Rural idyll or just hard work??

[lots33]

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/photos/51196507

thoughts?

If i wanted to live in the Welsh countryside idyll its georgous

that looks like the DREAM

my computer isn't displaying any details though - if it's a 2 bed then I want it!

what is making you think "hard work" btw?

How very weird. I am 99% certain I spent a memorably lovely holiday in that cottage when I was a child!

ooh Mrs Catnip maybe you did!

I've seen all the particulars now. It looks amazing though I'd hope for a better broadband connection....but I don't know, in an idyll like that, maybe I wouldn't need it.

OP are you seriously thinking of buying it? It looks wonderful.

Can’t see that it needs any work doing.

Are you the vendor, OP? 😄

I like their veil panting artwork. What an amazing house!

Painting, even

Looks beautiful.

There’s a property near me which I always going to say I’m going to buy if I win the lottery - absolutely idyllic, gorgeous house, land, stream at the bottom of the garden, sea view, very rural, my daughter could keep her horses at home, etc, etc

Then I think about the cess pit, buying oil for heating, running out of milk, dealing with muck heaps and mowing massive lawns and decide it’s all too much hard work

Oil-fired central heating + cess pit/septic tank = black hole into which your money will vanish

1.5 acres of garden is quite a lot of work - particularly as the pictures make it look like a fairly mature garden with lots of borders, lawn, hedges, greenhouse etc. (We have a similar amount, albeit more of it is lawn, and we employ someone to mow it so I don't end up spending all my time at the weekend mowing).

If you enjoy spending lots of time in the garden - that could be great. If not, it could be a millstone.

Also remember it rains a lot in Wales - so there will be more times that you won't be able to get out in the garden - meaning the nice evenings and weekends are going to be more consumed with gardening.

As long as that suits you, it looks like it could be a lovely spot.

Hefzi cess pit and septic tank are very different.

Cess pit - sealed / requires regular emptying

Septic tank - has drainage field / outflow, which as long as it is in good condition and only appropriate things are flushed / put down the drain should require minimal or no maintenance and infrequent pumping out of digested solid waste.

Agree an old/poor condition septic tank could be a problem if it requires replacement (e.g. due to a problem with the outflow drainage - due to fat blockage or pipe collapse) - but a good condition one shouldn't be any problem if looked after appropriately.

I am not sure it's either, probably something in between.

It's very pretty but for me, it likely needs a new kitchen and bathroom in the near future. I suspect they don't bear close inspection.
The garden will take a lot of work, take it from someone with a large garden.
Isolation, how easy is it to get deliveries etc.
How often are their power cuts, what's rhe Wi-fi like.
What's rhe windows like ie what does it cost to heat the house in winter.

So I think it's lovely to spend a weekend, but I think you need to be a certain type of person to live there. I live in an old house, but this one wouldn't be for me.

Then I think about the cess pit, buying oil for heating, running out of milk, dealing with muck heaps and mowing massive lawns and decide it’s all too much hard work

The cess pit should just need emptying you just employ a company to do it, they schedule it in and doesn't cost much. You don't need to be involved.

Buying oil for heating is very simple, you can either spot buy or just set it up on a contract, they remotely monitor your tank and fill it up when it reaches a certain level and you can pay by dd monthly. Again you don't need to be involved.

Mowing the lawn, you either buy a sit on lawn mower, and it then becomes much easier than actually pushing one about. I have a three acre garden mainly laid to lawn and it takes me about an hour and a half max on the ride on.

I don't know anything about muck heaps though, or why you'd have them. But as a lottery winner, you may be able to afford a gardener to cut the grass and someone to pick up thr muck

macs fair point - we have a cess pit that the road also drains into, so needs emptying every 4-6 weeks some times of the year: so I may be a bit bitter about a lack of mains' drainage

I admit I know zero about cess pits and oil powered heating

I will say re gardens, part of it is about how you want it to look. I wouldn't want a perfect manicured garden. I would like it as my own personal bit of woodland wouldn't be thinking it had to be mowed frequently - though I do like the idea of a ride on mower

Agree that the kitchen looks like it's seen better days and that mauve wall in the bathroom looks like it needs some attention.

When the kitchen and bathroom are that old you can bet the electrics will be older. It looks fine though.

That's how i picture all the cottages in Jilly Cooper novels

I think it's lovely. The rooms are a good size, there's loads of light, it's detached, you can make it amazing. It does need a new kitchen and bathroom but that can be done. Incredible views too. I'd buy it, it's gorgeous!

Although if the broadband was slow I wouldn't so...

I’m not buying, just idly nosing on Zoopla! I absolutely love it, but I lived on a small holding for four years, living the dream, and loathed it! Too much bloody hard work and isolation. I am back in the city now..... but still drawn to such properties.

The rooms are a good size

Only downstairs. The bedrooms are actually very small.

ooh OP that's interesting....why did you loath it?

I actually prefer oil heating! Used to have had but oil is lovely. I use an online broker called boilerjuice and find the cheapest oil provider generally during the summer months. Pay a direct debit into the tank account every month so it's not A huge hit. Cess pits again very simple you don't get involved apart from getting the company to empty it. However I would want to do a fair amount of work to that property and the garden needs a good deal of on going maintenance to keep it looking as good as it does!