Mine is a cottage which is at least 270 years old.
It’s slightly unusual. From the outside, it looks quite like a cottage. Once inside, it’s slightly different. The downstairs has ceilings that are 8ft high, which is unusual. Yet the upstairs bedrooms have very low ceilings - I’m really short, yet I can easily paint the ceilings without the need for a ladder.
An architectural historian visited a few years ago, and it was really interesting what she pointed out with regards to details/joints etc on some of the beams in the downstairs ceiling. In addition, had a pretty major disaster here, which resulted in a specialist in timber-framed buildings overseeing some of the repair work. He pointed out that, due to some of the detailing, some of the support beams were from the pre-reformation period.
Their basic summary, due to the beams, but also the unusual height of the downstairs area, is that the cottage was built using timbers from a much grander property in the area that had fallen into disrepair etc. That they used the beams “as were” rather than cutting them down. Also, my ceiling beams are definitely not “fancy”, but the detail on them seems like larger fancy beams were split at least in half to us3 as ceiling beams.
I’ve been able to track back ownership to just over 100 years (last but one owner, cottage was in their family since early 1900). So have found some lovely photos of it from quite a while ago, plus the fact that the cottage had a different name back then. I need to put more effort into looking back further.
Downsides are quite a few! Stupid stuff done by diy, such as casing the exterior in concrete - not good for a timber framed building and has cost me a bomb to put right (not covered by insurance). Can be difficult to get the place to feel warm, though a heated throw has been a godsend the last couple of years. As others have said - bloody spiders - they are HUGE and have many nooks and crannies to creep their way through. NOTHING is straight - makes cutting in when decorating literally impossible to get a clean line.
Pros - downstairs stays really cool in summer, which is lovely. The fact that nothing is straight, it makes it feel cosy and quirky. It’s my forever home, which is the best pro going. Causes me a number of headaches, but I can forgive it!