What makes a period property a 'period' property?

[Handyrick]

Odd question, but I ask because I am aware that in certain cities there is a price premium for period properties that is quite substantial.

I also notice that certain houses that have ripped out all the 'period features' and are modern boxes inside, still attract the period property price premium.

However, a property on the same road with similar layout and square footage, but modern build exterior, would not get the price premium.

It can't possibly be just because it looks 'period' from the outside?

Would love to know thoughts on this!

Well , all houses are from a particular period. But I think it means " this one has old features that are currently fashionable so we can charge more for it".

You have to fix something every month .

Sorry not sorry.

Serious answer, I think it needs to be reasonably old and have original interior features. If the inside is all modern it's not "period", it's just an old house. I live in a late Victorian terrace and it's not "period".

Ours was built around 1915.

Edwardian period was 1901-1910, so not completely Edwardian but kind of...

Our first house was an Edwardian terrace that we bought in 1968. The old gentleman we bought it from had lived in it since it was built so apart from one bedroom having been converted to a bathroom and electricity installed it was sompletely as built. It had a fireplace with a tall mahogany, mirrored surround, all the lightswitches were copper with scrolling on, encaustic tiles in the hall and original dado rails and picture rails. The kitchen had floor to ceiling built in cupboards and all the doors were beautiful dark wood and panelled.

It was the time of mad DIY and we ruined that lovely house.

The proportions are generally good, but sometimes the quality leaves a lot to be desired. I live in an old silkweavers cottage in Gtr Mcr - it's lovely, it's detached, and it's in a great area. But, it was put up cheaply, so it's single brick, v small garden, vvvvv steep stairs. It's also got a v weird 45degree chimney breast in the master bedroom.

I inherited it in a very sorry state (parent bought it as a do-er-upper and died before they started it). The previous owners stripped every single thing of origin out, apart from the stairs, which are now starting to go - two treads have rotted away. It's cold in the winter, warm in the summer, lets slugs get in the kitchen because it wasn't built on a slab, and it moves. Not a lot, and not enough to get too worried about, but it's not a 100% static building. I've spent £30k on it so far, and probably another £10k to go as I have to replace minging old UPVC windows and doors. It's been an experience, but next time I'll buy somewhere which needs slightly less upkeep.

Ours is a total project-house, neglected for about 50 years, and knocked about to be made into a HMO and then 2 self contained flats.

We are 2 years in and have done a LOT (most of it ourselves), but it doesn't look like we have scratched the surface.

All the stuff you can't see has had to be done: re-wiring, plumbing, insulation, ceiling sorted etc. Those jobs ate up any money we had to spend, so subsequent jobs have had to wait and be done bit by bit.

Luckily my OH is pretty handy and can do a lot of stuff himself..we'd be stuffed otherwise!

Totally love this house though. It's proportions and space are fantastic, and we have a good sized west-facing garden which is hard to come by in our part of SE London.

It's referring to a style of architecture, not government.

I know that, and mentioned it in my first post. I just think it’s interesting that it’s a common expression in the USA.

We used to live in a house built sometime around 1860. The build quality was atrocious. It did have quite nice windows and ceiling heights and was very charming on the surface. It was a pain to live in though.

Thanks all, really interesting mix of responses and opinions.

A fair few posters have mentioned 'period'= tall ceilings, coving etc. But as some posters have already said, many 'period' Victorian workers cottages don't have these things, yet still attract the 'period' price premium.

@Newnormal99

I live in a Victorian house. The entire road is one long terrace each side but it has been thought about as a whole - different roof shapes on some houses making them more than just a row of boxes.

I also love a chimney on a house - I think it just makes them more complete.

I am probably biased as I live there but I love the look of my road! I don't get that from a row of modern houses.

I think this could be spot on! The bit about the road being all 'period' and being thought about as a whole.

I have noticed that a period house amongst many modern houses doesn't attract as high a premium as say a modern house in a street of period houses.

A quick Google will tell you that the accepted definition is anything pre WW1. As you point out, this includes many tiny, dark places, not just ones with big rooms, high ceilings and lots of light. In many instances the room proportions will be way out of kilter with how people live today (mainly kitchen size and a box bedroom).
The talk of build quality is amusing- they may be solid, but will be lacking in insulation, rooves and windows more prone to draghts and leaks, and electrics/plumbing can present challenges... unless of course they have been 'done up' in the past. I'm not quite sure why so many people are anti modernisation of these houses - they've undergone change in previous generations to suit what was 'modern' at that time (adding electicity, indoor plumbing, upstairs bathrooms), so why not continue to modernise and adapt them to suit current lifestyles? I'm sure all these people living in 19th century houses have plenty pf plug sockets and an indoor loo??

