Ruining traditional houses should be illegal?

[Scottishshopaholic]

A relative has recently purchased an older house, its Victorian or Edwardian. They have been renovating it and have ripped everything out without restoring any original features or being sympathetic to the original features. Think all original cornicing removed and not replaced, original doors, skirtings and architraves replaced with ultra modern equivalents. Grey LVT flooring laid (I suppose a future owner should be able to rip these up and restore the original floor boards). Think they have also done away with the fireplace. Surely if you want a modern looking house they should have bought a modern style house?

The white, grey and black colour scheme isn’t to my taste, but surely they could have still used those colours but kept original features. It seems like a crime that those original features were over 100 years old but are now gone forever.

Well this is what listings are for. But if it's not listed then it's theirs to do as they please. I don't like cultural vandalism, but to be fair - they paid, so their choice.

It's a very stupid move from the point of view of keeping the resale value of the house. Original features are normally an asset in an older property. As you say, people who don't want them usually go for brand new or recently built properties.

There are thousands of listed buildings ( the best examples of historic architecture) , where the fabric is protected ( depending on what it says in the listing) which are protected by law and thousands more in conservation areas where things like windows are protected. If everything ( millions) had to be kept as is , life would be kept in aspic and not modernised for example for better insulation and use.

I think present system works well
and you are being unreasonable.

Our Victorian floors are crap nothing there to restore! But I do think it’s a shame when people don’t appreciate the original building, but if it’s not listed there isn’t much you can do.

Edwardian houses are not old. Not in the context of the U.K.

we Do have a process for protecting houses and making this illegal it involves getting the house listed.

there are various categories of listing.

They sound tasteless and silly. And it is certainly a shame. But any very major works would require planning permission.

I once owned a Tudor cottage and painted the beams white, some people were highly offended. Personally I think if you own it you should do what you want with it.

Agree completely OP - if you want a soulless new build, buy a soulless new build - there are plenty of them around. Original features are a piece of history and can never be replaced. I’m desperate for an old house and despair when I am on Rightmove and see blue underlit grey kitchens with grey LVT in a 1930s semi 😩

It is a shame but it is their house to do with as they wish.

Ripping it all out will impact resale value or reduce the pool of buyers, because a lot of people buy those properties for the features. They could have probably saved more money by buying a more modern house that didn't need all the "renovating" and redecorating.

I do find it surprising though how so many people seem to have so little taste and just put in something which is currently trending

DHs cousin bought a gorgeous 120 year old house with an original tiled floor that his partner keeps threatening to rip up - it’s criminal

Just because something is old, it's not necessarily valuable or worth keeping. There will be millions of identikit 60s and 70s houses in 50 years time. Should they all be preserved, or should people be able to properly insulate them, rip out the peeling mdf and worn lino?

I bought a Victorian terraced house and it's previous owner had the old fireplace taken out. I just picked up a bargain one on eBay. DH did have to hire a van to collect but worth it once it was restored.

Living in listed buildings has many disadvantages. If you want every building from a specific era to be listed just because you find it attractive you'd be opening a large can of worms.

And fireplaces, flooring etc can be replaced.

My childhood home was a beautiful Victorian house full of character and history. Eventually we fled the nest and my mum downsized but we went to pick up some mail from the new owners and went inside. They had completely modernised, everything white and marble, no more grand old staircase, etc.
I was absolutely gutted.

saying that, it’s now their home and they can do whatever they see fit. It’s a shame, but it’s up to them

Why are 100 year old things automatically better than new things? We won’t destroy everything because important things are protected. But why shouldn’t homes be modernised to suit the people who live in them now? It might not be your taste, but you don’t live there. I do not understand the fetishisation of the past that has gripped England over the last 50 years or so.

Oh, I envy you that! Iive in a Victorian house. One of the fireplaces is an absolutely hideous 30s tiled monstrosity. The rest are originals. I'm planning on getting the monstrosity out and replacing it with a reclaimed Victorian one. Just have to find one, I'm constantly looking in skips!

I think many materials were objectively better. E.g. quality and strength of timber 100 years ago vs the same type of timber today is generally much better.

So ripping out some things, to replace with inferior products is simply short-sighted.

However, that is why I bought a listed house. As much as it is not to my taste, your house, your choice does apply (outside of the listed status).

My dad built a really characterful house. After we sold up, a couple gutted it and painted it grey. All the features, the woodwork, torn out. Beautiful things we left because they were “part of the house”, all trashed. Such a pity. Don’t get me wrong, they rearranged a few things that worked really well, but it lost all personality- all maturity. Even the garden. They dug everything out and replaced it with new, small shrubs groomed to within an inch of their lives. Totally soulless.

It’s not listed so it’s not of particular historical note. People have always changed their homes, it’s not a new phenomenon. Lots of features were ripped out in the 70s, different things added in the 80s, ugly pvc window in the 90s. It’s not new.

At the end of the day a person can do whatever they want to their home, it’s their taste that matters not yours. I can’t stand people who think they have a higher opinion than anyone around them.

It didn’t lose its personality though, it lost your dad’s personality. No one wants to live in a relic of a previous owner.

I don’t think it should be illegal, but I agree it’s a shame when people do this. I don’t understand why people bother buying period homes, and then remove the period features.

I really dislike this too. Up to them I suppose but still makes me shudder when I see it on Rightmove while browsing houses I can’t afford

Agree OP, such a shame to remove period features. Houses are also ruined when they become HMOs and the layout is also ruined. Destroying a beautiful room to make it two soulless bedrooms.

Edwardian houses are not old. Not in the context of the U.K.

No not yet, but they will be one day and if none are protected then all could potentially disappear forever.

YABVU. Of course it is sad to see period features removed from old houses, but really, making it illegal is just ridiculous. You can't have something made illegal just because you don't like it. 😂