To ask for your reasons for preferring period properties?

[Derlei]

Sorry, another LLL thread.

I always come across buyers on this programme looking for "period properties". What is it about period properties that people prefer? Is it the charm, is it the potential history associated with it, or is it the way that they're physically constructed? Do they appreciate more in value relative to other types of builds in the same area?

Some of the period properties Kirsty and Phil find are quirky and quintessentially British, but at the same time are tiny and imo don't look very cosy

I wish I knew - it's not the practicality!

First property - flat in Victorian villa. High ceilings and period features amazing until you came to paint them.

Next - 1800s terrace. Tiny rooms. Think the appeal was charm while still being affordable in London. It was miniscule.

Now - cottage, mostly 1700, some of it from Middle Ages. Freezing cold, hitting head on beams continually, hugely expensive to do any work on. But it is so charming, has historic broken stained glass windows, it was love at first sight. Never mind about the falling apart kitchen and shonky plumbing.

I blame my mother for taking me to too many historic open air museums as a child

Have had two new builds now and wouldn't go for an old property. We have three floors, large light rooms, two car driveway and i've still to hear my neighbours. Everything is new perfect and out choices. Fuck having a house that's shabby and old and has someone else's design choices. They are not 'soulless' nor 'sterile' they are a blank canvas. I have an amazing bedroom with enough room for a super king size bed, Two further double size rooms, living room with a large bay window and brand new kitchen with my choice of units and flooring. In my book new is better than old shabby and usually damp.

fluffy you do realise that you can, you know, decorate an old house? Looking around me and yep, no-damp, modern interior, smooth walls, all mod cons. Dead fancy it is.

We had a pretty Victorian semi. It was lovely. It was a money pit. It was freezing. The lovely brickwork round the windows mattered not a jot when we were struggling to keep DD's room warm or fixing yet another thing that had gone wrong. The house was a series of small rooms arranged in a line, and we were forever bumping into each other in doorways.

Now have a late 70s box. It's retro as hell, has big rooms, and it's WARM. And I get to look at the pretty Victorian houses on the other side of the road! I think fondly of the pretty house, but I could not love this one more.

I think its because they have history and charctor.
What's the old saying. If these walls could talk.

I grew up in a period property and I loved the history and the uniqueness of it. It was a very cosy house with an aga in the kitchen and a log fire in the living room.

Saying that I'm not sure I'd live in a period property myself because of the cost of repairs and maintenance, much as I love the way they look.

I love the look, and my beautiful period windows she says while shivering and wishing she had double glazing

I read it so wrong half asleep thinking it was something to do with that joyous time of the month.

We had a quirky new build, I had like an angle, so the kitchen/diner was the length of the house, as was living room. The master bedroom was massive but awkward, the second bedroom was reasonable, but the box room was tiny. Also they had some weird thing going on where the garage next to the house wasn't ours with driveway, it was a house 4 doors away. But we got them the odd bottle of wine to park there.

This is a period property that someone renovated really well, so you've got a master ensuite with dressing area, then 3 bedrooms, 2 still have fire places. Then on the top floor they converted the attic into a massive room with ensuite bathroom & dressing area. We sectioned a bit off for a man cave for the boys.

Downstairs there's a sitting room, lounge, dining room at the back which is the family sitting room, then huge kitchen with original tiles, we have a table in there, huge pantry, I don't know why but I love pantries! Then a downstairs washroom with shower & appliances, another miscellaneous room which leads to the conservatory. The best feature is the hall, there's a storm porch, then a big hall with stairs going up, a door to a weird corridor that leads to the back rooms and cellar. Under the stairs they opened it up as a cubbyhole & shelves. The cellar is another 3 rooms if we could be bothered, again done up so no drainage issues or damp. It's just a bit spooky and my aunt once traumatised me licking me in her cellar she said had rats the size of cats in. But it's all well lit and finished to a high standard.

I kind of feel sorry for the old owners, they'd more or less finished doing it up, then split up. The paint scheme was nice too in some rooms. Downstairs each room has a feature fireplace, plaster cornicing with swirly bits, plus a picture rail & wooden middle bit. The kitchen has an aga but a newish one or renovated, that they sold with the house, then there's built in ovens x 2, a grill and a separate gas hob. Belfast sinks separated by say 30cm of actual wooden worktop. The pantry is just heaven, plenty of shelves the right size, you can walk in it. Even with a 6 seater table there's still oodles of room.

Outside there's a toilet & brick shed, plus our sheds. Never used the toilet though, it stays locked.

I'm falling asleep, but I know MN's love a diagram. I'll draw one later.

I think what sold it was the character, high ceilings, the high finish, it was like an oven in there too, where you usually worry about it being draughty.

Lucky to live in an old building now.

A few years ago I was in a 1990s building. Looked nice. Was crap! Walls so thin you could hear the neighbours and then of course think they can hear you! No storage. Old buildings seem to have loads of space for vaccum cleaners sledges roller skates suitcases etc

I have only ever lived in old houses, youngest Edwardian. I grew up in a house built in 1598.

I will never choose to live in a new house (as long as I have a choice that is). Current house has a Tudor bit with Georgian add ons. Listed, draughty, a bit of damp. I love it, the quirkiness, bits like arched doorways, old fireplaces, Georgian built in cupboards, beams here and there, big sash windows, sloping floors, oil guzzling aga and a fire in every downstairs room (we use them all).

It is my home, and I love it. When We downsize in our old age we will buy a little old cottage.

I moved from a Victorian house to a 1960s bungalow. I miss the feeling of being part of the continuing history of the house. I loved imagining who had lived, loved and lost in my old house.