Surely the main thing you want from a house is comfortable living that works for you and your family? Housing evolves as life changes.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for period features being retained (fireplaces, cornicing etc etc), but we don't live like Victorians any more. I think making period properties work for modern living should be embraced, as it has been for the last 100 years.

What makes a property a period property? In my experience that would be damp issues you accept as just path of the course, wonky floorboards, weird room configurations, dodgy plumbing, expensive decorating & repair costs and woodworm in beams. And as a final add on, dodgy creaky noises your kids convince themselves are ghosts of people who’ve died in your house!

I’m not sure how you’d define a period property, anything over a hundred years old maybe? I love them, always decide that next time around we go for a modern box after we end up spending a fortune keeping them maintained but we never do!

My DH old flat was victorian conversion. It had high ceilings and period features and the bedroom was enormous. He bought it as a doer upper and it was lovely when he sold it.
Our current house is unbelievably boring from the outside, with no period features but large rooms inside. Having done all the decorating and DIY himself in the flat, DH was put off by all the cornicing, woodwork and high ceilings in a period building.i like the look of period houses though. It's mainly about kerb appeal I think

Age? street appeal? High ceilings that give a feeling of space even with the same sqm? Thick walls so you don’t hear your neighbour turning his light switches on?

They are also good at keeping their value. When I bought my period house, I also looked at a new build with the same price and number of bedrooms. 20 years on the then new house is worth 50% more, while mine is worth 3 times what I paid for it.

Op a period property is one that was built prior to the First World War.

Thr internal features don’t define it, but of course the more there are rh higher th price.

I think that a lot of the premium for a period property is the kerb appeal. Even if the inside has been gutted the chances are the external period features have probably been retained - think porches, fanlights front steps and windows. Even a small workers cottage in a terrace is likely to look cuter than a similar size property from the 1960s onwards. The look of the street also has a bearing so as you say a period property in a largely modern street is likely to attract a smaller premium than a similar property in an all period street.

Also a period street may well have more established planting - eg mature trees etc

There are some really rather pretentious comments on here about how awful it is to alter a period building. Surely that's simply what happens over time?
Listed buildings are safeguarded because there is something of particular interest about them. All others are allowed to evolve with the times.
I have a two up 2 down victorian semi with offshot kitchen. I had the kitchen and dining room knocked through and extended across the return .
I love it!
Some rooms have barely changed since the house was built in 1869 but other parts are reflective of its life in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Build quality - ha. I had a flat in a Regency house conversion in Brighton, years ago. Very pretty to look at from the outside, but the walls were made of not much more than papier-mâché and crossed fingers. Those houses were thrown up as holiday homes, to cash in on the Prince Regent making the town fashionable, back in the early 1800s. I think the original architects and builders would be astonished to find them still standing now. They weren’t built to last.

I must be a glutton for punishment, because I live in another Georgian house now; a rural farmhouse this time. We are currently renovating it, and it’s quite eye popping how shoddily built it is in places.

Those Georgians were cowboys.

@VenusClapTrap, agreed. Our house was built 1750, it has ‘issues’. Still love the moneypit though!

@burritofan

Can’t bear a period shell/open-plan modern interior. If you want to live in a giant open box fuck off and buy a modern house instead of gutting a period one.

I think it is the exterior that makes people call it period. But there should be a word for period houses without period innards; they’re really a different thing.

100% agree.

better build quality said someone upthread. Don't ask our surveyor (now a family friend...) about his views on the Georgians ('Fucking jerry-builders... no idea... cheapskates... looks nice, but shiiiit')

To me it's the look from the street, and having the original features inside - panelled doors, solid joinery, fireplaces. I just like them - they feel right.

Don't ask our surveyor (now a family friend...) about his views on the Georgians.
A pretty coat of render hides a lot of sins.

@senua

Don't ask our surveyor (now a family friend...) about his views on the Georgians. A pretty coat of render hides a lot of sins.

Tell me about it! A collapsed window lintel causing a dropped gable end in my case!

@londonmummy1966

I think that a lot of the premium for a period property is the kerb appeal. Even if the inside has been gutted the chances are the external period features have probably been retained - think porches, fanlights front steps and windows. Even a small workers cottage in a terrace is likely to look cuter than a similar size property from the 1960s onwards. The look of the street also has a bearing so as you say a period property in a largely modern street is likely to attract a smaller premium than a similar property in an all period street.

Also a period street may well have more established planting - eg mature trees etc

I think this is spot on and seems to be my experience when researching property values and saleability.

External features that add value - porches, fanlights/doors, windows, planting on the street.

I have noticed that when people replace their windows with very plastic looking uPVC, quite substantial downvaluations can happen as these are expensive to replace.

I have also noticed that on some terraces of workers cottages, there can often be little planting, especially where the front doors open right onto the street. These type of houses don't seem to carry an excessive premium vs modern equivalents with planting and porches.