head to our mystery house it is this
26:29grand building with magnificent grounds but are stewart and derek willing to share it
26:37the mystery option is taking us to the outskirts of the east dumbartonshire village of milton of campsy
26:44located 10 miles northeast of glasgow this is the closest we've been to a city so far
26:52but on the slopes of the campsy fells looking down at the rift valley it certainly doesn't feel like it
26:59wow look at this oh my gosh this is scotland this is incredible the views are amazing
27:06this is what you move for absolutely absolutely so i think i can even see glasgow from up here
27:11i'm glad you've spotted that because that is what the location of the mystery house demonstrates you can
27:17be within a reasonable distance of glasgow but then also striking distance of all of this right that's
27:26what we're after we drove through it briefly in january so being back here today is quite interesting
27:30because we knew the proximity to glasgow was good so can we see the mystery house from here i'm gonna
27:35let you figure that out i'll send you the address don't be late boys okay all right thank you try
27:40not
27:41to stay too long exactly see you soon it is stunning the fells stand commandingly over the village of
27:49milton of campsy where there's a coffee house for stewart to get his caffeine and community fix as well
27:56as a post office and a supermarket dog susie would have hairdressing options and there are regular
28:02buses to glasgow city center while my buyers dream of their future home together i've gone ahead to my
28:09mystery property to let you in on the twist in the tale i don't want to tell stuart and derek
28:15that i'm
28:16nervous about showing them this mystery house and that's because they have said they don't want very
28:23close neighbors and with this mystery property which is amazing by the way they would have neighbors
28:27on top of them and it's the bottom that is our mystery house designed by a renowned glaswegian
28:35architect for a wealthy accountant to the british colonies in the 1880s the more recent horizontal
28:41division still leaves a ground floor home of more than 3 000 square feet that retains the ability
28:49to make a striking impression this gorgeous staircase which doesn't go anywhere by the way it's blocked
28:55at the top but it comes with the property shows how grand this mystery house is but you get all
29:03of
29:03this in the countryside and as derek and stewart approach via the home's shared driveway i can't deny my
29:13butterflies there she is what have you found here yeah so what i have with the mystery house is a
29:20grand
29:20old victorian place you've got this you know the proportions that you love but with a mystery the
29:27twist is it's not the whole house oh okay okay and it would be the bottom level that would be
29:34yours okay
29:35okay bottom half and then separate is upstairs yeah the upstairs entrance is there exactly so how do
29:44you feel about exploring that kind of mystery house yeah i'm intrigued i mean these old stone manor homes
29:52are just stunning uh and solid should we head in absolutely definitely definitely thank you
29:57few built from high quality cut sandstone with stone mullion windows decorative masonry festoons
30:05and a covered veranda facing a tennis lawn to the front the main entrance for this ground floor home
30:12is at the side of the property where breathing a sigh of relief i'm taking them through into the central
30:19impressive hall oh my gosh look at this the staircase comes with the property it's not just the doors
30:26that are large no yeah and this staircase comes with the house it just doesn't take you anywhere
30:34if there's guests here you could make a grand entrance from nowhere okay i mean what is that
30:39giants lived here so it's like 12 feet what you're feeling right now is how i feel every single day
30:47isn't it just magnificent yeah yeah yeah it's um it's very grand living room one yes please yeah okay
30:54oh my goodness wow okay this is uh plenty of space to say the least this bay window is more
31:03than a bay
31:03window it's like a an extension a bay room and uh extensive and expansive yard to look out on
31:12i'm intrigued to see more um yeah like giants really lived here so we will pass by the second living
31:21room
31:23okay next door along the hall is the additional reception room they've asked for which is cozier
31:31i think it's beautiful relatively speaking cozy you could describe it still very generously proportioned
31:39and another fun mental piece there lots of built-in storage the amazing detail in the ceiling and the
31:46ginormous windows again i like how the white trim pops at the top uh as opposed to being all white
31:52from
31:52that level up i think that looks great there are five bedrooms in total we're starting with the
31:59largest the principal with ensuite dressing room and bath
32:06how's this for a bedroom it's a bedroom that is bigger than the first flat i ever owned yeah
32:14okay wow it's pretty amazing and there's a bathtub like right and like right there and you would be
32:22taking in that whole park-like setting and i love large rooms especially because we're coming from north
32:27america right and a lot of the housing here is smaller rooms so i love the larger rooms you have
32:31a
32:32huge walk-in wardrobe in there it's big enough to be a bedroom but you don't need it to be
32:37a bedroom
32:38because there are plenty with this house go and have a look at the rest of the property without me
32:42okay um and then yeah meet me by the telescope there are four guest rooms for them to see including
32:50a room by the entrance with a view to a private walled courtyard and next to this a bathroom with
32:58exposed stonework plus a contemporary freestanding bath
33:04then along a corridor is a shower room next to a separate wc partly set into the eaves of a
33:11lower
33:11level extension which serves a further three guest bedrooms oh what a lovely green relaxing view outside
33:20and then another bedroom or home office or something yeah oh right the mystery has been revealed
33:28they seem all right the proportions completely suit them my job's sort of almost nearly done
33:35completing the interior tour is the kitchen breakfast room wow plenty of room here double oven tons of
33:43counter space and look at the size of the table lots of room he was also a wine chill chiller
33:48oh that's
33:49nice little treat for the wine drinker who drinks wine see ya that is in fact the utility room which
33:59has
33:59access out into the garden like the house the grounds have been divided as well as the shared driveway and
34:07a
34:07shared garage there's a shared tennis court with the land to the right apportioned to the upstairs neighbor
34:14and that to the left a plot of around an acre to the ground floor home this includes wooded areas
34:21with
34:21access to a river so now they've seen everything the mystery has to offer i need to draw them on
34:29what
34:29they think they think they might have to pay for it
