What is the appeal in 1960's ish houses?

[user1374384]

Hoping not to offend anyone, but I have fallen in love with a school, and the catchment area is in the middle of massess and masses of identical looking, 1960's? slate fronted houses, mostly in cul-di-sacs. I think this type of house was built until the 80's maybe. Pale or lighter grey bricks, double roof or flat slate fronted. Most are 3 bed semi's, but with the box room being too small to use as a bedroom.

Obvious appeal would be they all seem to have gardens (not huge though) and driveways. But they have low ceilings, small rooms, tiny kitchens, tiny bathrooms, no interesting features, ugly to look at, just seems a bit soulless. Every single one to buy or rent is just beige looking inside too, they don't seem to suit any styling I guess.

But I really want to learn to appreciate them so I don't have to cross this school off the top of my wishlist. Judging by the prices for the size, I must be missing why I should like them?

What has surprised me is how high the house prices are in comparison to many more interesting houses nearby. You can get a bigger Victorian terrace for less than half the price, so why are people paying more for these?

What am I missing?

We have a 1970's terrace. It is cheaper than the smaller victorian terraces near us and has parking. That's why we're here. As an bonus it is way warmer.

They often have a kitchen diner as opposed to a galley kitchen extension. Lend themselves to being opened up, and more open plan.
They key to decorating is to go with their era, more mid century furniture and colours and not try to do victoriana in a 60s or more modern house. That looks rubbish.
I've just moved from 50s to Victorian out of necessity and I'm already freezing!

If you decorate it in a mid century style or a scandi style that will work best. It will still be quite grim but it can be grim and characterful at the same time.

Surely the 'appeal' of these houses is that they're close to the school you like? That's why people are paying more for them. If they're all the same in that area and the layout doesn't work for you, I guess you just have to buy something else and accept a longer school run.

Beyond that it's just a matter of personal taste. People do many beautiful things with Victorian and Edwardian houses both inside and out, but personally it isn't my style. I tend to gravitate towards minimalist Scandi-style furniture and decor; white walls, polished concrete or hardwood floors, mid-century furniture. All a bit Mad Men. It's just what I like; so my ideal home is actually a 60s townhouse. Like this. I do prefer the 60s/early 70s ones with huge windows, as opposed to the post-1973/oil crisis ones that were built with smaller ones.

They often make up for small bedrooms with large open spaces downstairs. Space is not wasted on hallways and corridors and there is much more use of natural light. They aren't the best insulated but new energy efficient doors and windows are easily fitted without compromising any intrinsic character. They tend not to have random draughts and noisy chimneys like old houses!

They will usually have off street parking, although garages and driveways can be too narrow for modern cars. You might be able to hear your neighbours in an attached house as they aren't as substantial as a period property.

They lend themselves well to modern minimalist styling and are easy to decorate because the walls will be flat and corners straight.

My friend has recently moved from a large period property to a 1970s house on a corner plot. She has spend a wedge making it how she wants it and couldn't be happier.

Like I said, I didn't wish to offend anyone, I was assuming I was being naive in some way because they are more desirable than other bigger houses in my area. If you love your house like this I want to know why, I'd love to love them too and I'm very open to having my mind changed.

In the area I am looking at, property is very cheap. You can get a period property (even semi's and detached) or a 1930's with a garden in a lot of cases or a nice yard minimum, next to an outstanding school for the same price as one of these small mass produced ones. THAT is what baffles me.

The main difference is the period properties are often next to main roads, so maybe it is the quiet suburbia that has so much appeal? Less noise, less traffic? Less crime?

The large windows things I don't buy, they don't look big at all compared to any other type of house other than 90's plus houses.

Ours is in a lovely quiet area, it's great having very limited passing traffic after living on 2 main roads. Our house is also very light, the front window is nearly the full width of the living room. A definite boon after to period houses with standard sash windows.

I'd love to see some pictures of nicely decorated interiors in one! I can certainly see the appeal of being able to put furniture anywhere rather than around chimney breasts and skirting boards. I do like scandi style. I've only ever seen beige carpeted floors and vaneer fitted wardrobes, and bland furnitire on my searches. I just can't see my love of bright and dark colours and wooden floors and old furniture fitting in. I like bold, quirky, retro/vintage in a way I can only picture in older houses but I'm desperate to be proved wrong. I do like parquet flooring and could see that looking nice throughout one.

