HOUSES THAT ARE UNTOUCHED FOR DECADES

Know what you mean Doodledog - re the recognising the house. I've had people do a doubletake that saw my house "before". The view out over is the same (well in one direction - and still recognisable in the other direction). The kitchen is still a wierd shape (eg because it had an alcove deliberately built in for the Rayburn cooker the first owner wanted - which now fits my fridge and freezer into it). I've changed the name as well. So yep...basically that location is all that's the same as it was when I bought the house - because I've changed virtually everything and I've had various people that knew the house "before" looking round confused to start with...

The road itself has changed noticeably and all except one of the immediately surrounding houses have also been/or are being renovated now (whether to a proper standard or a quick job to cash in for a profit). One of the houses had a "renovation" and looked very nice to me - but it was a "quick surface bodge - they'd bought the house to do precisely that and turn it round for a profit. It's now being properly renovated at the moment - only about 2 years after the "bodge for a profit renovation" it had just had (The new owner is waxing voluble complaining about just how much he was conned by the bodge renovation owners before him....umpteen layers of wallpaper on the walls and the new windows not put in properly.....and hence he's replacing them again).

I bought the house in the first place taking a look round at the immediate area and thinking "The area is about to get a lot of the houses renovated and modernised immediately near me over the next few years - and it will go up". That's exactly what's been happening basically (whether a quickie surface job to make a profit from - or a proper renovation). You can tell just who has been watching "Homes under the hammer - as you watch to see whether a nearby house renovation is being done properly or a "bodge for a profit".

The one point that's amusing me is after I'd turned my garden into one that produces as much food as I can manage = the house backing onto my back garden has obviously been studying it and they've now turned their back garden into a food-producing one. In turn their back garden neighbour has been looking over their wall and that's just been turned into a food-producing one. I don't mind at all having someone copycat me in that respect....and wonder with amusement if all the houses going in that direction from me are going to start foodgrowing over time...a trend I'm quite happy to encourage.

I am mildly interested in what has happened to houses I have lived in, and when I realised that if they have been sold on since 1990 there is a good chance that you can find photos of the insides on estate agents’ (just google the address) I did look - just out of interest really. The house I grew up in has been remodelled- without the shot of the outside I would never have recognised it. Other houses we have had (not many) are different in various ways, but whether I like them or not I really don’t care - I don’t live there and it is up to the owners what they do to them.

Choices, we all make choices.

CariadAgain
I'd be distinctly upset though if I had a garden on a house (eg current one - as I do) and I'd spent a lot of time/trouble/money on it to make the best of it and turn it as much as possible to being what I really wanted (as I have) and then saw it had been turned back to one of the "concrete and tarmac gardens" I hate (and there are a lot of them in this area - and so that is a risk) for instance.

It's great that your garden is the way you want it and have worked hard to achieve. But, if you sell up and move on, it becomes somebody else's house and garden for them to do as they wish with.
The people who bought our former home, a two-storey gable-fronted mid-terrace, have removed the gable, added a third storey and covered the mellow red brick facade in dismal grey paint. I think it's hideous! But what do I care? It's their house and the money they paid us for it is being slowly spent on turning this house into what I want - which its previous owners would more than likely dislike!

It depends what we can tolerate. I have to have updated electrics, plumbing etc. and I could not live with someone else’s kitchen, bathroom or flooring. But I am more than happy with 2nd hand furniture, ornaments and pictures. I guess we’re all different. I can understand why people don’t renovate. Even if you can do it yourself everything costs a fortune.

Fartooold similar to my big old house 1874 It was rejuvenated in the 50 s a bathroom put in and double doors between front and back room plus mains electricity Not much else done since then
Lovely black iron Victorian bedroom fireplaces in the bedrooms No central heating
It wouldn’t suit many but suits me beautifully

My feelings exactly Yogitree

Wouldn’t it be entertaining for us all to have a wander round each others houses?😄

David49

“Why change it just because the colour and style is ‘outdated”?”

Because buyers are slaves to fashion and want their perfect Kitchen or Bathroom, they must have a range cooker and cupboards all round and an island not leaving room for a kitchen table.

