Location v character

[lecce]

Which is more important to you? We currently have a lovely Victorian- semi with loads of period features and if I could stretch it and move it I would but I can't.

Today I viewed a lovely three-bed detached Victorian house. It has bags of character but needs a fair bit of work doing to it. The area is good but not great and it is fairly near the top of our budget.

Then I viewed a nice but fairly bland 1930's house. It has no period features really and is not massive. It is in very good, if dull, condition. It is right at the top of our budget and is in a wonderful location.

I just don't know what to do - neither does dh. Can people who have loved living in an inner-city (sort of) period home be happy living in a bland house in a (lovely) villiage location?

Of course they can, but that doesn't answer your question "can you?"

I've moved from Victorian (think 21 ft, 5 windowed bay reception room with all the usual features) to 1970 (rented temporary) and have recently bought a 1930s bungalow.

I do go to friends houses and feel nostalgic for my old Victorian features but the reality was we could get that type of house in the location we wanted with the garden we wanted for the money we had.

A compromise had to be made. It wasn't that hard to make when you stacked everything up and weighed up all the other benefits.

You just need to work out what is really important. For us it was a large garden and detached and to get that we needed to compromise....

Ugh, it's the million dollar question isn't it? We currently live in a beautiful house in a shit area. We want to move to a better location, but can't bring ourselves to compromise on house/garden and so lurch back and forth about what to do

Location wins for me, as I found out 15 years ago after finally disentangling myself from a disastrous heart over head buy. I was never happier than when I finally sold my gorgeous and enormous listed Georgian flat with shutters, fireplaces, wooden floors and 12 foot ceilings in an extremely scary bit of London and moved to a tiny one bedder with no original features, wood chip wallpaper and pink nylon carpets in a lovely bit of Islington. You can make a house your own but you can't pick it up and move it.

Location for me - renovated period would be ideal but have settled for a 70's house in a large acre plot in a prime location (first time up for sale in 35 yrs) so very pleased with our purchase. Backs onto a beautiful heath and walkable into town so it's a rare find. We are currently extending/renovating it so hugely stressful but exciting.

Location wins every time.

You can do incredible things to a building, but you can't change the location, (although admittedly, you can't make any building Victorian!)

Both for me....which explains why I'm unsuccessful and still looking....

I live in a Victorian terrace with no features (all stripped out). It's a bottomless pit moneywise. And there's so much 'dead', wasted space as it's been extended at least 3x in it's 120 yr life. I would jump at a more modern house, especially if I could add my own character - extension/ windows/ wall knocking down. I only hate modern houses because of the ridiculously sized rooms, but I do like ex council houses because they seem so well designed, especially when it comes to using nooks and crannies wisely.

Location definitely wins. When we moved to London, we looked in so many different areas for houses. Eventually we narrowed it down to three - an ugly 1930s semi with a huge garden in an terrible area; the most character-filled terrace in an ok area with a small deck area; or a small flat in central London with some character and no garden. We love living in the centre of everything and don't actually spend that much time at home. I do sometimes dream about that perfect terraced house, though.

Definitely location.

Location, what's the point of having a beautiful home if you are never there/ always commuting?

Location - you can do so much to a 30's house - it really lends itself to open plan living - they generally come with bigger gardens too.

We're considering this (Victorian cottage to 30's semi) even though the area is slightly worse as we can add a 20x12 foot conservatory/orangery on the back giving us a lot more space.

If it was in a lovely village that more than makes up for any period features.

Hijack ogredownstairs - where was that lovely Georgian flat, I'm very and I'm guessing the area has improved in 15 years

I'm going to go against the majority and say character. Your house is where you spend most of your time, its really important for me to live in beautiful surroundings. That said, location matters too but places change, areas get gentrified. I completely fell in love with my house the moment i saw it, it was the only detached Victorian property we had seen and blew the Victorian terraces and 30s semis out of the water.
We thought we'd rather live i in the perfect house in a less desirable area,fingers crossed, gentrification is on its way!

I'd have to say location - but thats coming from a parent's perspective (I want a nice area, with great schools, with a community feel / spirit, walking distance to village with library / coffee shops / restaurants etc, good transport links etc etc). I'd have loved a house with character but it was something I was prepared to compromise on. As everyone has said, its a question of what is important to you. We're in a 1930s semi - I don't like the actual house - its too small, dated, needs money spending on it (we've been in for 2 years and at some point we WILL be able to afford an extension!) but I love it because we're happy - and thats all down to its location and the life it has given us.

DP and I lived for three years in a 60s bungalow due to location winning out and really regretting it, it was soul destroying. Now in a lovely Victorian house with features in a good location but (always a but) on a busy road and with a small garden. For me, the comprimise is worth it and I love living here. Having said that, we are still in the catchment for good schools etc.

You say the Victorian location is good, just not amazing, so I'd go for this! As long as the area is still good, I think that's good enough. The way you describe the 30s house suggests that you hate it!!!

i think you need different things at different times in your life.

For eg, we have just bought a house that DH and I both agree is not the 'prettiest' house in the world and on a busy road in the middle of suburbia. I think our families think we have lost the plot a bit as we had sold a beautiful house in a rural spot before and this is so different from anything we have had before !

but the thing our DCs are teenagers now, our new house is a mile away from school, on a bus route, i don't have to be a taxi at all hours and I can walk to John lewis at a push, so for the next few years this is right for us.

moving back to the country to a house full of character can happen in the future when our situation changes again.

lauriefairycake: don't want to out RL self too much but it was near Elephant and Castle. Improvements are happening, but very slowly...I don't think the Old Kent Road will ever be Upper Street!

Ogre, my mum lived on upper street in the 60s and it wasnt desirable at all, apparently. She can't believe what it is like now. Maybe walworth road's time will come in 2040...

I was about to say that Upper Street wasn't always Upper Street but, nah, you're right, some places just seem irredeemable. The Elephant, Croydon... Have you seen the plans for its regeneration? Look lovely as an architect's drawing but that big green space in the middle, surrounded by tower blocks, just looks to me like a mugger's paradise. I think the Elephant will always be a mugger's paradise.

Ooh I used to live near Upper Street

Been there and done that. Location every time :)

location - you can install period features to a 30s house (arty windows, fireplace, picture rails, wallpaper...etc ) although its not a time that enthralls me..

you can't install a new location.

i have installed a victorian-style fireplace and tiffany lights in a 30's bungalow :P , so shoot me....

They've put lovely new lighting up at Elephant.

Lipstick on a pig.

Ah, nostalgic memories of my SE London childhood, getting aggro in Elephant, Camberwell, Brixton, Streatham, Croydon...

I prioritise location EVERY time.