Do you live in a really old house?

[Cocogreen]

I live in Australia and our oldest houses are largely from the end of the nineteenth century. In another thread someone mentioned their house was from the 16th century ( I think?, can't actually remember the century).
I'm fascinated by this and wonder if any of you live in a property with a long history? Any drawbacks to living in such old buildings?

I grew up in a 300 year old house which my parents still live in.

Advantages/positives:

• Never needed cavity insulation, the walls are 12" thick brick and flint.
• No concerns about accidentally drilling into/discovering asbestos.
• Less little hidey holes behind plasterboard for rodents to get into or nest in.

Disadvantages or niggles:

• Thatched roofs take some upkeep and occasionally become infested with things. Bees aren't too much of a surprise. Weasels are quite a shock both for you and the thatcher.
• You'll need to get used to paint, not wallpaper. If none of your walls or ceilings are straight then matching patterns on wallpaper strips becomes only slightly less challenging than getting hold of genuine Elvis teeth.
• Replacements for things like windows have to be 'in keeping' and therefore cost more.
• Forget about switching to solar and putting panels on the roof.
• Chimneys need regular sweeping, relining, and repointing. Log burners need to be serviced and re-lined, agas/rayburns need regular maintenance (slight up-side, in the scale of houses of this age, regular can mean every 50 years or so depending on the job).
• Lower ceilings and sloping/uneven floors. Furniture will constantly look like it's on the wonk, and when hanging pictures you have to choose between it looking straight if compared to the ceiling, or the floor, or any nearby doorframe, because it won't look straight compared with all three...

There are also the eccentricities of generations of previous owners to contend with - sometimes its fun things like a box of old coins stuffed into a ledge in a chimney breast, sometimes it's finding out they covered up a wellshaft or old privy pit with a pallet and a strategically placed shallow flowerbed.

On the whole we definitely have more problems when doing maintenance or alterations to our 20th century house than my parents have with theirs though.

In addition to the 1400 house of friend I currently live in an early 1700 house central London. All floors a bit sloping. Double glazing not allowed (actually could have vv exp wooden sashes double glazed but so expensive). Interestingly good noise insulation from neighbours but the house does shake a bit when tubes go under or heavy construction nearby

Back to my Georgian (not very posh) terrace.

Our reasonably high (I am guessing 2.5m) ceilings are still lath and plaster, held up by lining paper, I suspect.

Our foundations are about 6 inches deep so the house does bounce up and down a bit.

1867. I bought it this year after living in a 1905 house. So young compared with some here. This one is a double fronted victorian which was sub-divided into two flats in 1976. I own the ground floor and basement flat and garden.

When I moved in the previous owners left all of the documentation relating to the property from 1867, including details of the builder (who built a number of houses on the street including this one as his own home), leases, instruction to change the house number, the architect's plans for its sub-division etc.

The work done on the property in recent years has been of a very high standard so its a very lovely home. High ceilings, fireplaces, mouldings, original internal shutters, and modern kitchen and bathrooms. Love it.

@Madcats we also have ceilings held up by Anaglypta paper, I suspect loads of houses are similar. They are 10ft high and a real bugger to paint (especially the one that was bright purple when we moved in). I still love them though, they were one of the things that sold the house to us. It makes the rooms the right proportions and very light and airy even with a deep plan.

I grew up in a traditional Lake District cottage built in 1611, all oak beams and low ceilings. It was lovely but too remote for my parents so after ten years they sold it and we moved into a modern 1970s bungalow on an estate. Such a contrast. I loved the house and when I saw it for sale a few years ago I thought about buying it. Didn't though, I don't want to lose my childhood memories.

Thatched roofs take some upkeep and occasionally become infested with things. Bees aren't too much of a surprise. Weasels are quite a shock both for you and the thatcher.

I lived in a house which was originally a farm building, then a school. It was built around 1675. It was thatched.

I’ve lived in old houses before but never one like this. It was a huge main room with a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom built on a side extension,

The main living area, which was really just a huge barn, was spectacular but the thatched roof meant insects kept dropping into it. There were also mice.

