Buy a 70s box?

[MrsCremuel]

I love the location, near parents and the village is very lovely. Opposite a pub but set far back. Front room a bit gloomy but the space and size is perfect for us. Opposite a good pre school. Short drive to town. Looks generally in good nick.

But it’s very boxlike and I’m used to living in older houses. Would you all buy this house? Realistically we wouldn’t be able to afford a house this size if it was a period property and it would be about 800k.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116915309#/?channel=RES_BUY

I would, in a heartbeat, for all the location positives you have outlined.

I love that house. You can add period colours, furnishings or textiles if you wanted to but you have great space and it meets all your criteria.

I bought a house like this and was kind of miffed about it to be honest.

We have it decked out in a mid century vibe. Put a spanking brand new kitchen in which didn’t look odd as house is modern and rooms are huge!

For the front, we added a porch, put trellis over most of it to soften the look and planted a row of laurels. Put a fence on front of that and redid the driveway.

Honestly, it’s a lovely house know but I did really hate the front of it. We live on a really expensive area and could not afford to live here otherwise

As it fits the bill in so many ways, I would buy it and tat about with it and make it your own. Lots of ways to lighten it up - and also to make the garden more homely.

That looks like a 60s box to me. I really like it. It’s practical, the rooms are good sizes and, as a PP says, these house look great with mid-century decor.

Also picture windows seem less intimidating when you are generous with curtains and blinds - pencil pleat curtains mean that you have loads of billowy material, it doesn’t need to look stark like it is on the photos

We bought a 1960s box I hated the outside,BUT it's detached unoverlooked, just outside an old village,near the sea,south downs, country,yet 5 miles from town. AND, 8th of an acre of garden. We're hugely green fingered. We changed doors, windows, drive,plenty of planting,to give character. What we would have liked 10 years ago was £50k more than we could afford. You need vision (watch George Clark,we didn't have a huge amount of money

Absolutely! It's got a sensible layout, good size rooms and you can make the living room brighter with better curtains//blinds etc. I know they aren't the last word in design style (though I quite like them!) but they're great houses!

I absolutely would you'll just have to style it differently.
Bridge is a great village I'd live there in a heartbeat. Some friends of mine live on that estate and live it (fwiw they moved from a grand country house)

I moved from a 30s semi to a 70s box. They're great! I would personally 'posh clad' and render this and make it look a bit American style iyswim? Rooms are fab. Gloomy front from doesn't matter as that's where you plonk your arse to watch telly of an evening.
This house is ideal, especially if you have DC. Buy a period property with gorgeous original features when theyve moved out!

I'd buy it. I followed a period flat with a period house and they are money pits. Our late Victorian semi also needs renovation and extension downstairs and that's prohibitively expensive at the moment so we are quite cramped even though the upstairs floors are quite big. I feel like we paid an extra 100k for the fireplaces (which are lovely but I could live without them.)

We have just exchanged on a similar house. We decided on it for similar reasons - good value fur money, great location etc. But not sure what to do with the front, it doesn't look the best - is it easy to remove cladding and maybe render it?

Yep, that's a nice house. Lean in to the mid-centuryness inside and a bit of fancy cladding outside and it will look sensational!

I would! Still much better than a new build, lots of space and the ceilings are a decent height. You can easily make the outside more appealing with good planting etc and put your own imprint on the inside.

It's a good sized house, it just needs a bit of attention. The outside could be prettied up relatively easily, the garden needs some love and imagination and then it would be fine.
Inside it's a bit bland but you could easily make changes to it.

I'd buy it - lots of space, good sized rooms, walk to the shops, enclosed garden. What's not to like?

BUT - I'd shoot the person who took the pictures - leaving the blinds down in the living room makes it look dark. And it looks like they've used a 90s camera phone with the autofocus turned off and vaseline smeared over the lens.

God yes, but then I'm still scarred from the period property we owned. I love mid century houses, they're fugly but spacious and with big windows. Put some time and effort into decor etc and it will be amazing. I understand the period love and that period properties differ so please don't think I'm tarring every house with same brush but I hated our period property and am over the moon to be out of it.

It's a great house, I'd buy it too. We bought our 50s house, which is a boxy council house, for its location and we love it. We have added character and are very happy.

I live locally OP, I would love to live in that village. And the house has lovely proportions and looks to be really well maintained.

That what I was looking for but I settled on an 1870's cottage which has been a complete nightmare. 1970's for me every time now.
Definitely buy it ?

Random question mark

It's palatial! Go for it. Get it rendered cream with wood cladding.

I'd buy it!

It's a lovely house, OP.

Thanks all, we live in a 1930s semi now which is quite small, we’ve definitely outgrown it. I find it hard to leave the period features however he has been a bit of a nightmare with various things going wrong so it would be quite nice to have a new house. The space is fantastic and I love the village. It makes commutes a bit longer but I think it would be worth it.

Agree with the mid century styling and also rendering and changing the cladding outside think it could be transformed. Luckily when I’m inside I don’t have to look at the outside and it’s down quite a private drive so no one else does either ha ha.