Which type of home do you prefer!

Yes old houses with character are nice if
a) You are fit and capable of all the necessary maintenance or
b) You can afford to pay for the work to be done.
If I went on a programme such as Escape to the Country I would specify, no log burner, no listed building, no conservatory.

I grew up in a modern detached house in a little village and went from there to a 500 year old detached farmhouse in the middle of fields when I got married 40 years ago so, apart from 2 university years in a city semi, I've got nothing to compare a detached house to. As we get older, we keep talking about moving to somewhere within walking distance of amenities but we'd still want a detached house with a garden in a reasonably quiet location. It's lovely living here, especially at the moment, with plenty of opportunities for walks , beautiful views and a lovely garden but it's down a long drive off a very minor road which is off a slightly less minor road etc so not so handy as we age & maybe stop driving.

Have detached, now too big for us, in small country village ten minutes drive from all amenities so considered moving as getting older and creakier.
Covid arrived and showed us we were much better off than many friends in urban areas who could not easily access help/support or online deliveries. It's not the type of house you live in that matters, it's your neighbours and the community.
But we probably won't be able to drive for ever......

I do find the bedrooms are cold in a bungalow, compared with a house where heat rises upwards. However, now I find stairs hard work I am content to have cold bedrooms and its a huge bonus during summer week.

I live in a old cottage, much admired by friends but my dream house is a detached ultra modern ‘box’. Unfortunately not DH’s dream. We only have neighbours on one side but over the years some have been a pain, they are fine at the moment.

We moved to a smallish detached bungalow a couple of years ago, and we love it. It has been converted to a chalet bungalow by the previous owners, who were local builders, and the work done, especially the kitchen are of a very high standard. It ticks all our boxes, small garden, not overlooked, off street parking and a log burner. Nothing is perfect though, it’s not a particularly nice road and there are a lot of parked cars, but nothing’s perfect! Nice neighbours too, and walking distance to a village.

I should add that I did eventually have the operation and thankfully it was a great success so I’m still driving!

I haven’t lived in that many homes. Our current house is in a quiet road but very near the local amenities. It was built in the 1920s and has some of the original features. I realised about 15 years ago that location was the most important thing for me. I needed a cataract operation but initially the consultant wasn’t sure it would work due to some previous eye problems. I had to think about what would happen if I couldn’t drive anymore. As all the shops etc are within walking distance as well as my former place of work and trains and buses are not far away I knew I would be able to manage.

I bought my narrow boat to live on four years ago when I was 66. It is a wonderful way to live. The silence is golden. I have a garden mooring. I have regular visitor on the river and in my garden Swans, geese and ducks. I had thought of selling it this year and renting somewhere but Covid means that it won't be possible to sell. Maybe next year... I suppose I yearn for a loo that I can flush rather than the cassette I have to put on my wagon to take to empty and a bath to relax in....hahaha

I live in an old detached cottage on the outskirts of a village not far from beautiful countryside. 15 minute car journey to all amenities including shops. Perfect. I never see anywhere else I would prefer to live.
Sorry if this sounds like showing off but it's not everyone's cup of tea anyway. From what I see on your messages many of you would hate it.

I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Hated the lack of community, nowhere to go, nothing to do except helping on the farm. Then as a young married woman we lived in a new build in a village. Years later, second marriage, converted blacksmiths, then self build (architect husband) then barn conversion. Separation, and for the first time ever I moved to the town and loved it. I had a little Georgian terraced cottage in a quiet backwater but a five minute stroll to the main high street. My teenage son loved it too, five minutes from the night life!
Times move on and that house became expensive heat and keep in good repair so I moved again. This time to my current house, a modern terrace in a quiet side road on a newish estate on the edge of the town. My neighbours are lovely. The estate has a village feel but with a lot more facilities. We have mini supermarket, pub, takeaway, chemist, surgery, fish and chip shop, optician and a lovely coffee shop when we can use it. The community centre is host to lots of clubs and activities and has its own cafe, again, when we can use it. All if this just down the road. There are also three large open spaces with lakes, play areas, picnic areas, wildflower meadows and streams.
I’ve talked a lot more about the areas I’ve lived than the houses, but the location is almost more important I think. Anyway my end terrace house us cosy, warm and easy to maintain. In the summer I hear the neighbouring children playing and when it’s quiet at night I occasionally hear the people next door laughing or shutting a door. I find that reassuring and wouldn’t want to go back to the isolation of the countryside, even though I still love the sound of an owl at night.

