Would we be mad to buy a home and knock down a perfectly functional extension?

Can you not get someone in to redesign it for you. Ie knock down the walls into the garden room so it's not just windows taken out? It's an amazing space & could look lovely if done right. You'd be mad to knock it down & you'd be paying over the odds for a house without it so financially it doesn't make sense buying it.

Wouldn't it be better to look for another house, since the price you are paying presumably reflects the fact that it has additional space?

It's gorgeous. But I would keep the garden extension and just revamp it. Maybe put in some full length doors, it would be good to be able to open it up to the outside as the dining bit is a bit narrow

That's a huge alteration you are considering, and not financially viable as others have said before me. You need to look for something else which will not need as much demolition, if any, because it's clear this outer room is bothering you and I doubt you will come to terms with it, so move on. Someone else might buy it who loves the extension, so let them enjoy it instead.

Live in it for a year before making your decision.

Keep it for the moment while you settle in and work out how/whether you use it. Put back some doors between your kitchen and the garden room. In a year or two you can decide whether to revamp, demolish and/or rebuild. You will have time to decide what you want to do with it, what style you want, and to save up some money so you can do what you really want.

I'd just move the kitchen into the garden room, it's beautiful.

Having looked at the listing I would 100% keep that my concern would be the amount of worktop in the kitchen but not an insurmountable problem in what is a gorgeous house

Tbh i would live with it for a year or two and see how you go it’s totally different looking around to actually living in.

As my gran would say, you must have more money than sense!

I wouldn’t remove the link, lots of people read these posts and, you never know, someone might see it and love it. Driving visitors to the website to view the house can be a really good thing.

With the "big gap where the window was", we have similar along our Georgian terrace. We've left ours unglazed, but one of our neighbours has mirror glazed both sides in an original style from and window dressed and added big plants.

With a Grade 2 listed house, you are at the whims of the local council Heritage officer(s). Some favour very obvious modern additions, others like the extension to blend in. I reckon they would let you add larger low-profile "velux" and alter the windows and doors (none of that would have been in the original listing of a recent refurb, which the rest of the house looks to be.

I expect you'll be spending a lot of money on the house, so I'd ask whether I could take an interior designer/architect on a viewing to see what could be achieved.

It could look strikingly different.

That was my first thought- especially when it's a listed building

I think I'd add a bifold window and a door into the gaps if that's the only issue with it. Would help with keeping the house warm and travel of smells. It looks beautiful!

Knock the extension if you don't like it. It might be difficult to restore the exterior to the way it was before the extension was built.

What about something like these in the ara

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148580822#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148921964#/?channel=RES_BUY

Similar prices, doesn't need a ton of work on it etc

@WaryRaven If you aren’t wedded to Georgian, there’s choice. Personally I thought the garden was bland and lacked imagination. You get a lot for your money in that are of Cheshire though!

For what it's worth, OP, I was dead against the extension when I just had the floorplan to look at, but having seen the photos on Rightmove, I think it works really well. The extension looks like part of an interestingly-laid-out kitchen and there's plenty of light coming in. It doesn't have that cramped, airless, dark look that many kitchens have which open into an extension.
BTW, I don't think any vendor would mind their Rightmove entry being linked to. The photos and description are already in the public domain and it's free advertising.
Good luck whatever you decide to do about this extremely gorgeous house.

Reposting with the road name also blocked out:

I don't think it's too bad, you can easily rejig the layout because I do understand what you mean about the kitchen. The extension has obviously been done to maximise the views, but you can't see any of them from where you're going to probably spend the most time.

That said, if I was going for the rural idyll, I wouldn't want to be just a hedge jump from two touring parks, an "inn" and a fishery, as pp has said.

Identifying names redacted because some people seem to have issue with the online link being posted (personally I don't, and I think feedback is far more valuable once people know the whole picture).

I love that place, I would buy it and live in it for at least 6 months before you make a decision. Looks like as it is the kitchen could be a bit dark, but don't miss the house and in a few months get an architect to come and throw some ideas at it.

Don’t knock it down before you have the money and a plan for what you want to do next. You might find once you’re living there that it doesn’t bother you so much. I was adamant I wanted to knock down a supporting column when we moved in but I don’t even notice now.

Oh fuck I've left the road name in. I'll report it.