UkWinds5353

Obviously the above home is very attractive and on a nice size lot. My friends are open to several types of detached houses. She likes homes with a modern traditional design, and he prefers older properties. This home is a Thatch roof home but I question how practical it would be because they might require added upkeep compared to a sturdier type roof.

What type of style home would you recommend, a modern design with a built on garage, a older home with charm, or a historical property that might be a few hundred years old?

Thank you.

christmasoompa

Very nice area, I live in Berkshire. Excellent schools and good commuting links to London. Ascot is longer by train, they might want to consider somewhere nearer Twyford or future Crossrail stations (i.e. Maidenhead) if they want a fast connection to London.

christmasoompa

What I would recommend may not suit them. I think they should just view as many houses as possible when they're over, to narrow things down and work out what they may like.

spouse of scouse

BuckinghamshireBoy

Agree, rural Berkshire is indeed very nice. I winced when I saw Maidenhead mentioned, but I guess that depends on just how close the OP's friends want to be to a station that serves major routes.

christmasoompa, when you say Twyford, I guess you mean the one near Reading and not the one near Winchester?

UkWinds5353

My friends looked at quite a few very nice homes in Maidenhead, and Berkshire in general has become a top 3 area for proximity, and over-all quality of life. Your thumbs up of Berkshire is a helpful confirmation for them. A 30 mile travel distance to London is perfect! Travel time probably under one hour and the area is quiet and pleasant. Bristol is only 90 miles away. I must say this effort to help search out a comfortable place to call home for my friends has restarted the discussion in my home about a possible move to the UK. My wife is the Brit and we moved back to the States because of necessity. But I know she truly misses her family and the culture. Our oldest has less than two years remaining in school and then we can seriously consider what decision will make our family the most happiest. But I've noticed of late that my wife has been peeking at homes a lot more.

BuckinghamshireBoy

And where did your Brit wife hail from, out of interest?

UkWinds5353

Manchester. I was impressed with it even for the short period we spent there. I was very glad to get back to the States but now several years later we have ironed out some of the complicated reasons that led to our return, and we finally are able to take a deep breath. Things are very good and we feel blessed. We'll see how things look in a few years. I do not bring up the subject because it's a trigger point. But she does.

Happy wife Happy life!

BuckinghamshireBoy

Indeed. Can sometimes be tricky to maintain it though, so don't take your eye off the ball.

UkWinds5353

So true. I do all I can to stay away from the tricks of life. I make sure the festivities of Halloween happen only once a year at my house.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Back on track (forgive the pun) the rail from Portsmouth to London Waterloo is good (probably as good as UK rail can be) and the fast trains are, well, fast.

Some lovely towns and villages down that way, worth a look.

UkWinds5353

Thank you for that. My friends are leaving in about 5 days and both of them are excited and nervous. I think they'll use Mass Transit only some of the time while there. Just easier with little kids in tow to rent a car. I seriously doubt if his wife has ever been on a train traveling 100 mph. They have driven cars to so many places. They are about to experience a lot of first times doing something new.

christmasoompa

I don't mean Maidenhead itself (bleurgh), but near there, and I was specifically meaning for a quicker trip to central London. If it's major routes they're after access too, closer to Reading station would be better as it's a main terminal and they can get to a lot of different places from there.

Well yes, I was talking about Berkshire! Not sure Winchester would get the OP's friends in to central London within 25 mins somehow.

UkWinds5353

The commuter mentality is quite strong in much of the UK. Bus systems and Train systems appear to be the top mode of transportation. The same is true in a few major cities in the States but they tend to be the exception in America because transportation by car is still king. I wonder if my friends are going to be able to adapt to that major change because he truly LOVES his car and truck. He spends a ton of time doing various things to his truck. He's the Brit and yet he influenced me into buying a pickup truck. Going to be interesting to see him and her becoming a little less big geography people and settling into a place that demands a change of thinking. This guy loves his GMC pickup truck.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Very true. I must have lapsed into a nostalgia moment. We used to go down to Hampshire for weekends basically to explore and drink beer - Gales Ales - and I developed a taste for Hampshire villages, their pubs and certainly the beer.