It’s just one up man ship, exactly the same as cars going far beyond what is actually needed to cook a meal or travel

Some are, not all - and just reading this thread tells one that.

Many kitchen refitters seem to be determined to fit an island, with breakfast bar with high stools AND dining table and chairs in their kitchen no matter. The best one we saw was a narrow kitchen with an island, breakfast bar and stools fitted in, with a formal dining area one end of the kitchen and an informal dining area the other.

When we get into our new project, our kitchen will not have an island, although it will have a table and chairs.

Over 18 months of house hunting, I have examined the weird and wonderful things people do to their houses and it is truly joyous. Mind you today I was reading a news item about a message in a bottle found in Sweden and sent from a Scottish fishing boat over 40 years ago. The news item included a picture of the stone fisherman's cottage where the bottle thrower, now deceased lived.

The current owner had painted all the thick pointing between lumps of granite, royal blue to match the door and what wasn't painted blue was painted white. It was horrendous, it was wonderful, it had been painted with such joie de vivre, it makes me smile just to think about it. It looked like a huge peppermint humbug.

I'd hate to think someone was wondering about my cash limitations/choices in such a public way when it would be absolutely none of their business how I decided to have my home. We are all very different and just because 'you' would do something, doesn't mean another would have reason to do the same. "Mind your own" comes to mind.

Don’t buy my house then, built in 1872 we have spent several years restoring it how it was! Found original fireplaces in six upstairs rooms and have managed to put Victorian fireplaces in the downstairs rooms, kitchen and bathrooms modern. I love this house.

I'd guess costs keep people from wasting money they could save. Our home will see us out and we're content. For us that's enough.

LovesBach

Our first home was bought from the original owners, who had bought it in 1929. They had looked after it lovingly, and done absolutely nothing apart from change a butler sink to a stainless steel. (How annoying!) The fireplaces, bannisters, panelled doors, parquet, roll top bath - all were as new. We lived there for ten years, and had a custom made kitchen installed as the room was an awkward shape. We sold the house, and some months later drove past to see kitchen, doors, bath, all in a skip. What a heartsink moment - our buyer was a developer, masquerading as an engaged person thrilled with the house and its original features.

I can understand the "heartsink" on that one - not that surprising if a house is a bit quirky/unique in the way you've got it together. Me - I looked back at the photos online of my starter house when it was put up for sale 2 years after my buyer had moved into it and it was all pretty much what I expected. I knew the kitchen was the most expensive flatpack one available at the time I had it put in - but it was 25 years old and did need replacing. The bathroom was the better for what she did to it. Basically the place needed what she did to it and so I thought "Fair enough".

I'd be distinctly upset though if I had a garden on a house (eg current one - as I do) and I'd spent a lot of time/trouble/money on it to make the best of it and turn it as much as possible to being what I really wanted (as I have) and then saw it had been turned back to one of the "concrete and tarmac gardens" I hate (and there are a lot of them in this area - and so that is a risk) for instance.

In the case of my particular garden on this house I had to deal with neighbours from two different houses both trying to nick or, at the least, use for parking different parts of my garden and that would be gutting if the two houses concerned had another go at garden theft and trespass after I'm gone - as one of them has managed to steal a bit of my garden in the event and the penny just dropped recently as to why they'd gone to all that effort to steal the bit they got awarded by the Land Registry (as it makes no logical sense) and I realised it all added up to they'd actually been after about half the width of my front garden in the event!!!!!!! It would have made their already large garden massive and mine a small little restricted "prison" of a garden (I had realised enough about their past life prior to owning that house that I guess I shouldnt have been surprised at his unethical actions).

Many design and build their own homes only to find this or that should have been done differently, it’s like finding a new partner you think youve found the perfect man/woman then have to make compromises.

srn63

Every house we have moved into we have revamped. I really can't understand the mindset that you keep looking until you finally see a house with the kitchen you want, the bathrooms you want, the floorcoverings you want, the decor you want etc. This house will never come along. So we have the attitude that we buy in the area we want with the right amount of garden we want. Every thing else can be altered. We even bought a brand new house once and within a week we had builders in to knock down walls, alter the living room and put a different kitchen in (we sold the original one and the fireplace with a gas inset fire so nothing to landfill). We were in that house for 13 years and often when others on the estate came up for sale they still had the original magnolia paint on the walls. I couldn't stand the thought of using other peoples carpets or furniture, if I couldn't afford to replace I would be happy with floor boards until I could.

