Houses in other countries (inspired by what baffles you about other countries)

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Inspired by the thread on things that baffle you in other countries, where quite a lot of the discussion related to homes in other countries, I thought it’d be interesting with a thread showing standard homes in different countries and some information about how choices have been made when it comes to their layout etc.

So here are two links to two different homes in Sweden. This one (you’ll get straight to a gallery with pictures and the layout is at the bottom) is a fairly typical house built in the 1970s:
www.hemnet.se/bostad/villa-6rum-rodeby-karlskrona-kommun-fasanvagen-6-17145055#gallery

There are several areas to sit outside, wooden decking areas. There is a large hallway, easy to store clothes and put away shoes. There are two lounges – very common, and normally desired, for families; one for the parents, one for children to have friends in etc. The kitchen was probably a room of its own in the 1970s, but it’s now more or less open to the lounge. There is a separate utility room, and a big storage room with a separate entrance (“förråd”). There is also an indoors storage room, “Klk”. There are bedrooms on the ground floor as well as on the first floor – this is very common, people like not having all bedrooms next to each other (so do I!). Sometimes when the children get older parents like to move downstairs and leave the upstairs to the children completely (including cleaning haha!). In this house, the downstairs bedrooms are kind of tucked away, but it is also common to have a bedroom literally inside the entrance door for example.

When this house was built and bought, the upstairs probably wasn’t ready – people would buy a house that was ‘half-done’ and then when they had saved more money they’d do the upstairs too. So there is no proper bathroom upstairs, just a loo; this is very unusual. (And usually, all bathrooms and loos are fully tiled – all new built houses always have fully tiled bathrooms and toilets, so this is a house that has not been renovated to what is now standard.)

It is also very typical that there are no doors to the lounge/hallway for example. I think that is one reason why Scandi people feel that English houses are so crowded/small/narrow, there’s no open space (even without expanding it would feel more airy if there weren’t doors to three rooms on the ground floor from a very narrow hallway, for example).

So people buying this house would probably fit a proper bathroom upstairs, for example. The downstairs looks quite ‘normal’ and ready to go.

This is quite a standard, recently built flat for families (in fact, it’s just being built, so there are options for the first buyer to choose between, different bathroom tiles for example).

www.hemnet.se/bostad/lagenhet-4rum-majorna-goteborgs-kommun-fixfabrikens-gata-4-17184735#gallery

Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, one of them also has a washing machine and a drier. Two balconies (this is unusual, one is standard), open plan living again. Quite a lot of cupboards/storage, including in the hallway and built in wardrobes in every room. Specific cleaning cupboard in the kitchen area. Big windows – really important, this is one thing I miss in England.

(Bedrooms are never presented as 'double' or 'single' - I don't know any 'child' living at home who had a double bed, and everything is measured in sq metres - it'd be pointless information for someone that a double bedroom, it doesn't say anything about the size, apart from the fact that it is at least 2x2 metres ;-) )

Would be really interesting to see a standard home in Italy/France/Spain/Ireland/the Netherlands for example and hear about the choices made there/what people like and want, I’ve never been in any :-)

I can post some homes in Denmark later on too if anyone's interested.

Re district heating systems - I live in an eco development in the UK which has a district heating system, so we get our hot water for heating / bathing etc piped directly into the house. Instead of a boiler we have an interface unit that automatically sends monthly meter readings for billing. The development has a boiler house that uses gas and wood pellets to heat the water.

Additionally, the house has lots of insulation and triple glazing (with windows that open inwards / tilt) and a ventilation and heat recovery system (so no condensation). We only run the heating November to March. Our heating / hot water bill is usually around £800 per year (3 storey 150m2 house), with about half of that being the standing charge.

I lived in Bermuda for a while and the houses there all have white roofs (traditionally limestone) which act as filters for rainwater, then the water is stored in tanks under the house and is your drinking / washing / cleaning water.