If I had the money we'd be very 60's and 70's here, it's my favourite style. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with what I already have 😔

The reason I chose one was after growing up in a truly stunning period home, I didn't want to have to deal with extortionate heating bills, damp, endless repairs, it being a "cold" house etc etc. The house I grew up in had beautiful features, but my parents have had a real struggle maintaining it and the bills are insane.

My "soulless" home has been excellently built, its solid with brilliant insulation, bills are low, upkeep is reasonable, great sized rooms and was easy to extend as the back garden is big. It's easy to add features, the exterior can be transformed even though it's boring. It had alot of built in storage. It was built in a great area for commuting, supermarkets, schools. I viewed all sorts of houses but this was a no brainer. Lots more space and less problems than the local new builds. Quiet cul-de-sac. Good for a family and the future whilst being affordable on solely my wage as I am now.

People can judge away, I'm happier now than I was in the period dream home!

Oh and my "box" room has a built in wardrobe and can fit a double in. I do not want to share pictures of my home online but rosewood coloured parquet style gloss Karndean in the living room then porcelain tiles through the kitchen diner and conservatory, and very lovely glass and wood interior doors which match the flooring have made a huge difference to my downstairs.

There are houses like this near me and lots of the occupants have updated their fronts with rendering and new windows and they look much better.

The example you gave is particularly depressing, but I'm sure it could spruce up somehow.

Perhaps it would be easier to look for another school - how old is your child, OP?

I have one of these house. 3 good sized bedrooms, large rooms downstairs, toilet downstairs, store room outside the front door, large hallway, open stairwell, good sized storage cupboards, garage, front and back gardens, easy to do DIY. We love it.
I like the look of Victorian and period properties but couldn't be doing with the upkeep costs.

Ok I've discovered that #midcenturymodern on Instagram is the inspo I'm after! Some wonderful not beige at all 60's interiors for me to obsess over.

www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_style/homes/semi.html

Doing up a Victorian or Edwardian would be a much better option

In your opinion.

Only on MN do I come across such snobbery over houses built after 1930

No one wants to live on an estate full of 1960s semis like that

Clearly, people do. Especially those living in areas with - gasp - little to no period properties!

Personally I think the 50s/60s/70s style is less boring than the 30s style semi. They are everywhere round here and rarely deviate in layout or exterior style.
Scandi and mid century looks much better in a mid century house than an older one too, if you like that style.
As I said I'm in on older house now through necessity and will probably need to remain in one due to availability in my price range and I'll certainly miss the brightness and sort of sparseness of the more modern space I'm used to (and warmth!)

Our last house was a 60s house.

Current house is a 30s house.

The advantage of the 60s house (at the time) was the location. I think your photo isn't a typical 60s build although agree that most 60s houses are similarly awful looking - bloody ugly on the outside, ours certainly was.

The advantage of 60s houses (in my experience) is that they are spacious and light. Actually most 3 beds in my experience are 3 good sized bedrooms (not the 2 main bedrooms and a box room that you often find in 30s houses), large plots, massive picture windows - which is why your photo looks later than 60s as the windows aren't big enough - usually on "estates" which are popular with families.

In my area now, its all 20s and 30s houses - no 1960s houses so I can't compare prices. Invariably however, I would guess that 30s are more desirable and therefore more expensive, so can't see why in your area OP a 60s house would command a premium. Is it because the 60s houses actually have a larger footprint when you look at the floor plans?

Take a look at The Modern House website too. They sell quite a lot of very stylish mid-century houses.

I've never had anything against 1960s and 1970s houses. Some were very nice. I like most eras. I'm not a fan of open plan.

Our city is full of them, dome with better proportioned rooms than others. In the original layout, the small (typically 8 by 11) kitchen is offset by a similar sized utility. Most have a garage on the side so have been easy to extend.

The proportions of the windows lend themselves well to mid century modern decor, so are easy to style inexpensively, at the moment.

We looked at several of them, then bought a 1930s dormer bungalow!

It could be ‘suburbia’ that appeals. It could be the fact it’s quieter, safer, possibly cleaner. Often with period housing, you also get flat conversions so transient renters while in ‘suburbia’ it might be more long term, owner-occupier families. Obvs I don’t know where you are so it’s pure speculation.

Just moved to a mid 70s Terrace. Can not believe how quiet it is never heard a peep from the neighbours either side. Two large bedrooms, large bathrooms for kitchen and off street parking. The only downside is the small garden