My favourite was an end of terrace as described by NanKate with a lovely bay window and walking distance to town and shops. However it had four bedrooms and I had to have lodgers, so for the last nine years I am happy and grateful to live in a second-floor flat with one bedroom. It is just right for one person, I feel safe and love leaving my windows open at night in the summer. My priority as others have mentioned, is walking distance to town and shops. I also have a wonderful landlord and neighbours!

Have lived in flats, a couple in two if the most deprived areas in the UK (DHs job) and people were great to us. Terraced, again all fine with neighbours and amenities. Semidetached all good until the 20s. Detached yes no noise from next doors house but the noise all over is awful. Only 120 properties all detached and I would say it is the worst environment I have lived in. Many young with too much money to spend on their so so precious children. Notices on our local social media page asking us to be careful when driving as children were out on their electric scooters! Didn't go down well when DH posted links to the law that this was illegal. Never mind the swings erected on trees in the communal woodland. Fortunately the maintenance company spotted them when doing annual survey and wrote to a explaining the swings had damaged trees and were totally unsafe. Yes we have all to pay for the replacements. Unfortunately the kind of house you live in bears no relation to having a good, considerate and sensible community.

Forgot to say the bungalow was weatherboarded, hence axeman fears....

When we were first married we lived in a bungalow for a while.
I really didn't like not going upstairs to bed.
Also had a vivid imagination & thought a mad axeman would smash his way into the bedroom. We didn't stay long & have lived in our lovely old semi-detached house for the past 30 odd years; probably time to move back to a bungalow again!

We haealways lived in period houses: semi-detached, terrace and detached. But last month we moved to a house built in 2006 and it has been wonderful. The rooms are all smaller than we are used to but it is still not a small house. It is detached and has three storeys, plus a garden office for me. We haven't had such close neighbours for twenty years and it's ironic that we can't socialise with them. It's a small development in a market town, only about six miles from where we used to live. We are having quite a few things done but it already feels like home.

Granless that's interesting.
I heard a surgeon on the radio last year who talked about "bungalow knees". My mother-in-law is adamant that her stairs help her to keep fit.

We always seem to find something wrong with our homes!
Terraced house with noise on the stairs through the walls and long thin garden, flat with thumping from above due to uncarpeted floors, isolated detached house with no amenities. We even had a perfect house on a beach but in summer the noise and mess drove us mad. I would like a small, detached east/west facing house with views and public transport nearby.
A small shop would be a bonus.

A physiotherapist came once to our ladies’ club and gave a talk on how to look after one’s older self. She strongly recommended that if you were considering moving from a house to a bungalow ... don’t. The stairs are good exercise. She also recommended, amongst other things, that you walk sideways up/down your hall.

Five years ago we moved into our first bungalow. I still refer to the attic as upstairs, and the cupboard under the hatch as the understairs cupboard. It is detached (we have a yappy dog) so noise could be an issue. The main downside for this house is a very steep drive and a lot of lies told by the previous owners.
As happens with age, my mobility has deteriorated so I'm grateful for everything on the one level. DH was asking how I'd have coped had it been a villa, I reckon I would have struggled as long as possible, then probably have gone for a stairlift!

Another reason I wouldn’t want a bungalow (or a ground floor flat, come to that) is that unless it’s really freezing, I want my bedroom windows open at night. And wide open in summer.
Unless it was a guaranteed crime-free area (where on earth is?) I just wouldn’t feel comfortable.

Calistemon, I wish you luck if you do go ahead, but it can be a money pit! I had to be very strict, which is easier when doing it yourself. Buying some of the magazines is a good start (but not Grand Designs unless you have a huge budget!)
I actually don't like older houses (I have lived in all sorts). The features that people like IMHO make them expensive or draughty and awkward; nooks & crannies that harbour dust , walls and corners that are wonky, high ceilings that gobble heat, and odd stairs to trip up down or over!
I am not critical of those who do like those features - people on here and many of my friends and family, who spend their money as they choose. I just personally love my easy, well insulated, eco-friendly, cheap to run home that is full of light.

The theme of this thread seems to be 'hell is [or can be] other people.'

Why can't people just be nice?

Most important considerations for me would be no neighbour noise and being close to shops etc (we have no car.) Those two things being sorted, I'd go for a cosy detached bungalow at this point in my life, with a nice, small garden that would be manageable.

I don't really mind what sort of house I live in. It is the neighbours who determine how happy we are. We had lovely neighbours when we were in half of a semi and, when in a terrace, the neighbours were equally delightful: quiet and considerate. Now we are in a detached house we have had two sets of families as neighbours, one set with four children and the latest with two. Their girls are lovely and you'd hardly know they had a dog as he barks about once a day.

That said, a detached house is the dream as you have space, quiet and a sort of independence. The space around the property is like a moat around your own personal castle and you can pull up the drawbridge!