MOST of us have speculated upon what we would do if we were rich. Suddenly wealthy, able to do as we wish, live where we like and how we like. Except it isn't like that.

I once had a conversation with someone who pined excessively for lottery good fortune and advised him to write a list of what he would do if that vulgar cheque were to plop through his letterbox. It surprised him how many of those things he could do now.

He listed "clean sheets every day". With the purchase of a dozen pillowcases he was able to achieve that effect without the added bother of an army of domestic staff. He said he would take pleasure in giving. No problem there, then. People may think they wish to be given money but it is usually time and kindness, that do not come with a windfall, that matter most and they were both already in his gifting. Anyway the rich are not immune to all the calamities that can befall us ordinary mortals.

A new house would be on most people's list. Unhampered by great wealth and with freedom to live anywhere Mr Brain and I are inveterate househunters. We have lived in many styles of house – a Japanese pole-house, Georgian splendour, red-brick gentility, Janet and John respectability, bougainvillea-clad Portuguese villa – the list goes on. Our houses are always up for sale and we are more knowledgeable than most estate agents about what is on the market. (Which some would say is not much of a boast.) We don't always know what we are looking for in a property.

Tempting as it is to be unkind about estate agents I have sympathy for them. Despite clear instructions from a househunter I suspect that the person who asked for a city centre retirement bungalow will perversely go off and buy a fish and chip shop in Hull.

What Mr Brain and I do share is an ability to feel the atmosphere of a house. We believe that bricks and stone take on the history of people and events. We couldn't, for example, live in a house built with the money from the excesses of colonial exploitation, which rules out so many otherwise beautiful properties. Newly rich often try to buy themselves a past. I admire those who invest architecturally in the future. Rowan Atkinson has just secured planning permission for a stunning home in Oxfordshire designed by Richard Meier.

You can't buy happiness but you can buy good taste.

Visit Lesley's website: www.lesleybrain.com