Sick of picking up your husband's socks or bickering over the washing up? Gabrielle and Jan Henning may well have hit upon the perfect solution for battling spouses  -  living next door to each other. Here, the pair, who are both 57 and have been married for 36 years, explain their unusual set-up to ANGELA CARLESS,
THE WIFE SAYS,

Every morning, my husband Jan brings me tea and toast in bed. We chat about the day ahead before I give him a lift to the school where he works, en route to the college where I teach art.

At the end of the working day, we'll often go shopping together and on Saturdays we make a habit of going for lunch.

I'm sure many married couples follow a similar domestic routine  -  but I'm certain our living arrangements differ hugely. For Jan and I don't share the same bed, or even the same house  -  he lives in a separate house next door. We have lived in mirror-image adjoining houses for the past ten years.
jan gabrielle hennig

Solution: Jan and Gabrielle Henning have the perfect life together,  living apart next door to each other

We have our own bedrooms, our own bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms behind our own front doors. We also have our own gardens separated by a fence, over which we chat. To my mind, we have the best of both worlds: separate lives and yet the trust and companionship of marriage.

To be honest, I think we've hit on an arrangement that most women secretly wish for, sick of the squabbling over the washing-up or their husband's shavings in the sink. Having separate houses puts paid to all that, but it also means that when we're together it's because we like each other's company, not out of habit or because we're forced to exist under the same roof. We appreciate and respect each other a lot more.

Our once-traditional marriage has evolved into a very modern relationship where we are effectively married singletons, but remain wholly committed to each other. Although I love my husband and he makes a great next-door neighbour, there's no way I want to live with him.

Now this is not a bad idea!

I know of a couple that do this. Honestly sometimes I think about it sha LOL

Now that is drastic!!

Wouldn't this give in room for temptation? Like female friends passing the night in the man's house and vice versa?

What is good for the goose may not necessarily be good for the gander, you know.

Well it's not for everybody obviously. It depends on how mature you are about your marriage. You are still practically under each others noses. It is unorthodox but I am pretty sure it can work with the right couple

then what is the essence of the marriage then? leaving in different homes not due to inconvenience but choice? makes no sense.