If only - re finding exactly the house one wants. Such a thing doesn't exist in my experience - even if money wasn't an issue. Location is the primary factor I feel - as that can't be changed, but the house itself can be. As for a house with perfect location and perfectly done and one's own taste - anyone found a unicorn yet?

I didn't have any choice but to use a fair bit of other peoples stuff in my starter house - ie like most people then. So it was a cut-up carpet my parents had passed onto me - and one can never get the smell of dog out of a carpet in my experience for instance. The starter house had that 1970s carpet in the bathroom, including going up the side of the bath when I got it and so that went too when I could afford it (ie pale blue is not a colour of mine and it was the late 1980s by then). There was a very common style for starter houses in my home city - so at least that was easy and I still do it to that day (ie walls painted one version or another of soft white).

So - yep...the ideal would be having a house built from scratch on a plot I'd just bought in a perfect-for-me location.....but not sure whether I'd do that if I came up on the Lottery now or no at my age....

Perhaps it was due to lack of cash…….or actually preferring the house that way.

Our first home was bought from the original owners, who had bought it in 1929. They had looked after it lovingly, and done absolutely nothing apart from change a butler sink to a stainless steel. (How annoying!) The fireplaces, bannisters, panelled doors, parquet, roll top bath - all were as new. We lived there for ten years, and had a custom made kitchen installed as the room was an awkward shape. We sold the house, and some months later drove past to see kitchen, doors, bath, all in a skip. What a heartsink moment - our buyer was a developer, masquerading as an engaged person thrilled with the house and its original features.

Cabowich

Perhaps they're like the situation I'm in at the moment and JUST CAN'T FIND ANYBODY to do it!!! Grrrr!

A couple of builder friends of mine are worried because they only have 6 weeks work in front instead of the usual 6 months. The problem is cost of materials and labour is beyond customers expectations, one friend does supply kitchens and doesnt fit the doors until the cash is waiting for him.

I agree. Why be so invested in other people's lifestyle choices. I find it odd.

Every house we have moved into we have revamped. I really can't understand the mindset that you keep looking until you finally see a house with the kitchen you want, the bathrooms you want, the floorcoverings you want, the decor you want etc. This house will never come along. So we have the attitude that we buy in the area we want with the right amount of garden we want. Every thing else can be altered. We even bought a brand new house once and within a week we had builders in to knock down walls, alter the living room and put a different kitchen in (we sold the original one and the fireplace with a gas inset fire so nothing to landfill). We were in that house for 13 years and often when others on the estate came up for sale they still had the original magnolia paint on the walls. I couldn't stand the thought of using other peoples carpets or furniture, if I couldn't afford to replace I would be happy with floor boards until I could.

butterandjam never buy anything new if you can buy it secondhand. When DH and I got engaged, our first outing with my parents was to the local auction rooms. My father not long retired from the army and my mother, brought up buying everything second hand had found the local auction room as soon as they found their first home of their choice in 20 years and they could not wait to let us know about it. DH the grandson and nephew of antique dealers, brought up round the family shop and furniture repair shop, was equally avid.

Its just that we like old houses to put all our second hand belongings in.

There is a difference between taking a very worn and out dated house and bringing it up to date, and ripping perfectly good kitchens and bathrooms out, for example, because you do not like them

Our current house was reformd from 4 condemned cottages in the 1960s. By the mid 90s they were looking sad and dated. The kitchen was 8 foot square, and the cupboard doors were splitting and faded. We renovated, enlarged the kitchen, installed another bathroom and for the next 25 years, redecorated every so often. Then we repeated the exercise, built an extension and refitted the by now tired chipped and fading kitchen. We have now sold it to someone who fell in love with the kitchen.

We are now buying a house, untouched since the late 1960s.

Cariad Your parents acted very differently to mine when they left they forces. After 25 years of constant moving and packing and keeping personal possessions to a minimum and disposing of anything you werent actually using.

