AIBU to hate 1930s semi's?

[boymum9]

I was just hoping for someone to talk me around to 1930's semis...! I don't know what it is but I just find them, for the main part, so ugly! I generally dislike the look, the windows, pebble dash.

We live in an area for mainly 4 story Georgian houses, most turned into flats, we love the area but can't afford to stay here (1-3 million for a house) we have sold our 2 bedroom flat for 600,000 and are struggling to find a house a little further out from here because I hate the 1930s houses and there's a lot of them! (If you want parking, garden and good schools) DH is starting to get annoyed with me! It's not a snobbery thing, I just don't like the look of them and have fallen in love with Georgian and Victorian houses. I also hate new builds!

Can someone gives me all the great things about living in a post war house? I love that they have bigger gardens and love a lot of the original features, I'm just getting sad about looking out my windows and seeing houses I don't like the look of! First world problems I know!

YABU - you get much more space for your money with a 1930s semi. I grew up in one, always fancied the older, 3/4 storey places but realised quickly than I'd never be able to afford to buy/maintain somewhere like that.

I bought a 1930s semi and love it for the space, big windows etc. The downsides (small garage, boxroom etc) can all be sorted for less money that you'd spend extra on a period property.

Pebbledash makes me sad. Keep up your search, don't live in one. They are just awful. So surburban.

buy the original dream dream - think of the history and the advertising for them when and look at other 30s architecture and design.

however, my real confession is how much I love late 60s early 70s housing. big windows, lovely open spaces, can you find anything from that era?

I used to dislike them too, and now we live in one and I love it. Especially love the total absence of mice after 15 years in a very airy, pretty but rodent-infested Victorian flat.

I don't like them, however I only like new builds for similar reasons to what Salt mentioned. My gas and electricity is £52 a month. I have friends who were landed with horrific bills over winter, to the point they're frightened to put their heating on. I know this isn't an issue for some people but I don't like to think of people cold. It makes me sad.

OP it’s differebt strokes but depends on where you are as to if you can afford Georgian 4 storey houses etc.

We live in a 1930s semi and love it. The space is perfect for us as a couple with two very small children. We have a lovely garden and a driveway which are both a bit of a necessity for us. We are also surrounded by 1930s semis the majority of which house very similar families to us, so since moving here just under 3 years ago we have made some nice friendships.

Never thought I would brag about my little house on Mumsnet but I do really love it.

I would hate a house without a garden or driveway. I also wouldn’t want a house that was too big which would require a lot of cleaning/ maintenance. I guess what I’m trying to suggest is what do you want from a house? Is it all about the look or do you have some bottom line requirements as that might focus you.

Oh yes^^ I used to live in a 1970s flat and it was ace.

I like them, especially if they have a bay window. Pebble dash however, I won't even consider viewing pebble dash houses.

We’ve just moved from a shit (but expensive) new build - 10’years old, to a house circa 1870 and the difference is massive - just in terms of warmth. The new build was like an ice box.

I love love Art Deco and although 1930s pebble dash (and since) is hideous, it is possible to buy a pre war house that is fantastic. They are out there.

I have a very soft spot for 1930s semis. My grandparents lived in one. High ceilings, a proper hallway, big windows, lots of quirky features and character.

I was hankering after this 1930s house last year.

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=32215704&sale=21596936&country=scotland

I fear it may be pebble-dash. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Is pebble-dash the same as harling?

Aw...sun ray front gates. Art deco- inspired stained glass in the porch. Crazy paving. Tea roses...Both my grandmas lived in 1930s semis that had kept their original features. Now I have a friend who lives in a completely unrestored 1930s semi that used to belong to his grandparents, and it's gorgeous- black and white checked tiles in the bathroom, clanky toilet cistern up high- it even has the original kitchen! Mind you, I get what you mean about seeing other semis- the view of lines and lines of them from the back window is a bit oppressive.

What is it you don’t like?? They can have loads of character as they are pretty old (80 years is ‘period’ in my book) - although they do often have a tiny third bedroom. I really like the Art Deco look and you can really go to town with it on a 30s property and it can look fab. There are NONE where I live so Victorian drafty terrace it is with no parking, but I’d live in a 30s one for sure next time.

You want to know good things about them? They were built for actual families to actually live in with a actual proper bedrooms and actual real storage space. They have gardens which you can plant and grow things, children can play in, you can hang washing out in, and you can lie on a sunlounger and drink a glass of wine on a summer's evening. Many of them have drives you can park your car in rather than fighting for street spaces on the Victorian and Georgian and modern terraces.

I would buy one in a heartbeat if I could.

Pebble dash is really low maintenance. I find that attractive.

I really dislike them too, but you can transform the interior to make them stunning inside. You can add a massive extension with kitchen dining family room at the back with French windows all the way across.

There are many 30s semis in very smart bits of London that have been done up to the nines. It's brought me round.

I love them, for all the reasons HesterShaw mentions above.

Our city is probably 70% 1930s semis. Makes me laugh when MN calls a 9 x 8 ft room or similar "tiny" or a "box". Nearly all my friends had 6 x 6 ft bedrooms or shared the big one and I'm only 29!

I've never met anyone irl who really gives a shit when their house was built. Close friends have theirs on the market and didn't even know if it was 30s, 40s, 50s. Surely you choose an area and a size of house and buy what you can afford (and what exists... there's a 1980s estate two miles away where you have to have - well, 1980s, if that's the area / school you want)

Our 1930s house is great because it's our home. The hallway is good too tbf. Didn't even know pebbledash was a thing in 1930s.

Im not that keen, but I also think it would be a good idea to explore what you can do with the interior. I think a lot of them are a bit, erm, dull and lack style and substance but I have also seen (pictures) of one's with a fabulous style to the inside which would possibly change my mind (if it needed changing)

They're not all the same though are they? I live in a 1930's chalet house - will see if I can find a similar one on right move.

Can someone gives me all the great things about living in a post war house?

You do know that the war finished in 1945 right? or are you referring to WW1? Or the Wars of the Roses?

I live in a 1932 semi and it is lovely. It is not pebbledashed though!!

Beautiful bay windows, stained glass window in the hall, lovely fireplaces. Really big gardens front and back, garage and drive. Lovely and warm, big bedrooms. I loved my Victorian terrace but once I had a baby, the on street parking became a real PITA.

If you don't like them that's fair enough and up to you. You could buy a ground floor in one of those Georgian houses if not too expensive. But 1930's semis are not that bad IMHO.

Completely agree with Hester. Our 1930s semi works perfectly for our family. Good sized living space. Great garden for playing, relaxing and actually gardening.decent garage and drive. OK so the 3rd bedroom is tiny, but the large loft conversion, with a big 4thank bedroom and additional bathroom more than makes up for it. Not a hint of pebbledash in sight. And if you want original features, I present the original pigpen in the garden, soon to be a henhouse.

A proper, family home that works. What's not to love?!

Many of us like what we can't afford. Tis life.

Surely they can't be the only option for you.