Huge C17 house - are we mad?

[MrsPoyser]

We've inherited some money and are planning to move to a much-needed bigger house. (Yes, I do know how lucky we are). Is it daft even to consider a rather lovely, large house that's 400 years old? Are we going to spend all our time worrying about woodworm and death-watch beetle and run out of money to maintain it and end up living in one room and running out to put buckets under the leaks like I Capture the Castle? Or would it in fact be as much fun as we're imagining?

Sounds exciting - I've been googling 9 bed houses (sorry I'm very nosey when it comes to houses) - is it near the seaside? I may have found it and it does look very grand!

Hope today's viewing goes well. Just FYI, my sister is a conservation officer and she says she can't usually be very helpful with people who phone and who don't actually own the house, because the queries are usually so vague.

Dh is now rather taken with it and I'm not at all sure (reversal of previous positions). It's full of junk and pastel carpet and the bathrooms are awful, and more seriously there is a crack that goes all the way through a wall in the first floor, obvious proper structural stuff. I think it's more of a project than I'm up for, dh is talking wistfully about spare bedrooms and studies and panelling.

If you can afford it - and by that I mean you have enough money every year coming in to pay for all that it will need, go for it. If you don't, I'd think hard. The heating and maintenance bills alone will be crippling on an average salary.

Well, why not get some estimates for costs for the repairs to the wall and crucial redecorating?

I'm afraid that with 9 bedrooms, you may be looking at rather a high price for recarpeting.

We bought a much much smaller (4 beds) 17th century house as a project and we're budgeting around £100k for repairs.

God no! Don't do it! Buy a lovely renovated house or build your own with an architect.

I'm trying to work out how much of what bothers me is cosmetic. The carpets aren't really a problem - nice floorboards underneath, so it's just a matter of removing them, and two of the floors are decorated in a way that wouldn't bother me while we worked out what to do. The whole place just has a bit of an air of grubbiness and layers of paint, although it was fully renovated in the late 90s with the collaboration of the conservation people at the council. But the crack is worrying.

I agree with Bonsoir! If I had my time again and it wasnt inherited I would new build to a high standard with 4 large bedrooms surely £500k would be conservative.

Materials for listed buildings can be x3 times B&Q plus you cant get the odd builder in as they are clueless. A lime plaster is going to cost you £120 - £150pd plus materials. Paint is twice the cost of Dulux.

As for heating - watch out....you want to be converting to eco/wood burner etc...imagine gas prices in a few years time.

And the conservation officer....no comment!

No, a new build seems far worse than a restoration project, and even more of a drain on the pocket! Family members have just finished a two year new build project - the result is absolutely stunning, but it's taken up all their cash and energy for years.

But a new builder cheaper to run and thats the name of the game in years to come

you need to sit down and do some sums, basically. How much would it cost to have the gutters repaired? how many windows are there so how much would it cost if half the frames needed replacing? how much would paint cost to repaint the whole house inside? etc.
If it won't destroy you financially, go for it!

bacon - I agree entirely, a new build to your own spec gives you a good 20+ year run before you need to do anything more than a lick of paint from time to time!

I would absolutely love to build our own (well, pay someone else to build my perfect house), but I also really like living within walking distance of school and work and the town centre, and any plots that do come up are bought by developers for far more than we could pay. I think we're deciding not to take this one any further, though I can't quite stop thinking about the window seats and the stairs, which have those fab banisters that really need a crinoline to brush along them. But there is the crack.