What are the chances of finding just one ideal home?

Kirsty Mcluckie searches for property perfection

In 1920 when the publishers of a soon-to-launch magazine on interior decoration were looking for a title, they came up with Ideal Home, a name which has endured ever since.

The phrase seems to capture the imagination of those who aspire to live in the best property they can.

But is it ever possible to live in an ideal home, even allowing for individual tastes?

What constitutes perfection will vary hugely, of course.

An acquaintance once told me that she could never live in anything but a brand new house, because she found the thought of making a home in a space where other people had lived before unhygienic.

Then there are period home enthusiasts who would turn their noses up at living in anything newer than Georgian, or Victorian at a push.

Where some see their ultimate property as a chic city penthouse, others would shudder at the thought of having no garden for the dog.

Equally, a traditional country house would scream dust, draughts and damp to those who would prefer a cosy twoup, two-down.

Ask around and you’ll find that many an owner of a impressive sprawling property loves the simplicity of their week’s holiday in a snug cottage.

To those who write the blurbs for property brochures, every home seems to be described as “ideally located” which is a meaningless phrase unless you qualify it with the person to whom it would apply.

“Ideally suited to commuters” makes some sense if the property in question is within walking distance of a station on a major rail network, but these days, you might find some commuters would prefer to be within easy access of an airport, or at the other end of the scale, within cycling distance of their office.

Location, as we have often been told, is the most important consideration but one place will never suit all, and it can’t even suit an individual at all times.

I once overheard a friend explaining to people that I live “miles away from anywhere” to which I took umbrage.

I assume she meant miles away from anywhere that she – metropolitan creature as she is – would find interesting, as our home is in the countryside.

I tartly informed her that I live slap bang in the middle of everywhere, in my world, but of course there are times when driving an hour just to get to the nearest Aldi is wearisome.

Given the choice of any property in Scotland – and the necessary accompanying huge lottery win – I’ve always daydreamed about following the route of John Lamont of Lamont.

As head of his clan he inherited, in 1767, a beautiful estate in Argyll complete with its own secluded beach.

As his base in town he bought the newly completed 7, Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, now open to the public as the Georgian House.

These two pinnacles of Scottish property would, for me, still add up to an ideal arrangement of town and country living.

Whether, given the choice of your imaginary ideal home, you are allowed to pick two without appearing greedy, is perhaps questionable.

Lamont himself sadly overreached his finances and died in penury, perhaps serving as an example to us all of the folly of the quest for the perfect property.