Nadine Dorries has admitted that downsizing from a six-bedroom home to a cottage in the Cotswolds was a mistake and revealed she may put the property back on the market.
Nearly a year after moving into the honey-stoned cottage, Ms Dorries said she had downsized “too far, and too soon”, despite initially believing the move made sense as she entered her 60s.
She said the location was right, but the house itself had proved unsuitable. Her grown-up children and grandchildren still gather at her home for Sunday lunches and Christmas, leaving her questioning whether she had given up too much space.
“I feel so guilty that I can hardly admit, even to myself, that the answer is no,” she said of whether she was happy in the new property.
Ms Dorries said she had considered inheritance planning, the demands of maintaining a large garden and the fact that she no longer needed six bedrooms before deciding to move.
But the practical reality of moving into a smaller house quickly became clear. Boxes remained unpacked because there was nowhere to put their contents, while much of her furniture was too large for the new rooms.
She eventually called in auctioneers and sold possessions including her petrol lawn mower, despite having become attached to it after years of mowing the lawn at her former home.
Ms Dorries said anyone considering downsizing should avoid feeling pressured into buying a property that does not feel right. “If you have to persuade yourself that it is right, if you have to work out how you can ‘make it fit’, perhaps your instinct is trying to tell you something,” she said.
After moving, she extended and refitted the kitchen, remodelled the rest of the house and commissioned interior designer Nicky Haslam to transform the sitting room. She also landscaped the courtyard garden and bought replacement furniture.
The work cost more than twice her budget, with Ms Dorries saying she had probably spent more on the house than it was worth. She also said she had learnt that storage was crucial in a small property, describing a £20 full-length shoe rack as a “game changer”.
She is now considering reversing the downsizing move. Ms Dorries said she had reinstalled the Rightmove app on her phone and planned to have the house valued next spring.
She is also looking ahead to her annual Christmas party and wondering how many guests can fit into the smaller rooms. If she does move again, she said she would be searching for a property with a lawn.
“Because I never quite managed to get rid of that petrol mower,” she said.
