Having grown up in the hustle and bustle of city life in Acton, Simon Reeves has taken some time adjusting to life in the countryside with his wife Anya and son Jack.
The Wilderness with Simon Reeve star opened up about his “off grid” home in Dartmoor, admitting it doesn’t have gas and requires wood for the stove. While some may find these obstacles off-putting or challenging, Simon said he embraces rural life as it makes him feel like “a real man.”
He told MailOnline: “I love my chainsaw because it’s essential for our life on Dartmoor. The house has electricity, but is so far off the grid we don’t have gas. I have to keep our biomass boiler burning to give us hot water and heating, as well as make sure there’s plenty of wood for this stove.
“I get a great sense of satisfaction going out like a real man to cut wood to keep my family warm. It connects me with my distant ancestors and lets me forget for a few hours that I’m actually a feeble urbanite!”
Rural relocation
The 52-year-old was used to living in London, calling himself a “city boy” before his wife encouraged him to relocate. While he has no hesitation in getting his hands dirty with household chores, Simon said his new life in the countryside is “far from my urban upbringing.”
In an interview with the Sunday Times, he opened up about his “granite barn in the woods,” stating: “We came from London about eight years ago to do the middle-class, mid-life thing of moving to the country. I’m a city boy and I love being around people, so I don’t know how the hell I’ve ended up here. My wife, Anya, had been going on about it for a while.”
© ITV/ShutterstockHe added: “There are trees to plant, brambles to tug out and wood to chop for our heating. I’m good at repetitive jobs involving sharp tools. It’s like the green gym. It’s as far from my urban upbringing as it’s possible to imagine. I’ve even got chainsaws – plural. Unbelievable.”
Despite travelling a lot for work, Simon confessed he sees home as wherever his loved ones are based.
© Jonathan Young“It’s the people I come home for, not the place. I’ve covered most of the globe. It means I’m not tied to a single place. For me, home is about its function as a hotel.”
Colourful interiors
© Mike Lawn/ShutterstockHowever, the interiors of his property are far from generic. One former photo shows the father-of-one inside a rustic room with beams and a log fire, decorated with splashes of yellow colour on the walls, clashing with the red patterned sofas.
Describing his house, Simon admitted that he and his wife avoid neutral whites.
“It started out as ‘farmhouse aspirational’ and now it’s ‘explosion in a paint store’. We don’t paint anything white and, if possible, we don’t put in anything plastic. We have an orange kitchen. And there are lots of souvenirs from my travels,” he said.
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