Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

What's your ideal period of house? And why?

24 replies

minkah · 09/09/2014 00:31

I've never lived in a modern house, only victorian/Edwardian houses. Interested to hear from those with more experience than I. Always think 30's houses look nice.

OP posts:
Ifem · 09/09/2014 01:01

I'd love a well built, top of the range modern home like the ones my in-laws have in the US and Canada. They just dont build houses like that in the UK, though.

Our house is Edwardian and I prefer it in practical terms to our old, Victorian house. The entrance halls and staircases tends to be bigger in Edwardian houses. Miss our old Victorian fireplaces, though.

I'd trade in all the poncy period features for a huge garage, ultility room and all bedrooms with en suites like my American rellies and their new builds, though!

MuscatBouschet · 09/09/2014 01:13

I'm in a 1930s house, having been in Victorian terraces all my life. Don't love the way it looks quite so much but it is really well built and insulated. My DH keeps telling me the 1930s was the best era for house building. A lot of shabby stuff went up before then and since.

Lagoonablue · 09/09/2014 07:31

I had a nice victorian terrace but was a bit small. Now in a 30s semi. It is not huge but have gained a garden and a drive and room to extend. It still has some original features which is nice, not all do and have been done up to death.

I would love an arts and craft house if I was rich!

kronenborg · 09/09/2014 08:29

i love georgian houses - purely because of the aesthetic, which appeals to me.

that said, i love most historic periods of architecture up to and including edwardian.

i'm very lucky with our house in that we get the best of many worlds; the original section of our house being elizabethan, with later georgian, victorian and edwardian additions.

its the elizabethan section that gives it the real "wow" factor, though. (and the horrendous maintenance and heating bills!)

mandy214 · 09/09/2014 08:48

Actually don't really agree with previous PP.

Modern house - (1990s) - actually very sturdy, well insulated, low bills, never heard big family or dogs next door. No maintenance, or if there was, it was cheap and quick to fix. Small rooms on the inside though.

1960s - hated how it looked. LOVED the inside - massive square rooms, maximum use of space, massive windows which made it really light.

Victorian terrace - loved the outside. Loved the high ceilings and period features. Cold. Massive bills. A money pit maintenance wise.

1930s (current house) - love it from the outside. Love the period doors, picture rails. Not particularly well insulated and issues with ventilation / condensation (as with the vast majority of 1930s houses). Disproportionate room sizes (decent sized reception rooms / main bedrooms but then smallish kitchen and small 3rd bedroom). Lots of alterations required to make it our perfect house.

So in answer - none of them really. I'd like the inside of the 1960s house with a more attractive exterior.

minkah · 09/09/2014 08:49

I lived in a flat in a Georgian house. Beautiful place with very high ceilings and huge windows. I didn't realise at the time, but a place like that is costly to heat.

Ifem, I agree, some usanian houses are very des res. so much space!

OP posts:
MollyBdenum · 09/09/2014 09:21

I grew up in an Edwardian house, and live in a 1930s one now, and both are good, but Arts and Crafts would be my ideal, too.

foxdongle · 09/09/2014 10:30

Anything that has large light rooms and lots of space.
I would like a small cosy cottage but only as a holiday home.
I've lived in a victorian house - really poor lay out, freezing, endless maintenance and no parking.
1960's no storage, huge garden (became a pita)
House we have now is modern- huge/lots of rooms, brilliant layout, warm and easy maintenance, really practical family house and looks nice too on inside and out. If I was to move I would go for even more modern/new build.

InTheNorth123 · 09/09/2014 10:38

I'd love a Victoria terrace with a long, original tiled hallway and large staircase at the bottom. Fireplaces in the bedrooms etc.

minkah · 09/09/2014 10:52

Mandy, why do 30's houses have condensation issues?

OP posts:
echt · 09/09/2014 10:53

I have fond memories of both Victorian and Edwardian houses in the UK.

Here in Australia, I'd love a Federation bungalow witha verandah up front, but developed in a modern style behind. California bungalows and 60s houses are good, too.

I live in a late 70s/early 80s shed; and am waiting for it to hit retro chic status. :o

Unfortunately, the trend here is to demolish rather than renovate.

And then build a house that resembles a Swedish open prison. With a home cinema.

GooseyLoosey · 09/09/2014 10:56

I live in a 700 year old medieval hall house - that has had much hacking around during its life. Tbh, little of its history is visible on the surface.

I always thought it was my ideal period house. There are many things I love: it has metre thick stone walls in places so never gets too hot in the summer, the beams are lovely, the stone mullions, the window seats upstairs and windows in odd places. The things I don't love are: the damp, the draughts and the condenstation in winter.

I think my next house will be a brand spanking new one - or maybe a barn conversion - I like the idea of all that space.

VestaCurry · 09/09/2014 10:57

Either Art Deco or Georgian.