34:35it's the uh final time to guess the price of
34:39the property what do you think the mystery house
34:42is asking for 625 000 pounds is my guess i think it's got to be up near our ceiling so
34:48690 000
34:49pounds offers over it's offers over 595 000 pounds yeah yeah well i'm surprised it's under six okay well
35:01there you go wow this ground floor share of a grand victorian architect designed mansion has showcased two
35:10magnificent reception rooms a well-specced kitchen breakfast room and five bedrooms there's around an
35:16acre of private garden and it's just 10 miles from the city of glasgow we've known of people to have
35:23lived in you know a great big manor house that's been split up before i could live in something like
35:28this it's a very interesting house so i walked through the mystery house the idea that there was
35:32someone living upstairs just didn't seem to be of any concern the can see fowls is an amazing location
35:38you're really close to glasgow and so i think this area has a lot of potential and it's a great
35:43spot
35:52as far as big moves go derek and stewart's is pretty up there but not unprecedented
35:59annie and zach hopped across the pond a year ago from california to east lothian steady go
36:17hi i'm annie and this is my husband zach and this little guy is our one-year-old border
36:21terrier puppy finnegan we made our own escape to the country from california to scotland with our
36:28three kids in tow annie and zach gave up their home and jobs in california's silicon valley
36:37to return to the country zach was born in sometimes people ask us why would you move from california to
36:42scotland i think it's obvious the weather and the beaches exactly so this house was purchased sight
36:49unseen we did a video call with my parents they gave us the thumbs up and we just went for
36:53it
36:54we have a better work-life balance and are spending more time as a family
36:58and the kids can just be kids which is the biggest thing for us really
37:04so the family swapped silicon valley for the central valley and i thought i'm in the area i'll pop in
37:11and
37:11see how they're getting on
37:17hi sonali welcome in thank you
37:23this is gorgeous in here oh thank you so much i'm curious how much of your home in california then
37:31looked like this absolutely none of it all right we had a very mid-century modern home back in california
37:38and then we moved to this more cottage-esque style so we really started from scratch every time i help
37:45a couple move from the states over here proportions and size has always been the struggle yes this place
37:55is half the size of the place we moved from which has been amazing because we just don't have space
38:00for
38:00all that extra stuff we didn't need but we did have to learn that doorways are even smaller so we
38:06didn't
38:06even think when we got an american-sized fridge that we'd need to check the doorways millimeters
38:12it fit by millimeters the clue is in the word american even the people are smaller here look
38:19what does life feel like look like here now it's a much more relaxed pace we have time and
38:28more energy to do the things that we want to do we're now closer to beaches than we were in
38:33california
38:36we really have been loving the walkable lifestyles and our wonderful little town it has everything
38:42you could imagine we actually want to go show you that it's a gentle riverside stroll to one of zach
38:49and annie's favorite spots this is stunning oh thank you yeah we fell in love with it the first time
38:56we saw
38:57this little area it just stole our hearts the scale of st mary's church reflects when this was scotland's
39:05first royal borough the formerly english haddington along with the rest of lothian given to scottish
39:12king kenneth in the 10th century nam gate bridge one of the nation's most ancient takes us over the river
39:19we get geese out here too sometimes to a family-run bistro that lives up to its name
39:26so life is basically all shortcake and coffee pretty much often people find that they move and that
39:34they've just taken the life that they had to another place what's been the biggest change
39:41the biggest change is just what we've been able to give our kids and that childhood that we've talked
39:45about were there any nerves about moving so many countless kids jobs like everything basically
39:55finances when you look back on it it seems overwhelming for us getting the house is obviously
40:01the biggest check mark on the list and after that things just kind of found the place they did
40:05well cheers to your new life cheers just look at them having a well-deserved rest after our epic
40:25journey searching high and low through scotland's central valley for a dream property for stuart and
40:31derek let's find out what they're thinking now eh well we've come to the end of our journey together
40:46what do you think your next steps will be gents i think we're probably going to keep on looking for
40:52property since we have the incredible opportunity of staying somewhere while we do our journey so we're
40:58not in russia and we can really afford to find the absolute perfect slice of heaven that we're
41:03looking for did we get closer on the house or the outside i think we got pretty close with both
41:12i think you've shown us that properties exist that are close to the big city centers
41:17where you can get more than an acre i know i'm getting my country so derek will ultimately be the
41:22one that chooses the house all right i'm glad we've got that on film um i kind of wish you'd
41:28told me
41:29at the beginning of the search because i would have just gone straight to him but okay me too
41:35he's like 99 charged i get one percent veto that's not much but we're almost there that's really
41:40heartening you aren't in a rush you you're not going to adjust your criteria just yet when you have
41:46a lovely place already to stay you've already made the move and that's the thing the central lowlands
41:52are already your home and this is the dream i mean look yeah right
42:02scotland was really showing off for us this week wasn't it not just with this weather
42:06but with its property stock and i think we've set stuart and derek well on their way
42:12to finding the one we came pretty darn close didn't we and the great thing is
42:18they already call all of this home and stuart has been able to fulfill his lifelong dream of returning
42:26to his celtic roots i'm so pleased that they called us for part of that epic journey and wish them
42:33the
42:33very best see you next time since we left them stuart and derek decided to focus their search
42:41close to the town of falkirk as they loved its green spaces and great transport links so much
42:47we hope to hear they found their dream home soon if you would like to escape to the country in
42:54scotland
42:55northern ireland england or wales and need our help why not apply online at bbc.co.uk
43:02forward slash take part
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