To hate the removing of character from old houses?

[Mushrooms0up]

I probably am being unreasonable as it doesn’t actually have anything to do with me. But there is a gorgeous house near where I live on a private road which came up for sale a while ago. It needed a bit of TLC but looked like a lovely, lived in family house.

It’s just come back on market for a lot more money, and I’m so sad at what’s been done. The marble tiled flooring just doesn’t match the house and the character and it just seems so sterile :(
If you like that kind of look why buy a period property? What do you all think?

Here’s the before:

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=73256386&sale=91032045&country=england

And after: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118542002#/?channel=RES_BUY

I can't see the first one. The link doesn't work but I think it's lovely. However as I can't use the first link my opinion isn't worth much.

*I agree that there's a market and everyone has different tastes... but I'd argue that it makes sense to buy a modern house/new build if you like that kind of look.

I think it's a real shame to buy a historic/characterful property only to erase all trace...*

Well the problem is most new builds are in estates/suburbia - the kind of places you have to drive everywhere from. And are also surrounded by other identical new builds. Also when you buy them you get what the developer designed.

Plenty of people want to live in central places where they can walk places. They want to live in a house which is exactly as they want, not designed by some developer. And even if its 'modern souless trash' as many poster on here seem to think, many people still want their house to be unique/put their own special touches on it.

I completely understand why someone would buy an older property, with the footprint they want, in the actual location they want, that they get to design themselves. Rather than a new build property that was designed by someone else and isn't in their ideal location.

To be honest I think a lot of MN are really very snobby and precious about these kind of things. Let people have the houses they want. As long as it doesn't directly affect you (and by that i mean overlooking your property/blocking your light) live and let live. People are allowed different tastes to you and you're not 'better' or 'more educated' for preferring older styles of houses.

I’ve recently moved to a house that would’ve started as a late-1700’s 2-up-2-down farm cottage, then had a Victorian extension on the side. The original cottage doesn’t have decorative “features”, it was just a workaday farm cottage. The Victorian extension has the twiddly plaster, bay window, arches, lovely woodwork etc.

Would the extension have been seen as ostentatious nonsense then, or a shame to spoil an older “honest” building with twiddly-diddly frou-frou-frou?

Has it been extended. There's not much garden left.
It's cheaply furnished. Open rails for wardrobes are so awful.
It looks like it been set up to be a house share.
5 people with a bedroom each and sharing the command parts.
The office wall in the living room was horrible. What not have a lovely office in the basement and a beautiful living room .
It's very badly designed and furnished.

It's now ghastly. I don't mind ultra modern interiors, but it hasn't even been done nicely!

@SituationCritical

That is awful! . Absolutely ruined. I'm probably biased though, I own a cottage from the late 1700s full of wonky walls and two staircases with dipped stone steps and weird little nooks and crannies.

That sounds wonderful.

Oh I’m with you OP. The first version is lovely.

Thanks @Blossomtoes .

Such a satisfying project!

Completely agree with you OP. Stripped of character and warmth.

@Saz12

I’ve recently moved to a house that would’ve started as a late-1700’s 2-up-2-down farm cottage, then had a Victorian extension on the side. The original cottage doesn’t have decorative “features”, it was just a workaday farm cottage. The Victorian extension has the twiddly plaster, bay window, arches, lovely woodwork etc.

Would the extension have been seen as ostentatious nonsense then, or a shame to spoil an older “honest” building with twiddly-diddly frou-frou-frou?

Well if they'd had MN we know what the answer would be don't we.

@gabsdot45

Has it been extended. There's not much garden left. It's cheaply furnished. Open rails for wardrobes are so awful. It looks like it been set up to be a house share. 5 people with a bedroom each and sharing the command parts. The office wall in the living room was horrible. What not have a lovely office in the basement and a beautiful living room . It's very badly designed and furnished.

In the first listing it says the kitchen is extended and it shows.

I live in a totally authentic cave, can't believe people want to live in something that is more modern.

It rather looked to me as though the 2020 sale was of a Victorian house that had been done up in line with the broad aesthetic of the '90s. I very much doubt there was much original beyond the fireplaces and ceilings (and the latter may well have been '20s/30s). The garden is indeed awful (dead easy to maintain mind) but I'm not sure they've removed character, just changed it.

@ancientgran

I live in a totally authentic cave, can't believe people want to live in something that is more modern.

Mumsnet needs a like button!

Somehow the rooms look smaller, except the kitchen obviously.

Our street is pre-WWII red brick housing. Beautiful brick details around the windows. A couple of houses have gone for blasting them in plaster, painintimg it white with grey windows and doors. It's so sad. Look on trend but no character.

It just looks cheaply done. I couldn't live with the astroturf, those crappy carpets and the naff spotlights everywhere, so I'd have to factor in removing all of that. I think the white floor tiles look cheap too but I'd have to live with them for a while.

@sussexman My neighbour is selling up soon so a very attractive cave coming on the market. It's a lovely neighbourhood.

Am I the only person who can't get the before link to open? 😖

I'm not sure why there is so much frothing about 'period features'. So far as I can tell the windows and doors havent changed. Many if not all the picture rails are still there as is the cornicing.

This house was hardly untouched to start with. I dont think the NT are sadly crossing this off their list of unspoiled gems.

Old doesnt mean quality. This house is what? Edwardian, 1920s? Thousands of them were thrown up, they werent craftsman built. I have lived in a few. Wonky floors and walls, my DP's house was seemingly been built without benefit of a set square.

Modernising keeps these houses in use and stops them descending into tatty HMOs.

After my DM sold the 1920s family home my DB got himself very worked up about the renovations which the new owners had done. He described them as a desecration. They were long overdue in my view. He felt it should have been preserved in aspic, complete with its 1970s botched DIY.

New version: Vile. Gross. Tasteless. YANBU. As people have said - if you want a modern house, then buy one. But even a modern house can look a lot nicer than what they have done to this one. Some modern architecture is fab and can have exciting interior decor, this is just featureless and boring.

@ancientgran but can I still get a good supply of woolly mammoth? My current hunter always keeps the best aside for me.

@CatOfTheLand

Am I the only person who can't get the before link to open? 😖

I can't either and feel like I'm massively missing out!

You’d hate my Victorian house I’m sure. We’ve knocked the kitchen and dining room walls and extended to make an L shaped living kitchen diner & it’s all grey & white & black largely because that was what was popular at the time so it was much cheaper than other colours so when we didn’t care that much which colour we chose but did care about good ovens and a nice hob and tons of storage. Similarly we wanted a sofa that was comfy and got an ex display one in fab condition and figured at least the grey went with the kitchen. We wanted wood flooring but architect and every contractor kept telling us tiles were best/most practical in wet areas & the original kitchen floorboards were rotten in several places anyway so we got wood effect tiles. Renovations are a costly business & if doing them to resell at a profit I assume people know what is likely to sell most easily.

@CatOfTheLand

Am I the only person who can't get the before link to open? 😖

I can't either!

Someone posted the pics earlier in the thread. I personally like the before better than the after on the whole but don’t love either. I would however adore the huge bookcases in the original

I'm fine with it for bathrooms and to some extent kitchens. Marble floor throughout and the living room tips it over the edge into massively unreasonable, just buy a modern property if that's the taste. I originally looked thinking you were unreasonable OP, but you aren't