To feel sad when you see another 'gated' house

[ChiantiShire]

There seem to be more and more where I live in the South of England. I also spend a lot of time in the Italian lakes region where every villa is gated. I don't blame people for having a large security gate fitted but it feels like something is being sucked out of the community that will never come back.

But many period properties, not just massive mansions, but suburban properties, have the remains of wrought iron railings and gates (if they haven't been removed). Its quite traditional to demarcate boundaries in this way, and useful if you have dogs.

I don't like them either OP. I've noticed more security gates on ordinary semi detached suburban houses too. I say security but they're only waist high so don't offer much in the way of actual security. The only purpose I can see they serve is that they let everyone know that the house owner is a bit precious.

Oooh I love them! I would feel lovely and safe behind a nice 10ft gate with a couple of dogs roaming around outside.

I think the OP means big fences and security gates rather than the spindly iron ones that just mark your boundaries ( and are preferably squeaky to forewarn the arrival of JWs!)

I disagree. There are plenty of ways to foster a good community spirit, it has nothing to do with a fence and gate.
The house I grew up in had a gated driveway. To keep the dogs in and me safe playing in the garden.

Another one here with gates to keep the dogs in. They have the added advantage of allowing me to ignore cold callers, but that isn't why they are there.

yep, traditionally, most houses did have walls and gates - but loads of fences and gates were melted down inthe war effort, then cars made having open drives more popular/practical. Electric opening gates have made them a practical option again.

We don't have a lot ofpeople walking down our street, so I don't really need them. On a busy road or a road that gets a lot of pedestrian traffic, I can see why you would (particulary if you want your DCs to be able to use the front garden, which are wasted spaces for most families without gates).

I can't stand those massively powerful security lights that go on as soon as you go anywhere near either. I live in a very very low crime area, where I feel quite happy leaving the back door unlocked when I pop to the shop/ keys in the ignition of the car etc., and it makes me very sad to see wealthy people from up country retiring down here and turning their houses into fortresses bristling with CCTV etc. It just conveys an enormous distrust in the common-or-garden members of their community, to me. Extremely divisive.

I make signs for a living, and the only job I've ever turned down was a request to make a sign reading: "Caution. You are on CCTV. Callers by appointment only". I'm not pandering to someone's paranoia fest.

I'd love a security gate if I lived in a house.

We live in a block of flats with buzzer entry as it is. It's glorious. No fucker can get in and bang on my door if I ignore it.

I have wrought iron gates across my drive and lights which come on as you approach the house.

The gates are there to stop my dog wandering off up the street. The lights are there because there is no street lighting where i live.

There is nothing remotely sad about my gates or my lights, just practicality.

We put in gates to keep out the stalker who was breaking our windows on a regular basis, sometimes three times in a week. I feel no need to apologise for it.

Also useful for stopping cabbies from parking on my driveway right by my front door because they would " only be a minute" ??

I always let my lovely neighbours in though

I would love to live in a gated house or community. Much safer for the zombie apocalypse when it comes

But I do think unfenced, open plan gardens, or even just front gardens, are quite a modern thing, mainly due to trendy planners thinking communal living space is a good idea when cramming more houses into housing developments. Most older properties have at least picket fences, and many have very high walls and/or wrought iron fences. The ones in my last house were at least 10 feet high and it had been around for at least a century. The smaller wrought iron fences that were mainly taken for the war were for pasture land and keeping grazing animals in and therefore not so high.

The first thing we did when we bought our house was put up huge gates at the front.
It keeps the dogs in, it stops people coming up on to the house front which they did with shocking regularity - everything from a bloke trying to pee at the side of the house, people taking pictures on the porch. I had a woman leaning on my front door when I opened it and another standing on my drive having her lunch.

We have enough weird indoors. I like to limit the weird coming in.

Oh and the incredibly frequent people parking on there.

I think you have err issues op. Who the hell feels 'sad' to see gates on a house that's not theirs?

I wouldn't want to live in a gated community.

I like my gates, stops folk using our drive as a turning circle

Pagwatch, people took photos on your porch ? how fucking rude. Do you live in a very famous house or something ?

If you had randoms who let themselves into your garden to get stoned in your laurel bushes and leave stolen goods and empty booze tins and bottles in your shrubbery you'd want better gates too

Gates stop people picnicking on my patio - I have a rural public footpath that runs alongside the house and people really do take liberties...

It's just an old house which looks sort of distinguished.
I didn't mind the first time but it got weird really quickly. One guy was taking pictures because he was getting photos of buildings etc that had been part of his dad's childhood which was really sweet.

Every time I see a house with security gates (not often - they're not common in Scotland) I just think "drug dealer"

Ahhhh, the blonde taking pictures for his Dad is sweet.
The rest are right buggers.