Unfortunately, I moved there in one of the coldest winters ever and the oil ran out very quickly. I had a butane gas heater and the main barn area never got above 12 degrees. In bed, I’d pile blankets and coats over to keep me warm. I estimated that I spent around £1200 on heating in around 2-3 months.

My inlaws live in a 16th century cottage in Scotland and when they bought it in 2006 it was still barely modernised so had to do a lot of work. It was open to the elements so needed new windows, it had no running water just a well and no electric or gas. It was heated through large fires and the previous owner but in a arga.

My inlaws had to get a gas tank which is buried which they have to fill. They bought a field from the water board which allowed them to get running water connected and they eventually got electric a couple of years after moving in. They are very remote, tv comes through a giant satellite and they just recently got 4G phone signal.

They loved it up but now they're heading towards their 70s they find the upkeep of the farm and land just too much. It still needs a lot of work doing as well but someone into history will love it

Built around 1600 And is Grade 2 listed.
Spiders!! Oh my word, it's like there's some sort of spider convention going on! Permanently.
It's also a haven for over-wintering butterflies upstairs in the beams because we don't have an attic but we've got chapel ceilings instead.

We've got plaster and reed floors upstairs which are very wonky and so all the furniture leans.
Downstairs floors are very cold, they're quarry tiles and bricks straight onto the earth.
Weird damp patches in unlikely places.
A leaky roof that so far has defeated more than one roofer.
Electric storage heaters because we can't install gas central heating.
Poor WiFi because of the thick rubble stone walls so we have WiFi boosters all over the house.
Horsehair plaster on the walls which means if a bit falls off then gingery tufts of hair stick out. And no skirting boards means I regularly knock the plaster off with my vigorous hoovering.
Low ceilings downstairs which means my 6ft 2 son has a permanent hunch until he goes upstairs into the aforementioned high chapel ceilings.
This seems to be a list of downsides but I love it here, it's quaint!

Reading all these stories has been absolutely fascinating.
Makes me think of all those house restoration programmes or Grand Designs where people are constantly getting terrible shocks about how much fixing or restoring something is going to cost.
I remember one ( I think the house was in Ireland) where a marble rolled downhill across the length of the terrace.

Current one c 1870, grew up in one from 1700s.
Love the high ceilings!

I don't mind modern houses but hate mid 20th century- no en suites and no high ceilings!

I grew up in a Tudor house. Had been a coaching Inn (or pub) in the oldest part and then added to. Our drive was actually the old coach doors. Apparently had a resident ghost but I never saw it.

We used to live in a nailmakers cottage built in 1752. Previous owners found a mummified cat in the roof space (apparently a charm to keep the devil away) and the walls were thick stone.

I loved it. Pros:-
Open fields visible from my pillow in bed

Toasty warm in winter and cool in summer thanks to several feet of stone in the walls.

Despite spooky dead cat story, the house felt really safe and welcoming, as if people had been happy there.

Beautiful exposed stone walls downstairs.

Could dust/paint the ceiling whilst standing on the floor.

Cons:-
Too small once we’d had a baby

Difficult to fit electric lights because of low ceilings

Weird damp patch part way up a wall that we couldn’t shift or work out an explanation for.

Roof ready to start leaking by the time we moved out.

Tiny garden full of rusty 18th century nails and 20th century rubble from pulling down the outhouse.

I’m in a 1930s project house now. It is ugly and hard work, but we have enough room and the garden is a joy.

We have a home in Italy. The foundations are 14th century, the main building is around 16-17th century.

Pros it’s gorgeous, warm in winter and cool in summer. Unusually shaped ceilings and a strong sense of history.

Cons- I’d like larger windows onto the terrace but stone walls don’t allow for much flexibility in those kinds of changes to structure.

Also we live in a conservation area, so everything you want to do, including the colour of paint for the outside, is exuded by the local council. Sloowwwwllllyyy

Our house is a 1700s farmhouse with wonky walls and floors but high ceilings, large rooms and plenty of windows so lots of light.

