Page 7 of The New House

Other couples keep lists of celebrities with whom they’re allowed to sleep without recrimination should they ever have the opportunity.

We have a list of houses.

Five each. If any of them becomes available, and we’re financially able to swing it, the other party has no choice but to agree.

I’ve had property crushes before, of course, but never like this. There was a stunning apartment in Narni, a hilltop town in Umbria, in central Italy, that captured my heart a few years ago. An extraordinary house on the Pacific West Coast with sweeping views of the ocean we saw on a trip to California the summer before last. But the Glass House is my one true love. There’s something about the property’s cool self-assurance, its uncompromising commitment to form over function. This is not a house that will ever apologise for being what it is.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve never seen inside it. The Porters have a sophisticated security system I’d be a fool to attempt: I’m not a cat burglar. I know my limits. And the woman is notoriously private; unlike most small-screen celebrities, she’s never allowed cameras inside her home for voyeuristic magazine spreads.

But I don’t need to set foot inside. When you know, youknow.

The estate agent gives the post holding theFor Salesign a good shake, to checkit’s solid. ‘You interested?’ he asks, as I stand transfixed on the pavement.

Tom and I can afford it now. I make good money, and the last ten years have been very kind to Tom’s work in the high-tech security market.

‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I’m interested.’

kyperlife

kyle and harper find their forever home!

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Hi, my lovely Kyper peeps, welcome back! I hope you’re all doing really well – oops, my hair’s gone all static! I just brushed it before I turned the camera on, my bad, sorry about that, let me just tie it back. There we go.

Anyway, my loves, I’msoglad you’re all here, because today’s a really important day for us! This amazing house just came on the market and me and Kyle are going to see it now! We’ve got about an hour before our appointment, so I thought I’d take a minute to update you all, and then we can see the house together.

For those of you who’ve been following Kyle and me’s house-buying journey, it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster, hasn’t it?

Just to catch you up if you haven’t seen the show before – and we’re so happy you’ve decided to join our Kyper Nation, my loves, it’s so lovely to see you! – Kyle and me decided to put our house on the market this year. We love it here in Putney, and this is a such a sweet,sweethouse, it’s got so many lovely memories, but the boys really need their own rooms now, and we’re just running out of space.

So anyway, we put our house on the market back in March and we were super lucky, we got an offer straight away, but then the problem was, we just couldn’t find anything to buy. We were getting super stressed, but then we finally found a place in Brixton, the nice end, you know what I’m saying, my loves, don’t you? But then two weeks ago the seller pulled out at the last minute and everything fell through.

Oh, God, it was awful, wasn’t it? We weresodisappointed.

But we kept looking and then yesterday this amazing house in Fulham came on the market, and I said to Kyle, this is it, this is the one. I justknew.

God, it’s so scary, this whole house-buying thing, isn’t it? You look round a place for, like, half-an-hour, and then you have to decide if you want to buy it. I mean, I don’t know about you but I spend longer choosing a pair of shoes!

Between you and me, itisa teeny bit over our budget – well, a lot, really – but it’s for our little family, so like I told Kyle, it’ll all be worth it in the end. You can’t put a price on love, can you?

And thanks to you, our Kyper Nation, we can just about manage it financially, we’re so blessed, thank you, guys! Especially thanks to our sponsors at SugarPop. Seriously, peeps, I hope you’re not paying full price when you shop online, because with SugarPop, you just download the app and they’ll find the discounts for you! It’s so awesome! Just click on the SugarPop link below this vlog and sign up, it’s that simple.

Anyway, Kyle says I shouldn’t get my hopes up about this house, there’ll be loads of people interested and we can’t afford it anyway, but we justhaveto get it, this is the one, I keep telling him. The thing is – I let my hair dry naturally again today, guys, I don’t think I’ve straightened my hair for so long, what do you think? Tell me in the comments section below – anyway, the thing for me is, after everything that’s happened, me and Kyle really need a fresh start, and I think this house could be it.

Honestly, my loves, I’m so glad you’re here with me to share this moment. I know it’s crazy, but the house feels like it’s mine already!

chapter 05

tom

When Millie’s in this kind of mood, she’s almost impossible to resist.

‘It’s perfect timing,’ she says, her eyes shining. ‘The market’s really strong right now, so we’ll have no trouble selling ours. If we’re quick off the mark, Tom, we could be settled into the Glass House before the new school year. The estate agent said he can get us inside first thing next week—’

‘A strong market works both ways, Millie,’ I caution. ‘We’ll be bidding against cash buyers. We may get over the odds for our place, but we’ll be paying it, too.’

‘We can afford it,’ she says. ‘It’ll be a stretch, but I’ve done the maths. If we get our full asking price—’

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