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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To refuse to buy her house and tell her why?

183 replies

StinkyTowels · 16/01/2025 13:59

A few years ago my sister bought a beautiful period property with all original features. Victorian fireplaces, hand crafted bannisters, Victorian carved coving, the head things that pop out of the coving - I adored the house and always said if she sells it, I’ll buy it.

That was of course until she “modernised it”. Stripped out all original features, painted everything white, installed a clinically white and shiny kitchen, lobbed the standalone bath out of the window and replaced it with a spa bath … I kept telling her she was ruining the house but she said I was old fashioned and nobody likes that shit anymore.

The house is historically important, a local famous post lived there, from the outside it looks like a grand Victorian villa. On the inside it look like a London penthouse. It’s awful.

last year she decided to sell it but rather than coming straight to me she tried to sell it for much more than I would have ever paid due to the “improvements” she’d made. LOTS of viewings but no offers - all feedback was exactly the same - put off by interior. Lack of original features etc

So she’s come back to me - I’m now saying I don’t want it either for the same reasons. She’s fuming at me and says I “promised” I would buy it. In its original state I did yes but once she started pulling it apart I very clearly told her I would no longer buy it as she’s wrecked it. She won’t accept this however and is already eying up another house she’d like to ruin/renovate.

AIBU to be glad she can’t sell the bloody thing. It should be illegal to do what she’s done to that belle house

OP posts:
SerafinasGoose · 16/01/2025 17:32

ViolinsPlayGentlyOn · 16/01/2025 15:49

I’d have ripped out that bathroom too (other than the stained glass) - wouldn’t have gone for the second option, though.

I think both options are hideous!

I'd have refreshed what's there. Albeit metro tiles are not to everyone's taste I think those green ones beautiful. Some decadent wallpaper to complement above them, new floor tiles, new fixtures in bronze or brass and a simple replacement of the white loo seat with a black one would really bring that scheme to life.

The second option is sacrilege!

RobinMcfly · 16/01/2025 17:30

Heronwatcher · 16/01/2025 15:46

Example below- perfectly preserved original tiles, loo and stained glass replaced with fake MDF panelling, topps tiles, loo and flush which look like they will break within a year and UPVC window.

the green i like, only thing i like on the right is the gold bars

RobinMcfly · 16/01/2025 17:29

jesus, i always prefer vintage, / old features , modern tech yes but vintage features eg wooden panels , ect like the old style mansion's, those AGA cooker i think they are, things like that

Genevieva · 16/01/2025 17:28

Is it listed? If it is, she has probably broken the law, as all the original features are automatically included in the listing and can only be removed with listed building consent. Sadly, unless the listing actually specifies them (which most don't) then there is no evidence of the damage she has done. She could, however, rectify it to some extent by reinstating many of those things. It will cost her a pretty penny and she will have to search through antiques shops and reclamation yards, but it is possible.

TheignT · 16/01/2025 17:20

TooManyChristmasCards · 16/01/2025 14:04

why destroying a beautiful period house instead of buying a modern one instead?

Location, size, price. Lots of reasons.

PleaseStopEatingMyStuff · 16/01/2025 17:18

As a lover of all things origional/traditional this post caused me pain. It sounds like she's ripped the soul out.
I wouldn't buy it either.

diddl · 16/01/2025 17:16

She took out the original features from a house which holds a significant prominence in the community from the sound of things, she didn't just gut a 1930s semi!

Perhaps someone should have looked into a preservation order or something then?

Tbh I probably wouldn't gut a 1930s semi!

Dontlletmedownbruce · 16/01/2025 17:15

YABU to be so mean about her taste. Each to their own.

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 16/01/2025 17:12

Yanbu - but are you a homeowner already? Would you be getting a victorian house at a cheaper price? Don't cut off your nose to spite your face here! x

PickledElectricity · 16/01/2025 17:09

diddl · 16/01/2025 16:59

Is what she has done particularly outlandish?

It seems quite popular to extend a kitchen at the back & put bi folds on whatever the property!

She took out the original features from a house which holds a significant prominence in the community from the sound of things, she didn't just gut a 1930s semi!

diddl · 16/01/2025 16:59

Is what she has done particularly outlandish?

It seems quite popular to extend a kitchen at the back & put bi folds on whatever the property!

ManchesterGirl2 · 16/01/2025 16:44

She can do whatever she likes to her house. But she can't expect you to buy it. Leave her to it, and don't bring up the subject unless she does.

PickledElectricity · 16/01/2025 16:40

It's much easier to blame you than accept that she made a mistake.

Obviously don't buy the house you'll spend a fortune putting things back and it'll never be the same.