I have lived in Tudor (with Georgian & Victorian additions) Victorian, Edwardian, 1930's and post WW2 of various description.

Art Deco and Georgian buildings are things of beauty.

VestaCurry · 09/09/2014 10:57

Goosey, your home sounds amazing!

Wailywailywaily · 09/09/2014 11:06

My house is 1960s and I love it, we have done a lot of insulating and double glazing and it has an extension so it is now eco, has lots of space and storage and has a largish garden. Has parking and a garage and is on a quiet side road within walking distance of the park, shops and train station.

I grew up in a giant 200year old farm house and would never live in a house like that again - freezing, drafty, damp and very expensive to heat even one room.

Momagain1 · 09/09/2014 11:34

Not all the houses in the US are as luxurious as you describe, multiple ensuites is VERY top end! Still, a standard two story, 3BR house will almost always have a cloakroom downstairs, and a bath and an ensuite upstairs. So, a toilet per bedroom! I do miss some US standards though. Bathroom sinks are most often a practical basin over cabinet, providing a place for all the things that need to be easily available: extra toilet roll, toiletries, tampons, bathtowels, and if no very small children, cleaning supplies. Bathrooms here tend to be more fashionable than practical. Almost every bathroom in every home we have had has a pedestal sink with barely room for the bar of soap, meaning someone, usually the mom, has to be constantly aware of what is about to run out where, if only so that she wont be the one sitting on the toilet and discovering she needs something from the closet down the hall. See also, glass shower doors that cover the entire length of the tub and (whispers) single taps.

I tend to like Edwardian through the 1930s. Modern plumbing existed, so bathrooms were standard and tend to be largish, wheras older homes have had to have them shoehorned in or tacked on at least expense/size, and modern designers also seem to devote as little space as possible.

Fewer bedrooms, but larger as children were expected to share, and with todays smaller families it is plenty of room. I like the central hall way design common in those years, it provides what i think of as a neutral zone between rooms. A place for coat racks and book bags and mail and recycling bins and other stuff in the process of entering or leaving the home. And a noise buffer/temperature regulator between rooms or the outdoors. Big windows and bay windows to let in the light, our flat has glass transoms over the doors so even the center hall is light enough during the day. Kitchens can vary, though that often seems to be remodelling choices taken later. In our block of flats, there were originally kitchens large enough for work/dining tables near the big coal stove, and a small scullery behind it for dishwashing and laundry. In ours, the original kitchen was made a formal(ish) dining room, and the scullery into a cramped kitchen. I would just as soon make the larger room a kitchen/diner again, and the smaller a laundry room with storage, which is what most of my neighbors have done, or kept, really.

Lagoonablue · 09/09/2014 12:48

Yes I have heard talk of 30s houses having condensation issues but it hasn't been my experience. We don't have cavity wall insulation and were considering it but someone said it was a bad idea due to this very issue. Can anyone clarify why?

TortoiseshellSpecs · 09/09/2014 12:52

Georgian/Regency. Beautiful proportions and elegant features.

mandy214 · 09/09/2014 13:10

lagoon I think (stand to be corrected by someone who actually knows about these things!) that the issue is that with 1930s houses (as I've been told anyway!) they had a number of features which allowed air to circulate / breathe (air vents, single glazing, cavity between the walls etc). Over the years, lots of those features have been eradicated with our desire to insulate properties / spend less on heating which means that most properties don't have an "escape" for all the moisture that we produce - from just breathing, but also cooking, drying washing in the house etc. That's why cavity wall insulation is an issue - its not necessarily bad but you need to ensure the house can be ventilated other ways.

bigTillyMint · 09/09/2014 13:19

Georgian - big rooms and windows.

I also wouldn't mind a between the wars house

Or maybe a Sixties flat when the DC leave home, if it was very light, with appropriately modern/retro furnishings (thinking of some near us)

Damnautocorrect · 09/09/2014 13:32

1930's generally good size plots, well built and versatile.

AnnOnymity · 09/09/2014 13:56

Georgian is lovely. Beautiful windows, high ceilings, large rooms, elegance.

Very cold in winter though.

titchypumpkin · 09/09/2014 14:39

1930s, our last house was a 30s semi and we're now renovating a 30s detached. I think the pp who said blocking up a lot of stuff can lead to ventilation issues. In both our 30s houses we've made sure any blocked up fireplaces are vented, kitchen and bathroom have decent extractor fans and not had cavity wall insulation and have had no condensation/damp issues in either house.

They're solidly built and just the right balance of look nice (period features like lovely staircases and picture rails) and practical (lots of storage, decent driveway/garden etc).

Lagoonablue · 09/09/2014 14:46

Thanks re the condensation issue. We have an open fire downstairs which must help and thinking about an extractor fan in the bathroom.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page