A Home Base
Originally from Essex and Wales, Ian and Nia Baylis have spent much of their lives travelling the world, sailing and working on boats, but when they decided to finally come ashore when the birth of their daughter was imminent they chose the Isle of Wight as their new home
“We had our son, who is now eight, when we were working on the boats and luckily had a very cool boat owner and so we sailed with him on board down through the Pacific. Then when we found that we were having a second baby, when we were in New Zealand, we decided that enough was enough and that we needed a proper base,” explains Ian. “We identified a work opportunity on the Island and once we had done that, set about finding somewhere to live.” The couple were looking for somewhere quirky that was more like being on holiday and that would be suitable for bringing up the children and with the knowledge that their new business would take up a good chunk of their lives, the Island seemed ideal. “We always felt that coming to the Isle of Wight was like coming to the UK but not quite and from the point of view of the children it’s ideal,” says Nia, “The schools are not overcrowded and you have a choice of schools too which others that we know don’t have.”
Then there of course is the lifestyle, something that Ian and Nia, as great
outdoors fans, are keen to promote. “I’m a sailor with a biking problem and Nia’s a biker with a sailing problem,” laughs Ian, “We do a lot of mountain biking and the kids are into it now and we spend most of our time in the outdoors.” Ian and Nia are looking forward to moving again on the Island, to a house which has a piece of land and is not far from where they keep their boat in Yarmouth. “Sailing is our social life from April to October and then biking takes up the winter months,” says Ian, “So for the sailing, biking, the outdoors and somewhere to bring up the kids where they can still be kids, it’s perfect.”
Ian and Nia have lived on the Island since 2011 and have moved several times in the last few years but are settled into their work, life, and school regime and are looking forward to having more space for the children to grow up, explore and expand in their new home. Their business, from relatively small beginnings, has expanded quickly and they now employ over a hundred people in the UK, Germany and Denmark and their
idea of moving more into the country on the Island may help them, as Ian says, ‘throttle back’ and enjoy more home life.
They have bought two of their houses through Spence Willard and Ian says, “We feel that from both a buyer’s and seller’s point of view they do an excellent job. They have the clients for the sort of house that we were selling and they are generating those clients in London and beyond. You feel confident that the people who are coming to view are essentially already vetted and are a hot buyer. From the buying perspective as well they lined up three properties that they thought would fit and it was very straightforward.”
And will they stay on the Island? “I can see us doing big adventures with the kids later on and we’ve got plans to go off on the boats when they’re older but I think, especially for the children, the Island will always be our base and we’ll always come back here,” says Nia, “It’s where the kids call home and it is for us now too.”
spencewillard.co.uk
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