Is this what you’d consider to be a ‘middle class’ style house?

Incredible snobbery and ignorance on this thread.

Around 45% of people self-report as middle-class.

So middle-class covers a huge range of people. Including those with hot tubs and Live, Laugh, Love ornaments.

And working class people read books, travel and play musical instruments.

It's almost as if those terms have no clear distinction any more!

But middle-class people often don't have 'generations of wealth and "class" behind them'. They could be lower-middle, one generation of being a rung above the WC and desperate to cling to whatever constitutes MC status for them. And yes, some LMC people are absolutely desperate to be 'better', in social class terms, than others.

It's why Hyacinth 'Bouquet' Bucket is a comedy monster, a crashing aspirational LMC snob trying to overcome her WC origins, her acquired accent buckling under pressure, referring to her modest house as 'The Residence', making her married surname more 'genteel', trying to give the impression she has domestic staff by answering the phone with 'The lady of the house speaking' etc etc.

I do live in a prime Central London period property. We travel, have books and musical instruments and one-off art, but also quite a large tv and a kitchen island.

The house was, at one point, a collection of incredibly depressing council-funded rooms (not even flats) owned by an absolutely appalling landlord.

So I think we're naff middle class and our house is gentry that fell on hard times and is now nouveau riche.

@StripedVase I think it's possible that the OP is the same person who has started some quite strange, now-deleted property threads in the last few days.

You can respond without insulting the homeowners. Who by the way have not invited scrutiny of their home.
They have innocently put it up for sale for view by potential buyers, not so a nest of vipers on MN can bitch about their decor!

The question was is this house middle class, and people have responded. Are people not allowed to have an opinion on class markers unless they live in big houses?

Nonsense. In the real world people don't just buy a house because of their taste. Budget, proximity to family and friends, transport, schools, bedroom space, work from home space, etc all factor in.

Not everyone has the time or inclination to spend huge amounts of time 'styling' their house. Just like people from all class background have different levels of interest in fashion, makeup etc.

Some people are just so desperate to be 'better' than others it's embarrassing. And definitely not a trait I would associate with some who has generations of wealth and 'class' behind them.

The house signifies a certain type of person lives there. If the poster had put any other house up and asked “what kind of person lives here” comments would have been similar. It’s not about where you live, it’s about whether it’s to your taste and the stereotypes it evokes.

Nothing like a thread where the OP doesn't reveal quite what the intention of her question is and so people are forced to try and guess exactly how best to be snide, defensive and paranoid about it 😆😆

I'd love to see the homes of some of the people posting bitchy comments about this house.

Do you all live in sprawling country manor houses? Or prime central London period property? I doubt it.

Nice house, shame about the hot tub 😬

My exact thought as well!

I think we would need to know Adele's kitchen island status before we can properly adjudicate 😂

Nothing!

I would say this is the home of a relatively affluent middle class person.

This though don't know school catchments in that area or local estate but looks nice enough.

It's a 4 bed - not always that common - and nicely finished nothing hanging off or saying needs work even if decor not to some posters tastes. Here you'd get similar in middle class area other side of town would be about half the price if not less.

Utlimately depends on who lives there - their education/money/class and who lives in the surrounding area.

So working class Adele who lives in a $30million Californian house, is performing not attending as part of the audience, but performing at the Royal Opera Hall.

Hey there Adele we don’t care which fancy fancy conductors you work with know your working class status, because Kate here has bought a large detached house in the suburbs she’s going places proper middle class her unlike you.

Cone on really.

Classism is great fun though let the insanity judgement shine through!

I would say it is a boring, nothing house. It has zero personality and is an “aspirational house” certainly not “old money

When did middle class equal old money?

Interesting question OP. Basically I don't think a house can have a class - that belongs to the occupants. Probably the single most MC estate agent there is is Inigo. If you look on there they have a vast range of period houses for sale (its their thing). Some are the traditional gentry (ie upper middle class just under aristocracy) manor houses etc but there are also plenty of old vicarages etc which would have been impoverished middle class for the most part plus large Victorian and Georgian town houses for the likes of doctors and wealthy merchants. The there are very small houses in very expensive cities like London which are now occupied by middle class families but would have originally have been workers cottages and there is even an alms house which would have been for the "worthy" but very indigent at the bottom of society.

Looking at the decor, I was disappointed not to see at least one “Live Love Laugh” sign!

I would say it is a boring, nothing house. It has zero personality and is an “aspirational house” certainly not “old money”.

It depends how you define class really. I would say it’s prob well above average earnings, mortgage a large part of income, an SUV on hirer purchase, a (white) Tesla company car, holiday in France, grew up poorer kind of house. New middle (aspirational) class, not old middle class.

The flat in Chelsea often only has space on the wall!

Acceptable, as long as they're not on the wall though, a la Wetherspoons et al!

Yep. When Nigella Lawson is shown putting together meals on a kitchen island, she's only doing it as a sop to working class viewers.

In real life she chops her turnips on a medieval trestle in front of the spit.

I have owned Collies; lots of German Shepherds; a staffie cross; lots of Greyhounds; a couple of Jack Russell type things; a Labrador.
Some from puppies, some from rescue organisations. Does that make a difference? I was told on another thread that I should never buy puppies.
The staffie and one of the German shepherds were abandoned as puppies and we took them in.
What class am I?

Right. Because Plain English and DeVOL have never ever not once sold a kitchen to a middle class person. Not one middle class person has ever walked in the doors of those filthy purveyors of kitchen islands.

It's just a house. There's nothing interesting about it.

lol so true!