A Letter from Home

Falling in love with a house is a little like falling in love with a prospective husband or wife. No matter how well considered your ideal checklist is, the ‘perfect’ outcome almost always contravenes many preconceived criteria. You may have believed that your heart’s desire was a light and airy elegant Regency property with lofty ceilings, and yet there you are suddenly and unexpectedly feverish over a beamed farmhouse with inglenook fireplaces and miniature orchard to boot!

I say this from wry past experience, having discovered quite how much one’s so-called essentials can bend upon discovering ‘the one’ (home rather than husband, that is!), and really isn’t that exactly as it should be? Because falling for a home is only realised when your heart skips a beat upon viewing it, not just the first time but every time. If you find yourself reasoning over how much the pros balance out the cons, then the reality of the situation is not at all about buying a home but instead a much more detached deliberation over an investment purchase.

I know some will throw up their hands in horror at the idea of going with your heart, and I am not advocating total unreasoned abandon. At the end of the day, however, when you step over the threshold, I believe your heart should thump with joy either at what you have or what, with vision and love, your home has the potential to become. All of the homeowners in this issue are passionate about their homes and I hope you find their stories as much of a heart-warming read as I did.

With warmest regards,

Kerryn Harper-Cuss, Editor