‘Christmas in the countryside is so magical’
Property expert Sarah Beeny on her move from London to Somerset
In August 2018, property expert Sarah Beeny and her artist husband Graham Swift bought a 220-acre sheep farm in Somerset. Leaving their London home behind, the couple and their four boys, Billy, 16, Charlie, 14, Rafferty, 12, and Laurie, 11, embarked on a huge project – building their dream home from scratch – and recorded it for a new Channel 4 show, Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country. There were tough times but, ultimately, she tells Prima, she has no regrets.
What motivated you to make the move? Graham and I had always talked about building the perfect home. My brother, and his sister, who are married, live in Somerset, and our parents live in the countryside, too. We wanted to be able to support them and we couldn’t easily do that from London, and we knew they would never move to a city. The final trigger was our boys’ education. In London, there was very much a focus on traditional academia rather than the arts, but we were keen for them to have a more rounded schooling experience.
How have you adapted to your new life? The boys absolutely love having so much space. For Graham and I, our kids have always been our priority, so our lives are completely full with them. Oddly, though, I think I have less spare time in the country than I did in London! We plan in advance more now and we also spend a lot more time outside.
What were the biggest challenges? In London, I had a support network, so the hardest thing when we first moved was that I had no one I could ring and ask, ‘Could you pick up the kids today?’ Building that network in Somerset was quite tough. The other thing was that I knew nothing about farming. Growing up in the country, I thought I understood a bit about how it all worked – but it turns out that playing on a friend’s farm as a child isn’t the same as being in charge!
How did you keep your relationship strong during a renovation? It’s taken us to the brink, that’s for sure! My advice would be to define your roles – you can’t both try to do the same things. If you know you’re taking responsibility for a particular aspect, you can see that through. For us, it fell quite organically because as an artist, Graham drew out the plans, while I dealt with all the services, things like the engineering.
What are your plans for Christmas?
As with everyone, who we’ll spend Christmas with is up in the air this year. But we’ll be here, in Somerset, with as many family members as possible. There’s something magical about being in the countryside at Christmas.
• Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country starts on Channel 4 in November