A married couple say living in separate houses works wonders for their relationship - adding that the romance between the two is "much better" than when they lived together."

Heather Gordon, 54, and her husband, James Mudd, 48, have found that maintaining separate residences is the best solution for their marriage.

Challenging conventional norms, the couple from Dallas, Texas both in their second marriage, have embraced the concept of living apart together.

James rented an apartment just 1.5 miles from Heather's house - allowing him to be close while providing space for his children when they visited.

Heather added that the romance between the two is "much better" when they are apart - adding that they have more intimacy now when they were living together. "

She said: "When you live with someone you let them see your unattractive sides. When you live apart you only show up with your best side. "

"When I go over to his place no kids are there so we can always be intimate any time of day. Whereas at my house I still have a minor in the house and it is always tricky trying to have intimacy with her home."

"We have more intimacy now that we have a separate place to be at. It is like a private residence to have intimacy. "

"We have more intentionality with our dating and with our romance than we would if we were living together. We would have just hang out on the couch in your sweat pants with no make-up."

James had been divorced for 12 years and Heather for 10 years. But in October of 2020 they met at a Starbucks and started dating from that point on.

"He had two children at the time who were 16 and 21 and my kids at the time were 13 and 15," Heather said."

"We met and basically just ended up having coffee together and then we ended up not separating. We dated from that point on. "

"We were very similar - we are both very independent and easy going but we just had an instant best friend compatibility on top of attraction to each other. "

"We have more like a dating relationship, however, from a commitment standpoint we are at the highest level because we are married - but we don't live together."

Before getting engaged they lived one hour away from each other. Once they got engaged James moved in with Heather.

Heather explained: "We tried to make that work for a year and a half. The house I lived in with me and my two daughters really wasn't a place for a married couple and it definitely wasn't a place for people who worked from home."

"He is in real estate and works from home and I have two different businesses - a beauty brand and I am also a cosmetic tattoo artist and I see clients in my home. "

"Between my two businesses and his business we really didn't have that space to be living and working together. In addition my daughters were both in high school and I just felt like they needed me undistracted and to help them getting through their day. "

"James no longer had a place for his kids to come and visit him."

The tipping point happened during their children's holidays in December 2022.

"All the kids were at home and it just got complicated," she explained."

"He would have probably kept on to living with me and making it work but I am more outspoken and I said 'I don't like the way things are right now'."

"I don't think we jumped the gun on the marriage, I think we jumped the gun on moving in together."

And so the couple decided to live apart - with James moving out to be 1.5 mile away from Heather.

She said it made "everything better" as they both have space to hang out their kids. "

Heather said: "It keeps things exciting and spicy and fun and we don't fight because we don't pick on each other because we are not living together."

"Him and I talk first thing in the morning, last think in the night and all throughout the day like we were together. But we just have space to exist. And we will live together one day."

"We will never live together without two primary bedrooms. We both are very into our health and wellness and with that comes we both sleep better solo. We disrupt each other - he snores. I like my space, he likes his space."

With living apart but being in a 'healthy' marriage, Heather claims they are able to get more done in their day and enjoy each other's company at night and weekend.

For her the romance between the two is "much better" when they are apart - adding that they have more intimacy now when they were living together. "

Heather said: "We love being married because we love having the highest level of commitment. But we don't want to live together right now. We both are really busy in our agendas."

"When you live with someone you let them see your unattractive sides. When you live apart you only show up with your best side. "

"When I go over to his place no kids are there so we can always be intimate any time of day. Whereas at my house I still have a minor in the house and it is always tricky trying to have intimacy with her home."

"We have more intimacy now that we have a separate place to be at."

It is like a private residence to have intimacy.

"We have more intentionality with our dating and with our romance than we would if we were living together. We would have just hang out on the couch in your sweat pants with no make-up."

Heather added that she finds herself getting "more excited" for their dates and that it keeps the "spark" alive."

They see each other five days a week but sometimes try be with each other every day.

And they are both "guests" at each others houses."

She said: "I don't lift a finger when I am over there and he doesn't have to lift a finger when he is at my house - and I love that."

"When he did live with me I kind of did handle all the cooking and cleaning."

She has used social media to speak about her relationship - stating that she receives several negative comments from people criticising their martial arrangement.

And often men are the ones who are 'critical' of their relationship.

"Men don't understand because men are also the ones who don't have any problems sleeping. But women, especially my audience because it is usually women over 40 they really start to have sleep issues."

"Women who are divorced and in second marriages and have blended families very often will tell me they wish they would have got this. Once in a while one guy will say this is brilliant."

"Men tend to be the ones who don't get it."

Despite enjoying living separately Heather said that she "misses" living with her husband."

"He is my best friend and I want to tell him everything. I love being with him and we don't fight so I can just be with him all the day."

"But we just like each other's company. When he comes and stays for a weekend I always feel a little lonely when he leaves because I do enjoy his company."

"But I know we have the rest of our lives to live together when all four kids are out of the house and we can have separate bedrooms so we can both sleep really well."