I know only one family has lived in this house before us, and I know they were greedy because they massively overpriced it when their dad died; we would've bought it three years earlier, had they not. I think that has coloured my perception of this house.

I've never really settled here, despite it being in a beautiful place and it actually having a bit of character (which we've added) with woodburners and a big exposed oak lintel to hold up the stairs where we took out a nasty cupboard. We've also extended upwards and have some quirky rooms there now (I'm currently lying on DD's bed, looking up at her multi angled ceiling, with colourful chandelier ).

It's a great house, but I'd have another period property in a heartbeat.

Spoonie you can get double glazing in a period property. The house I grew up in, the bedrooms were icy cold (ice on the inside of the windows in winter). Since I left home my parents found a company which does double glazing on the inside of the house so no need to get permission (their house is 2* listed).

grilled I know that but I won't have to decorate or rip out someone else's choice of kitchen or bathroom. The kitchens and bathrooms in all the older houses we looked at out me off, all I could think was the work I'd need to do to make it somewhere I could live. One of the would have needed rewiring, full new heating system, bathroom remodelled, kitchen redone 😫 No! I chose kitchen and bathroom when the foundations for my house were laid.

Seen on twitter:

Been looking for a property with period features. She hates that nickname.

Just as an aside, what is wrong with the word HOUSE, or FLAT?

We've been taken over by PROPERTY programmes

Collaborate

For that matter, what is wrong with 'old'.

merry

Yes. I don't even know what period means. What period?

1980s is a period

OP

Sorry, I am not directing this at you (loads of people use the word property). It's a good question

I live in a Victorian house. II love it and think I'm lucky but it requires constant ups-keep. They weren't built to be this old and it's one thing after another think my ideal house would be one of those made-off-site eco-friendly kit houses

1980s is a period

It certainly is, and no more so the here in Australia. I live in a 1980s shack in the style of a low-end Eichler house. It's lovely and there aren't many left as hardly anyone fixes up when they can bulldoze and build a house that looks like a factory.

I prefer modern houses but 1980s and 1990s really. The 2000s ones just seem to have showers everywhere and teeny plots. I can see the aesthetic appeal of old houses and we usually go somewhere quaint and characterful for our holidays which is enough for me. We live in a 1930s house though and I do like the aesthetic of two chimney breasts and the slightly higher ceilings.

I know what you mean, Polar. In new builds there seems to be toilets everywhere. Future archeologists are going to think we were all incontinent.

I had a friend who lived in a small two bed flat. Two double bedrooms, smallish kitchen with room for a two seater table, small living room with space for two small sofas and two full bathrooms. No where to keep the vacuum cleaner or suitcases but you could wash!

I would once have thought like you until about 10 ago when my then boss, knowing we were house hunting in his area gave me a flyer for a new build launch. We didn't want new build, we wanted a massive Edwardian or 30s detached and these houses were 20% above our budget but we went to view them just so I could make conversation with him.

It was love at first sight, sunny, huge reception rooms and halls, woodblock floors, a smallish but completely private south facing garden, parking, utility, 3 and a half baths. Fabulous location near shops, trains, buses but in a private gated road. We loved it, completely rejigged our budget and moved in within three months.

It isn't perfect,we have had some serious teething problems and it was quite bland to start with but over the years we have tweaked and improved and upgraded (I particularly love the log-burner we installed).

We are now thinking about downsizing and are looking in a quirky seaside town where all the central properties are Georgian/Victorian. There are some beautiful looking places but most only have one bathroom/no utility/rooms are dark/gardens are tiny and overlooked. Living new build has spoilt us!

I think the difference is in old houses you get thick walls, beams, fireplaces, oak floor boards, cornicing etc and new builds you tend not to get these features, unless they are architecturally designed, the character needs to be put in with the furnishings.

Ours we did have to do a lot of work, new kitchen, oak floor boards varnished and stained, beams and doors sand blasted to take back to pale oak, cream carpet laid throughout upstairs, place painted throughout, beams painted outside, but it is unique with some wow elements, for example one of the fireplaces is oak and six foot high by eight food wide. The rooms are much bigger than the new builds we looked at, and the ceilings much higher. It's three stories high, four if you inc cellar.

It's also a one off and a well known historical figure from the past lived here hundreds of years ago and books about him have pics of the house and him and his family in front of it.

It is cold downstairs due to to the windows so costs a lot to heat in winter, and we have two wood burners plus central heating. Upstairs needs no heating it gets very warm, Also we can't change the fundamental character of it, not that we would want to, for example we even need permission to paint the front door a different color. It's not damp though, possibly as it has a huge cellar, so it's not sitting directly on the ground.

I do think that the government should do more to help owners of listed buildings, they used to. I know it's our choice to live here so all costs are ours, fair enough, but on the other hand, if no one lived in these properties what would happen to them, the government says its of historical interest, if no one lived in it it would simply go to ruin, as would many listed buildings. If the costs become too high, people simply will stop living in them.

I live in an Edwardian terrace and I love the high ceilings, and the one huge original sash window that the previous owner left in. We are currently trying to restore some of the period features as she ripped everything else out and artexed every bloody surface imaginable.

The thought of moving into a new build at the moment is like a lovely warm enticing fantasy. The idea of a house where the kitchen and bathroom are already done seems like a beautiful dream at the moment, tbh. However all the new builds around here are tiny. The showhomes don't have wardrobes in the bedrooms so look bigger than they are, there's a surfeit of bathroom/toilets when I would prefer a cupboard and the gardens are the size of postage stamps even on the bigger houses.

I guess there are pros and cons to both, but I think in the end I wouldn't like to live in anything post 1950. That's just personal preference though.