1960's properties, naff still?

[QBEE]

The reserve of the elderly and infirm or the new period homes of choice?

agree with smallstuff. we live in a '68 detached, huge plot, big gardens, big rooms and big windows. if i could find afford the furniture, i would fill it retro g-plan style.

where we live, we had a choice, a newly built, tiny rooms, shoehorned in 4 bed or the one we went for, admittedly it needs loads doing to it, but the space was the clincher.

hardly jack and vera

I love that stone cladding - of course they have renamed it "stone veneer" have also seen in used in a bathrooms to bring some interest to the wall next to the bath.

We live in a 3 bed 1963 ex council house.

Admittedly it's kerb appeal is limited, but it was a great buy for us.

Huge windows, well proportioned rooms, no box bedroom, good sized garden and parking for 3 cars.

And no guilt about turning it into exactly what we want, no period features to work around.

I grew up in a period cottage and while it was cute to look at it was gloomy inside because of the small windows, and freezing.

I know which I prefer [

my dad buiilt the one i grew up in. in old photos it was funky.alu windows tiled floors. geo print curtains. now its older folk comfy chic. id love to strip it back to its original minimalism.

I just bought one - they must be considered naff still, because it was much cheaper than similar sized victorian houses in the area, and has a large garden compared to them.

Admittedly, it is not a pretty house on the outside, but we are happy

Don't think lower price means it's naff - think people are sheep - period is a safe bet, requires no imagination - the general population are like that.

I live in an 60s ex-council house and I love it. If I could pick it up and move it somewhere else I would never leave.

The rooms are big and square, the windows huge, the whole place is bright & sunny. Outside it is brilliant white, has a red tiled frontage and black edging. I call it my Mondrian house. And it is square with 4 windows just like a child would draw

We've just sold it and now looking at 30s houses and struggling to find something we like as much.

I love victorian houses but would just like a change as I have only ever lived in period houses and would like to re do a modern building. Period homes can be re jigged to get teh space and light in but it is lots of work and mess!

Like others have said, they are great for the amount of light and space they give you. I owned a 60s property for a few years and I particularly liked that it had a long front garden, and the pavement at the front was wide with grass verges. This means the outlook from the front window was much more pleasant because I could see a lot of green and the houses opposite were further away. I loved the big windows too.

However, I did find it difficult to decorate prbably due to my lack of apptitude in this department. But when I had a Victorian home it was much easier to know what to do with it.

I'd still favour a 1960s/1970s home over a post 1990s house though.

Decor is what befuddled me tbh pernickety as I now have so much stuff that is of a 1930's feel and I have always liked to decoate to suit the arcitecture of a house so would have to get rid of most of my belongings.

Quite exciting, I think, to go from living in a stuffy, muted and featurey type of property to one that is light, airy and minimalist.

The only thing I am finding a problem is that most of the houses I have looked at are smaller than what I am living in now as the difference in area prices dictates that.

We moved a year ago into a 60s house and love it for the reasons everyone has said, light, space, big garden. When we said to the estate agents that we needed a big enough dining space to seat 8 comfortably (when family are staying) they told us that we'd never find it. The new houses we looked at had the 4 bedrooms we were looking for but you couldn't have seated more than 4 people at one sitting for a meal. Our 60s house comfortably has space for 8/10 people for a meal in the dining room and all the bedrooms can house a double bed.

Wouldn't touch a modern house with a bargepole now - they'd feel way too pokey.

We're in an early 60s semi - not quite as huge as I'd like (I love the sound of some of the ones people are describing here!) but very light and airy, easy to insulate, easy to convert the (huge) loft due to a decent roof pitch and looking good with plain walls and our hand-me-down Ercol and early Habitat furniture. Outside is ugly as an uglybug, but as said upthread, I live inside it...

Grew up in a late 60s house, like others have said, big rooms and huge windows (although my mum used to moan as she'd have to buy two sets of curtains for each window). Built in wardrobes in every bedroom, my parents considered turning theirs into an en suite at one point which gives you an idea of the size.

We lived in a 1969 built semi for several years. As others have said, no character at all (in my opinion) but that wasn't the top of our wish list - with a growing family we just wanted the space. It was 3 bed - each of the rooms could easily accommodate double beds. In fact, we had the twins whilst we lived there and in the main bedroom, we had a king size bed, 2 cot beds, a large wardrobe across one entire wall and a couple of chests of drawers and bedside tables and it still wasn't cramped! It was huge. We also had a long lounge, good sized dining room and kitchen, and when we knocked the wall down between the toilet and the bathroom, we had a huge family bathroom too. Echo what everyone has said about the light - massive windows and lots of light. The plot was also very big so we could have easily extended behind / above the garage to get a big 4 bed house. Unfortunately we wanted to move areas, but if I could have picked the house up and put it in the area we wanted, I would have done. We're in a 1930s semi now which is probably about 2/3 of the size!!

Check out my blog. I've just bought a sixties house and we're renovating it at

sixtiespalace.blogspot.com

loving your blog queen

I just have to defend against this 'no character' line that is trotted out.

They allow the character of the outside world come in to your home as you just see more of what is outside. I love looking out onto a cinema screen of greenery and folage where we live and can now not go back to those dreary boxey lightless Victorian houses.

To think when I was growing up I thought 60s houses were naff.

Your appreciation changes over time so you just find what works for you at whatever stage you are at.

sixtiesqueen

your house looks fab and i love that hall with those floor to ceiling windows.

enjoy!

I live in a 60s square shaped house. It is the total opposite of every other house we looked at, they were all Victorian period properties.
But, we just fell in love with it. it needs a hell of a lot of work and hasn't been decorated since the 80s.
I love it because:-
it is huge
4 double bedrooms
big windows, 2 in the lounge that are floor to ceiling
massive hallway
open wooden stairs
attached garage accessable through the utility room

The other reason I love it is because of it's location. It is in a small cul-de-sac with only 2 other houses and is very private.

I didn't intend to buy a 60s box, I wanted a Victorian town house with lots of original features.

We are currently renovating and decorating and have done our bedroom, DD's bedroom and are halfway through the lounge. I prefer strong, dark colours and can get away with it in this house because the rooms are bigger than our terrace and we have so amny big windows.

Ooh just found this thread. Last year we bought a 1966 detached house which needs total renovation. We had always lived in 'character' houses before (Victorian terraces) and it took us a couple of months to even get round to viewing this one. But we eventually fell for it, and now I am a convert to sixties houses - it is so liberating to have the space and light.

Sixtiesqueen - our house is very similar to yours! We have a similar glass-fronted huge hall too and I love it. We are new to renovating and I am following your blog with interest.