It’s cool in the summer but costs a lot to heat as it’s draughty and not double glazed, obviously. Gas and electricity is £500 /month.

Pros are that it’s big, private - you can’t be seen from any of the windows unless someone is actually on our drive - and really pretty, I love living here. The kitchen is huge and we have loads of modern bathrooms, central heating and a pretty cottage garden. I love the thick walls.

Cons are grade 2 listing, high insurance costs £1500 a year and expensive thatch. Abd it’s a money pit, we’ve probably spent £100k on bath rooms, decoration and upkeep. When the roof needs replacing it’ll be £60k+ 😰

We lived in a house which was part 1400s and part 1700s . Lots of spiders and cobwebs. Poorly insulated . It had been chopped and changed a lot over the decades and use had changed . Surrounded by yew trees. It all felt quite dark, cold and dead. I didn’t like it at all and it’s put me off old beams. It had two old bread ovens and a range in one of the bedrooms for the servants . I never went in the attic!

I have always lived in old houses. I find them comforting- particularly in big storms when you know your house has lived through a few hundred years of storms! Our current house was built in the 1380's and has a fascination history- we have documentation going back a few hundred years and an old medieval shoe which was found buried in a wall to ward off witches.

You have to REALLY love wildlife! Mice can be an issue so we have 3 cats. The house is resident to many spiders, bees and wasps. There are birds nests everywhere under the eaves, plus bats who sometimes fly in by mistake. I love the fact our house provides a haven for wildlife when there is so much building everywhere around. It's cool in the summer and pretty cold in the winter but cosy. You have to duck quite bit under the beams. I love our old house and its history. I would struggle to live in a new house.

My house was built in 1717. It's a Grade 2 listed Georgian three storey home including basement. We have done a lot of work to just maintain its original features. I absolutely love it though, high ceilings and big rooms. My home is in Dublin, Ireland so a lot of history too that we managed to trace.

What a wonderful thread. My house is too new (built 1890) to fit into the "old" category. Some day, though, I shall live in a Georgian house.

I forgot to say our previous house was a Tudor cottage on a main road. I loved that house too. Previous owners left clay pipes, mini canon balls and glass bottles, which we then left for the next owners when we moved. A major issue we had when selling that house was that we had so many viewings in the summer from people who weren't serious buyers, but just wanted to nose around the oldest house in the village (and then complained the beams were too low!).

The thing about (my) Georgian house is that it is a bit like a bread oven.

Admittedly not an issue this summer but, if we have a fortnight of sunny weather, the 3 foot thick walls can heat up and retain their heat for weeks.

It isn't uncommon to have a 5-10 degrees C temperature differential between the floors.

Internal wooden shutters with plenty of hinges are great. As are big windows.

I grew up in a G1 house which has a well in the kitchens which is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). The current house has sections dating back to 1400 and every period since to 1860 when it was gothecised.

My current house is from 1590 and is on the site of a manor mentioned again in Domesday. The cellar of the house predates it and is likely 12th Century. It is a Yeoman’s house so has high ceilings and large rooms. It has evolved over the years and was encased in brick in around 1760. A wing was added in 1910.

I think people who grew up in old houses tend to want to live in them when they buy their own house. I couldn’t imagine living in a modern house although when I lived abroad, I did live in an ultra modern concrete box. I spend all my spare time on maintenance and gardening and wouldn’t have it any other way. Other people want to spend as little time as possible working on their house but I’m not sure what they do with all their free time that they have.

Great thread!
We have an 1862 set of farmworker cottages (to form 1 detached cottage.)
Pro's:
It's so pretty!
Beautiful fireplaces, open brickwork and thick walls.
It has its own detached completely untouched wash house, complete with huge copper basin and accessories!
Stables with the original cobbles and tie rings.
Cons:
Omg it's cold in Winter and I have to remind myself of the pro's!
Really creaky floorboards!

Oh and we found a 1901 penny in a wall when we did some renovation