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

It's going to date very badly, so someone else will come along eventually and rip it all out and start again. It is madness.

It happens where I live, streets and streets of beautiful Edwardian and Victorian properties all grey sterile boxes inside now. We bought our house as an absolute wreck as it was the only way to have something with original features and character. We've renovated but sympathetically

It’s a shame the fireplaces have gone and the garden has been replaced with revolting ‘butcher’s window’ grass but I can’t get worked up about it. Hopefully the fireplaces have been boxed in rather than ripped out, so they can be rediscovered at a later date.

YANBU. That is heartbreaking.

I thought the only thing that needed a revamp was the bathroom, but they have managed to make even that look worse!

@gobbledygoook

I mean, I actually really like the house interior! Not everyone wants a "lived in" "family" looking house, I think there's obviously a market for what they've done. Old houses are great for ceiling height and room size, but not everything old is character. Obviously everyone has different tastes!

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...

I agree with the PP that said there aren't many original features left in the first set of pictures either, apart from a few bits of cornicing, debatably original ceiling roses, and the fireplaces. Sad the fireplaces went right enough.
In the first link it had a modern-for-its-time kitchen and bathrooms - they were not exactly in keeping either, and those bathroom tiles were frankly hideous.
Ime things like "lovely original floors" can look great in pictures, but cost £££ to do properly when you're dealing with the reality of panels cut out for retrofitted wiring and pipes, holes made for radiators, wet rot, dry rot, gappy boards, squeaky boards, springy boards... you've got to make a choice on what's worth trying to keep. All of the houses on our street are 110-115 years old and they've all evolved in different ways due to the families who have been in them. We've all got different bits and pieces of what was there before, but you need to get a practical balance that a modern family can use, heat and enjoy.

If I'd sold that lovely, warm, characterful house and seen what the new owners did, I would be sad. (Even if I made money)

Your home is a reflection of who lives there. I'm not a fan of rented houses being boxes with no personality either.

My house is a drafty Victorian thing, I'm a custodian of it and one in a long line of owners. It's a faff and it's annoying when you hAve to redo and strip 50 years of think gloss paint but I like to think every change is done with sensitivity and care

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it !

It's a travesty !

Why do people think that ripping the innards out of a Period/PreWar property enhances it??

Yuch yuch!

If you want modern buy a New Build.

Most of our time since we moved has been spent ripping out 60s and 70s renovations, incidentally - think swirly wallpaper inside cupboards, pine cladding, and boarded-up panelled doors. People seem to get very hung-up on more recent renovations, but this is hardly a new thing.

@ClaudineClare

It's going to date very badly, so someone else will come along eventually and rip it all out and start again. It is madness.

Totally agree. I'd say it's actually already on its way out style wise. Obviously nobody has to follow trends and we should all like what we like, but it looks a bit dated already. I thought the astroturf thing and all the grey had had its moment for sure. Somebody will love it I'm sure, but I wouldn't say doing that has guaranteed a sale -if I'd gone in blind based on the outside being an older house it would be an immediate no.

To be fair I actually don't like the before either. Yes the fireplaces and cornicing etc are nice but it's still very dated - the bathrooms needed replacing and all the decor was dingy.

I would've gone for a much more classical style though - rolltop baths, really good quality shaker kitchen and floors that were more in keeping with the character of the house. The parquet and wooden floors were a nasty orange pine colour though and it's a very expensive and messy job having them sanded and re-stained - especially if some of it needs replacing.
I'd have probably covered over them with some nice muted wooden floorboards or engineered wood.

There is never any excuse for Astro-turf!

@Wotsitsits

Crikey this is truly awful

What on earth possessed them! There are plenty of newer houses knocking about they could have done this to.

I'm actually depressed now!

Me too!

It's a complete travesty, those beautiful floors...😢 I'd have taken them off their hands they're exactly what I'm looking for!

You could do surgery in that kitchen with the bright lights and white scrubbable floor!

YABU
It was ugly before, it's a bit better after.

YANBU. And, can I add. West Didsbury my arse. That’s in Withington, and nobody would pay the best part of 900k to live there.

Also what’s that in the garden in pic 22 in the after photos? I’m on my phone so it’s quite small but it looks like a (modern) grave

Yes, it’s horrible. What a shame. The new kitchen reminds me of an operating theatre.

Normally I get a bit eye-rolly when people post about this topic e.g. "That beaaautiful original flooring!" when it's ugly orange-and blue squares, but YANBU. It looks horrendous. What is with the shiny kitchen floor!?

I’ve renovated two listed properties and two other (non-listed) Victorian terraces, plus I’m a right old snob and the “after” photos tick all the boxes marked “darling, utterly ghastly”. Wall to wall grey decor with shiny furniture, astroturf in place of a mature garden, glistening marble tiles (slip hazard!), sparkly lighting, signed football memorabilia on the wall, telly on the walls of almost every room, dressing room like a museum for the display of handbags. I’m prepared to be flamed for this.

Agree. My great grandfather built a beautiful house in the 1920s. My grandmother was forced to sell when the Poll Tax came along. Looked at it recently. It's now worth almost a million and it's completely ruined. Used to have French windows, a long wooden porch with climbing roses and a sliding panelled room divider in the living/dining room, a pantry, a lovely wooden staircase, a garden with winding paths, willow, rockery, putting green... All gone and blandy bland blah.

I don't particularly like everything they have done, but yes you are being unreasonable. People want the new look they have created and are prepared to pay for it. For all people saying they prefer it as it was, in reality people are only prepared to stump up the cash for the 'after' product. Very few young families would have any interest in the 'before' house.

YANBU, it’s hideous

It’s heart breaking to see that. Poor house. What is it with black taps? Hopefully that will be a short lived trend.

@ForsythiaInBloom

I’ve renovated two listed properties and two other (non-listed) Victorian terraces, plus I’m a right old snob and the “after” photos tick all the boxes marked “darling, utterly ghastly”. Wall to wall grey decor with shiny furniture, astroturf in place of a mature garden, glistening marble tiles (slip hazard!), sparkly lighting, signed football memorabilia on the wall, telly on the walls of almost every room, dressing room like a museum for the display of handbags. I’m prepared to be flamed for this.

I won't flame you but if I ever find you, I will personally make you eat enough astroturf to make you constipated for 3 weeks.

Arghhh!!

God how tacky. I hate the "bang on trend" grey/monochrome look with the teal/mustard velvet type accents. Its hideous and will look horribly dated in about 5 minutes.