Mine retired to a large bungalow, footprint roughly 30 ft x 50, with a huge lit loft. The inside of the house was immaculate -warm comfortable and attractive. My parents were very sociable and entertained a lot.

But a day or two after my father died DS and I tried to get the loft ladder down - and it broke and we had to get a man to fix it. When he had done so and went up to turn the light off, he looked around and came down and said to DS and I. 'I do not envy you having to clear that lot up. When we got into the loft we found the whole loft, all 30 x 50 feet of it was full of - stuff-. All neatly arranged in rows with old doors and planks forming walkways up and down. Everything within reach and broadly arrange dby category.

25 years of never having anything unnecessary caught up with them in one momemnt and after that, if anything could be consigned to the loft it was. I cannot remember it all, but I do remember the rolls of garden fencing.

Perhaps they're like the situation I'm in at the moment and JUST CAN'T FIND ANYBODY to do it!!! Grrrr!

I was raised in a garrison town. Some ex=military people never escape from that imprinted conformity. 0ne right way to do things. Everything correct and in its place.

Our current home is in a development built in 1990. The first owner, a lady aged 70, bought it off-plan, maintained it perfectly, and lived in it till she was 100. It still has the original kitchen units and both original bathrooms . One has a pale blue suite; the other is peach. Both fully tiled. As perfect as the day they were installed. So are the oak and pale beige kitchen units. OO replaced the boiler in 2009; I had that one replaced yesterday. We personally stripped off her 1980's wallpapers with compementary dado strips revealing perfect plaster, and painted it white. We replaced all the floor coverings.

Otherwise, its all original. It's a house of its time, a rare combination of quality materials, best workmanship and design, a joy to live in. I appreciate its old-style quirkiness. One day it's time and type will be fashionable again, I'm just ahead of the trend.

We also have a collection of maybe tenth-hand inherited furniture, not new when my pre-used second-hand dad bought it a century ago.Added to that is my own magpie collection of stuff from charity shops. Old linen; unmatched bone china, tools. Quality lasts. Its our everyday stuff in daily use by us... and all its previous owners.

Don't get me started on my pre-owned clothes, and n'th hand rescue dogs with a history...

Aveline

Doodledog did you update your neighbour on exactly what you did to the house preferably along with detailed costings? Some neighbours seem to examine all that...

Funnily enough, no 😂

Witzend

One of my dds bought a probate property that was extremely dated, and not in a ‘tasteful’ way, IYKWIM. However it had a lovely warm atmosphere and had evidently been a much loved, and cared for, family home. Former owners had bought it from the council in 1971 - they were evidently being sold off well before Thatcher.
They paid almost exactly 1% of what dd paid!

But it was perfectly liveable, still is. Dd has done very little to it several years later. When asked why, she told me, ‘I’m putting as much as I can into my pension!’

"Atmosphere" - though intangible is a thing imo.

It was (a small) part of the reason why I moved from there eventually - as I was finding the odd inexplicable incident a bit worrying (you try hearing a very loud factory machine noise in one of your Victorian bedroom alcoves for no known reason one day - ie when I was trying to go to sleep in it - and I'd have to stop and google where the nearest factory to it was - ie some distance away). I don't know which incident was most disconcerting - the factory machine noise or the black helicopter or two that woke me up hovering over my house for half an hour or so in the middle of the night one day. Mustnt forget the loud noise in the middle of another night - which was a thief trying to break through into next doors front door (I was too scared to take action at the time - but rang the police the next day to tell them "Door open/neighbour away right now").

Cue for current house just feeling "probate house....probate house.....oooooooh....dear!" when I first got it. I could see everyone reacting a bit "ho hum" or negatively to it at the outset and I certainly hated the reek of fag smoke from last owner (vendor had hidden that by having all windows wide open when I came viewing).

These days - the reaction to the house itself is that they like it/wonder how much I'd sell it for if that was what I wanted to do or just smile. One of the latest friends reaction to it when she first came here was "OOOh...now if I could afford a house and you were selling yours = I want it....".. Everyone then takes a look at the view at some point - ie the only positive thing that could be said about it when I bought it.

I sympathise re the putting money into a pension if need be - as that's exactly what I did and made it a financial priority (hence very few holidays).