They often live in multigenerational homes where the parents will have bought the land and built a single storey home then later adult children will build another home / storey (because land is so expensive) or the original owners will build and rent out the other floor.
You are only allowed to have 1 car per property so even if there are multiple separate dwellings only one can have a car.
Tiled floors throughout is very common.
No central heating, but aircon and heaters. Most windows are sash types so you can fit a window aircon unit and most houses have shutters against hurricanes.

Had to post this news clip here - a Swedish woman who makes an amazing doll's house www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/ost/se-det-unika-dockhuset-ewa-tillverkar-alla-mobler-sjalv?fbclid=IwAR3aUblrOOiKOYr_gumWf-oi1p6IZamDvpIEauQ-hQrZOGMfOuYalLFR5Sk Just look at the film, all that is miniature! This is the 3d time she's "renovated it".

@FatCatThinCat

No only are playgrounds not fenced in in most of Sweden, the schools themselves are accessible to anyone and as a parent I have the right to observe my child's class. So if he's being a pain the arse at school, I can humiliate him by sitting next to him in class to keep him inline. (My DS is a sweetheart so wouldn't need this but I know one parent who did when her son was playing up as a teen. Imagine the embarrassment!)

When my children were in kindergarten and elementary school, parents were welcome to come and eat lunch with their kids. I went in about once a week. It was a very interesting way to see the dynamics at play among the students. It was also nice to just catch up with my kids and meet their friends.

I've always wanted to go to Bermuda.
Someday........

Italy here too. I agree re the lack of windowsills, I live in a block from the 1950s and the windows are flush to the walls, the sills are on the outside only. I’d never really thought about it as odd up to now.

In common with many other countries we tend to live in flats, have sockets in the bathroom, centralised heating which goes on on 15th October and gets switched off on 15th April. The heating is included in the management fee of the apartment block and there is a common 30% then 70% is based on consumption as we have knobs on the radiators to control the temperature.

Recycling - we have separate bins in the courtyard for different items. There’s a bin for paper, one for glass, one for plastic and tins together and one for compostable food waste. There is also the unrecyclable rubbish bin. You supposedly get a fine if you put the wrong stuff in the wrong bin (or your apartment block does, which leads to lots of snooping in bins by residents with time on their hands). However we’ve not been hit by a fine yet, which makes me wonder if they do actually differentiate, not least because every town/area seems to have different rules on separating materials and in the stations there are separate bins for paper/plastics etc then the cleaner comes along and empties the lot into one black bag .

Flats are sold per sqm, not the number of bedrooms, although the number of rooms overall will be stated. To buy a flat you pay a deposit (compromesso) which you lose if you pull out, so no fannying about or gazumping.

Milan has got eye wateringly expensive, this is semi central, but only one bedroom, however in a block considered “signorile”
www.immobiliare.it/annunci/85674468/

this is in an area further out, it was considered not great a few years ago:
www.immobiliare.it/annunci/85678226/

This is hugely overpriced because situated in the newly regenerated area and in one of the architect designed blocks
www.immobiliare.it/annunci/85673442/

Then you have the old Milanese style with small rooms/flats leading off a common balustrade around a courtyard like these:
www.neiade.com/tour-experience/tour-guidati/sui-navigli-cortili-case-di-ringhiera-milano/#&gid=1&pid=1
These were once working class dwellings in what were salubrious areas, but are very much sought after nowadays. I used to live in one when I was single, it was tiny but with very thick walls. The toilets used to be next to the stairwell and there were often common sinks, but obviously nowadays people have bathrooms.

Recycling - we have separate bins in the courtyard for different items.

Our bins are in the street and we have a new system - you have to have a card (connected to your "rubbish account") to open the general rubbish bin. You are charged extra if you throw away more rubbish instead of recycling. Entirely predictably, people are just leaving their rubbish next to the bin instead.

Oh, are you in Rome? My friend was grumbling about something similar

a relative in germany lives in a turn of the century purpose built flat.
it doesn't have it's own bathroom.
the bathroom is shared with the direct neighbours of the floor and is half a stairs down.

Oh, are you in Rome?

