Bohemia Village Voice

Jakki and Scott - with Texas - looking forward to TV fame.

A chance phone call to a popular property programme has brought a young creative couple to St Peter’s Road in the heart of Bohemia. This time last year life for Scott Garrett and Jakki Pransky was getting a little chaotic. They had recently moved from London to a rented flat on the West Hill, but when Jakki found out she was pregnant they realised they needed a bigger place. They both knew they wanted to stay in Hastings and had started to look around, without much luck. Then one night they were watching Location Location Location on Channel 4 and it dawned on Jakki that they should put themselves up to appear on the show. ‘I phoned them the next day, and they got straight back to us,’ she says. ‘We were about to go off on a road trip around the States, but they came down here and did a recce and then phoned us while we were on the road to say “yes”.’
FRIENDLY
Fans of the programme will be familiar with Phil and Kirsty, the friendly presenters who help the house hunters find their ideal home. In Scott and Jakki’s case, Phil took them through the process on his own, as Kirsty was away having a baby. They found him to be as amiable in the flesh as he appears on TV. They told the Village Voice, ‘He is a really nice person. In fact  all the crew were. They laid on a nice lunch every day at a good local restaurant, and they were always keen to make sure we were happy. The researchers were also great. They found out everything we might want to know about this area, such as the fact that there was a good school just across the road.’
CLIVE VALE
The programme was shot over four days in late June 2006. Jakki says, ‘They found, I think, five different places for us to look at, mostly over in the West Hill or Clive Vale area that we knew. We actually hadn’t thought of living in St Leonards until we saw this place. The day we came to see it, a couple up from London had put in an offer, but we told Phil to offer the full asking price and we got it.’
STRANGE
Scott admits that they found the filming process a bit strange. ‘We had to wait up the road while they got set up in the first room. Then when we’d seen that one we had to wait until they’d set up in the next one, and so on. We watch the TV with different eyes now, though we’re not complaining, of course.’
TEXAS
In the end the process of moving took longer than expected. ‘Our baby boy, Texas, was born in October, and we didn’t move in until he was five weeks old, so that was a challenge,’ says Jakki, while adding that she’s now sold on Bohemia as an area. ‘It’s leafy and green, and you’re within walking distance to everything. I really love it.’ The house is also big enough that the couple can both work from home. Scott is a freelance illustrator for clients including the Guardian and the LA Times, and he now has a big office at the front of the house. Jakki is a jewellery designer and sells mostly through her own website, rubydixie.co.uk.
BUSY
Scott and Jakki are still busy settling in to their new home, but they’ve already had another visit from the programme in recent weeks. ‘Kirsty came to see us while she was down here with another couple who are looking to buy in Hastings and St Leonards. She said they’re going to combine the two stories in an hour-long show, and that she’d like to come back with Phil in a year or so to see how we’re doing. That’s fine by us.’

The family house in St Peters Road.