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

[quote sussexman]@ancientgran but can I still get a good supply of woolly mammoth? My current hunter always keeps the best aside for me.[/quote]
Oh yes, we have regular deliveries. You'd love it here, nothing modern I mean who needs heating, plumbing, running water? The damp and cold are so good for you, I mean they sort the weak out from the strong. What's not to like.

Yep it's awful and truly shitty and no imagination, and the plastic garden it's another annoyance, what climate issues? It's only a bit of plastic, shouldn't be allowed.

£875k in Manchester, with no front drive and just tiny garden at the back- BU!
Tiled floors- BU.
Tiny bedrooms- BU
The only good thing that house had going for itself- the style of the house outside.

Eww, my friend has done the same.
Modern bathroom suites opened up the kitchen-living room. The kitchen is a gloss-handleless design. Completely ruined an old cottage.

Sorry but it's horrid, I daren't tell him though.

We've bought similar but we're renovating whilst keeping the old features and character.

You wouldn't know it was the same house.

I agree with you, it was lovely before, it looks cold and bland and characterless now.

I must say, if those details you posted related to two separate houses and I had an equal choice between them, I'd go for the earlier version every time: it looks so much more comfortable and homely. The later version looks almost institutional or like a hotel, not like somewhere where you'd want to carry on family life. It looks as if the designers got carried away and didn't think about what a house is for.

What on earth is the point of having an open plan lounge/office? You couldn't use the lounge area while the office is being used, or vice versa, so the reality is that it's become a very large office - which is a waste of a lovely room.

@FAQs

Yep it's awful and truly shitty and no imagination, and the plastic garden it's another annoyance, what climate issues? It's only a bit of plastic, shouldn't be allowed.

I have artificial grass but only because my lawn is too small to make a lawnmower worthwhile! If it was wider I'd happily have grass providing DH was happy to mow it!

I don't mind modernisation in some cases - some old houses are incredibly impractical, and you can modernise them sensitively without destroying the character. When I watch programmes like Escape to the Country, I'm mentally stripping out the beams in old houses or covering them over, as I wouldn't like them. But this one has become a bland box inside.

The first thing I thought was that the renovation is going to be very difficult to keep clean.

White, shiny, marble effect tiles in a kitchen area? Woah. And they are lethal if they get wet. Same goes for what looks like 5mm white grout on the tiled walls of one of the bathrooms. And the carpets? Crikey, they look like some sort of frost grey/white. Good luck keeping those decent. One spilt cup of coffee and you are screwed.

But what I really wanted to mention is that open plan can be a deceptive bugger. Unless you really think about it and furniture placement, you can lose a lot of useable space in order to make your zoning work.

@BashStreetKid

What on earth is the point of having an open plan lounge/office? You couldn't use the lounge area while the office is being used, or vice versa, so the reality is that it's become a very large office - which is a waste of a lovely room.

That's one of the main things that jumped out at me too.

Plus, if you work from home regularly it's really important to most people to have a clear separation between work time and "home" time, for the sake of your mental health to ensure you are able to switch off, as well as your productivity whilst working. I know some people who live in very small houses have no choice, but in a massive house like that it seems crazy to me to have actually got rid of the previous office that was there, and combine office with lounge. I can't imagine many people who WFH finding that set-up appealing.

I think if that is the look you're going for you'd be better off in a new property. It's not sympathetic to the house.

I'm mentally stripping out the beams in old houses or covering them over, as I wouldn't like them

Better to buy a house without them then. In most cases those beams hold the roof/ceiling up!

@redfairy

I think if that is the look you're going for you'd be better off in a new property. It's not sympathetic to the house.

The problem with that is the build quality of new houses is generally nowhere near as good as older ones.

I agree OP, it’s a shame to lose period features. It’s happening a lot in my Edwardian neighbourhood. Original floors, distinct front doors, deep skirting boards, fireplaces, and moulding is being ripped out. Very sad.
The house you shared didn’t appear to have many original features to start with, it seems to have been given a 1990s update.