No, Emilia-Romagna. I've seen them in Trentino too but I think they are a really bad idea! Our windows overlook the rubbish bins (naice) and they are not a pretty sight!

Madness! Where my mum lives has personalised numbered bags, so if they find the wrong bag in the wrong bin you get a fine personally, not the palazzo. A while ago there was this disgruntled guy moving the bags into the wrong bins to “create a little excitement”

en.spitogatos.gr/property/117643177

This is my in laws house which is for sale in Crete I have spent every year here since 1992 when it was first built and it is my happy place. Cretan houses are basically prepped for summer and not so much for winter, although we have now put a log burner in the lounge so it warms up in the winter!

Lovely place Skade, what an amazing view!

Houses in Zimbabwe are typically large bungalows. Double storey homes are common among the middle and upper middle class.

Houses are quite spacious and typically 3 bed homes with separate sitting room (1 or 2), dining room and kitchen, at least one en suite and bathroom. Outbuildings like garages and a cottage with separate bathroom and sometimes a couple of bedrooms, kitchenette and bathroom are also common. Most gardens are large and pools are a typical feature.

In the high density areas (3rd pic typically lower income- Houses are typically the same blueprint but smaller minus outbuildings with much smaller gardens but still detached except in some areas like mining towns for workers' cottages which may be semis.

A significant portion of the population (mostly older) live in the countryside in huts although most people have urban style homes in the countryside, accompanied by huts which serve as an extra kitchen or separate hut for granary and/or other purposes.

Video shows one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Zimbabwe, although I would consider those homes to be relatively middle class but I'm sure the location makes them more expensive as my family live out of Harare on a 20 acre plot, in a similar house next to a game reserve. I would consider them staunchly middle class as they get more lavish as you go along.

Rural countryside pictures and video

Correction to my first post: That would be the second picture (not the third) is the high density home and the other two typical middle class homes.

Also homes face North to maximise on sunlight but some people prefer them to face south particularly if living in a hotter part of country.

Multiple storey homes are uncommon because the each storey must be made of a very thick concrete slab decking (>15") with reinforced steel making it very expensive, so large sprawling bungalows are more common.

Older homes (pre-70s/80s) typically have parquet flooring made from local teak which was extremely popular but most people prefer it ceramic tiles now as they keep the house cooler and are low maintenance to the teak floors which need regular polishing and treatment. (Floors aren't typically varnished and a weekly application of floor polish and literally hand brushing the tiles to get a glass finish is hard work - if you ever meet a Zimbabwean ask them what cobra is).

We live in a very typical gated community in Dubai, popular with expats.

Here, apart from the more 'local' areas, where the houses are more individual and older, each community will have row upon row of almost identical layouts, each painted the same and with exactly the same fixture and fittings. I guess it's because most expats rent here, rather than buy so no one bothers going beyond the basic/standard.

So for example, I can go to my neighbour's house 5 streets away, and she will have exactly the same bathroom tiles, the same flooring, the same layout, exact same size garden etc.

Each community will have clusters/sub-communities within it, and each of those will have its own community facilities, usually a kids playground, some green space and a large pool - all of which are free to use.

Even the smallest houses (2 bed) will usually have a maids room and en-suite, and we have lots of bathrooms. A driveway/off-road parking for at least 2 cars is also standard, as are built in wardrobes or a walk in closet. My house is only a 3 bedroom, but the master bedroom has a walk in closet with built in shelves and rails.

These communities tend to be mostly for families and are more on the outskirts of the city. If you go into the busier areas, it will be apartments in huge tower blocks.

This is very interesting particular Zimbabwe and Dubai above. I suppose it comes down to space - in cities like London and Milan people often live in flats not houses. Where there is more space in other countries or out of cities you are more likely to have a house not a flat.

So fascinated by the Zimbabwe houses!

I love looking at houses in other countries. Sometimes I just have a random street view walk and try to imagine what it’s like living there.

Zimbabwe house no2 looks like it could just be around the corner from me!

Zimbabwe much like South Africa!