Best hope is someone with your sister's taste comes along to buy it.

Plastictrees · 16/01/2025 16:22

TheSnootiestFox · 16/01/2025 14:02

YANBU. I honestly have no clue why people with a taste for all things modern buy period houses. They need to bugger off to new builds and leave the coving and fireplaces for the rest of us!

💯

It’s sacrilege to rip out beautiful original features and replace them with soulless white monoliths etc.

OP - YANBU.

Growlybear83 · 16/01/2025 16:19

TheSnootiestFox · 16/01/2025 14:02

YANBU. I honestly have no clue why people with a taste for all things modern buy period houses. They need to bugger off to new builds and leave the coving and fireplaces for the rest of us!

Oh how I agree with you. I live in a street of large Victorian and Edwardian houses and ours is one of the few houses left thst still has the original layout and most original features. Our neighbours showed us round their house recently after a major extension, and we were horrified by what they, and their predecessors, had done to the house. Almost every original feature has gone, and in common with most houses in the Road, they've got a huge modern extension box on the back, and almost all of downstairs is open plan. It's been done very nicely but it's SO wrong and out of place in a lovely 1970s house. If you want a modern box why not buy a new build rather than destroy A beautiful old house with lots of character?

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 16/01/2025 16:05

Well, you did warn her! YANB at all U to refuse to buy the house as it is and tell her why, but YAB a little bit U to be pleased she can't sell it. I'm somewhat pleased that there are people who deplore the modern trend for flatness and sleekness. We're looking to move, and struggle to find a single kitchens without shiny white floors and glaring skylights and bloody bifolds which mean you can't get a little bit of ventilation without opening a whole door.

NetZeroZealot · 16/01/2025 16:00

People have different tastes in interior design. I prefer the authentic period look too but recognise it’s not for everyone and wouldn’t be judging people who like different things.
Sounds like it was a fairly bog standard Victorian house, otherwise it would have been protected by a Listing.

thescandalwascontained · 16/01/2025 16:00

YANBU

She clearly doesn't understand the market if she considers what's she's doing her 'business'.

Heronwatcher · 16/01/2025 15:59

ViolinsPlayGentlyOn · 16/01/2025 15:49

I’d have ripped out that bathroom too (other than the stained glass) - wouldn’t have gone for the second option, though.

I think both options are hideous!

Maybe but it was original to the house and has lasted over 100 years, fabulous quality and once it’s gone it’s gone.

What about the next 10 people who live in the house and who might prefer it over the mdf nightmare. And even if it’s not your personal taste you could really improve it (replace the black with funky modern wallpaper, maybe ever replace the floor but for the love of god who could hate the stained glass). Apparently the owner removed the tiles because they smelt a bit 🙄

My bet is the next owner will probably install a less good quality version of the original.

What’s more apparently the original was worth quite a bit of money…

FoxtonFoxton · 16/01/2025 15:54

She'll find someone who likes the operating theatre look eventually.
I wouldn't buy it either with all the period features gone. That would have been the appeal to me, and sourcing and refitting everything stripped would cost a fortune and is something I wouldn't do unless the property was cheap.
It's a real shame, but it was her house and it's her mistake. Most people looking at a period property want period features. Goes without saying. Unless she was planning to stay put for the rest of her life, ripping everything out wasn't a savvy move.

MyDeftDuck · 16/01/2025 15:50

Well, she has created her own white elephant and you are right to stand your ground and refuse to buy it now.
Just why people desecrate beautiful period homes is beyond me.

ViolinsPlayGentlyOn · 16/01/2025 15:49

I’d have ripped out that bathroom too (other than the stained glass) - wouldn’t have gone for the second option, though.

I think both options are hideous!

Heronwatcher · 16/01/2025 15:46

Example below- perfectly preserved original tiles, loo and stained glass replaced with fake MDF panelling, topps tiles, loo and flush which look like they will break within a year and UPVC window.

To refuse to buy her house and tell her why?
To refuse to buy her house and tell her why?
Cheepcheepcheep · 16/01/2025 15:42

YABU to be bitchy enough to post this thread but not bitchy enough to share the Rightmove listing 😂

WoolySnail · 16/01/2025 15:39

CautiousLurker01 · 16/01/2025 15:18

It may seem rude, but it appears everyone who has viewed the property agrees with OP but there’s a not particularly fine line between rudeness and unpalatable truth.

If OP’s sister can’t sell it at the original price plus costs of ‘renovations’, then she has devalued it, so it is also a ‘fact’ that it has been ruined. I think the time for sugar coating it is past if OP’s sister is stuck with a property she can’t sell.

OP's sister will have priced it with her "extensive renovation improvements" added and it's likely over priced!

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