Didn't particularly like the before or after.

I don't get angst over "original features." Fireplaces are lovely if you can use them. But not in every room.

People will buy houses of all descriptions and revamp it how they like.

@girlinaredcoat

I definitely agree in principal. It is a shame so much of the character has gone. However, I live in a house like the before and whilst there is character when you look at it properly there has been no proper upkeep for at least the last 30 years and it’s all had it. Original doors that no longer fit door frames or meet fire standards, skirting that is coming off the wall, damp musty fireplaces, walls ruined by a leaky roof. We are having to remove stuff as it just broken and no longer fit for purpose. However, they definitely could have updated the house a lot more sympathetically!

I'm updating a pre-Victorian cottage. By the time I finish it will have enough plug sockets to meet modern requirements, underfloor heating, solar panels on the roof, nifty storage spaces wherever they fit...

Even so, it will probably still appear to have more in common with the original than it did with the wall radiators, 1970s fireplace, and orange pine matchboarded bedrooms that I'm ripping out.

@Blossomtoes

I'm mentally stripping out the beams in old houses or covering them over, as I wouldn't like them

Better to buy a house without them then. In most cases those beams hold the roof/ceiling up!

Well, yes, when I watch ETTC it's all wishful thinking anyway. But quite often people actively put beams in solely to add character, and those can definitely go so far as I' concerned.

Just put a false ceiling in over any original beams. Don’t remove them. Obviously removing non-structural retrofitted ‘character’ beams is a different story.

But quite often people actively put beams in solely to add character, and those can definitely go so far as I' concerned

Totally agree. Our (400 year old) house had fake beams in the dining room. They went almost immediately.

@justasking111

Shocked at how poor the EPC rating is, that should have been better.

What did you expect? In six months they aren't going to have done any real work to improve the property, that would take longer, especially given how hard it is to find tradesmen at the moment (I've been waiting since October for an electrician to come and do the second fix). No, it's just boarding over the fireplaces, skim the plaster, paint it, new kitchen units and appliances. Then a few shiny baubles like half a dozen TVs. Just bodge it and scarper off to the next quick flip. I bet that they haven't even rewired.

I bet that they haven't even rewired

Maybe they didn’t need to. 🤷‍♀️

@4pmwinetimebebeh

100% with you OP. I know it’s very trendy and I like the bathroom but it looks cold and sterile. You can’t imagine the people living there are fun and warm. I’m sure they’re lovely but that’s the impression it gives me.

It's gone from being a very elegant, distinctive house to a very ordinary-looking million shades of grey house. I've been looking at the possibility of down-sizing since my OH died a couple of years ago but so many have this type of 'decor', in three years time it will look very dated, another colour will be the fad.

The problem with that is the build quality of new houses is generally nowhere near as good as older ones.

Not sure I would agree with that. My DParents' 1920s house was seemingly built without benefit of a set square. Nothing met at right angles. When they had to have serious work done on the foundations the plaster had to be stripped off revealing the internal 'brick' work. Any old random rubbish had been used. Bits of stone, broken bricks etc.

My house built in the mid 2000s was far better built.

@5128gap

To be honest, other than the fireplaces I don't really see any fabulous original features in the first pictures. It just looks a bit tired. I don't care for the marble either, but its just today's upgrade, just as the first pictures were an upgrade done 20 or so years ago.

The original looks like a place I could see a family living, lots of books, comfy, squishy sofas etc., I find it hard to visualise a family living in the second one. It's true what you say about today's upgrades etc, I recall in the 60s my father panelling over the 1930's interior doors, by the 1990s people were removing the panelling to get them back, but at least the originals were still there. We bought a 30s semi with a tiny kitchen, it had a huge floor to ceiling unit of drawers and cupboards, in our naivity we ripped them out, the wood still smelt like new, we then paid a fortune for a fitted kitchen! Most of what's changed here is lost for good.