Lucy and Paul’s home with their three children has no windows or doors and most of the living room is outside – but they’ll never come back to the UK
A family has left the UK for good to raise their children in Bali in a home with no windows or doors. Lucy Argent and husband Paul say they had a good life in the UK – but wanted more for their children and ‘felt stuck in the same routine.
Lucy, 41, and Paul, 36, have turned their Cambridgeshire home into an Airbnb and have moved into a ‘shack’ in Baliu with their three children – seven-year-old Amaya, six-year-old Roo and four-year-old Lela.
Now, they say life is so sweet that they can’t seem themselves ever returning to their home country – even if it means sacrificing…walls. “We won’t ever live in the UK again,” said Lucy, who owned beauty salons prior to the move, while Paul worked as a builder.
“We had a nice life in the UK – a beautiful house, great careers, we made good money and had achieved everything. But we felt like we weren’t living. I had my third baby and thought ‘How can this be my life for the next 30 years?’
“There had to be more to life than just surviving. Now, we are outside all the time, the TV is barely on and we’re a lot more active because of the weather. It’s a fraction of the cost to live here, and we don’t have to work a 9-5. The children are thriving in this environment.”
Lucy, who moved to Bali two years ago, has been documenting their new lives on TikTok, where she has amassed over 100,000 followers. A recent post went viral with over half a million views, where she gave an insight into their unusual home, which is largely open to the outdoors.
She said: “The villa that we live in has no windows or doors. They’re kind of overrated here, really. We have these little roller blinds that come down, so when it rains heavily the inside is protected from the elements.
“But we’ve gotten used to having no windows or doors.” Outside, they have a swimming pool and garden, with the villa wrapping around the space.
Much of it has no windows or doors – with their living room almost totally outside, overlooking the pool. Lucy added: “It’s very nice – it’s a social villa and we love that it’s all open plan.”
Despite being largely open, the home has air conditioning and fans to keep things cool, and they use incense to keep the mosquitos at bay. Meanwhile their bedroom has a tall, traditional ceiling with Lucy jokes is likely home to “a few animals”, and their bathroom is outdoors, too – though still private.
Lucy said: “It was very, very strange for us when we first arrived in Bali. But we’ve lived here for over a year now, and this is pretty normal. And when we move on – if we are ever lucky enough to build our own villa – we would design it like this, with the outdoor space and open-plan, open living, no windows and doors situation.
“We thought we would want something modern and aesthetic, but since living here we would absolutely more go down the traditional route – it’s so perfect for families.”
