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Original poster

Unexpected nice thing you realised about your house after moving in

205 replies

JustJam4Tea · 20/01/2022 06:55

In the middle of a town very close to where we used to live, but the back garden is at such an angle from streetlights that’s it’s like a little dark sky area. The stars are great.

Fantastic draw on the chimney.

The water pressure is amazing.

OP posts:
allfurcoatnoknickers · 20/01/2022 14:37

It's really warm! We never have to put the heating on in the winter.

Pinotpleasure · 20/01/2022 14:37

To be in bed at 2am and hear an owl hooting. It is magical!

To be in the garden in the Summer when it is dark and a bat or two swooping to catch insects; we discovered that they live in the eaves of the (former) mill next door.

To have ducks (and sometimes mum and her ducklings) wandering into our garden (there is a small river at the end of the street.

To discover that a hedgehog seems to be living in our garden - we put a night camera out and food. We had a hedgehog visiting every night (we once had two of them huffing at each other!) and I was given a Hedgehog house for my birthday. I think it is hibernating in there, but I don’t want to lift the lid and disturb it.

wineandchocolateforthewin · 20/01/2022 14:40

Same as you with the garden OP, it's a great sun trap too
The house is lovely and warm, heats up fast and holds the heat well.
Lovely neighbours and to say i'm in a village it's very quiet

whatwasIgoingtosay · 20/01/2022 14:51

red squirrels at my bird feeders

Original poster
JustJam4Tea · 20/01/2022 15:06

I think we have bats too and also moths at night in the garden, but beautiful ones.

OP posts:
Yesthatscorrect · 20/01/2022 15:11

I didn't realise we had a tennis court, five a side football pitch, basketball court and skate park two minutes walk away. All free and well maintained by the council. Great for the kids.

I surprised my friend who bought the same sort of house as us as she thought she just had an under stairs cupboard but I told her to knock the floor through and she found a cellar.

Very useful to use as a utility area and storage.

Pudmyboy · 20/01/2022 15:39

The house is a bit meh but the neighbours are nice, and the location is very convenient, there are shops and bus stops at the top and bottom of the road plus a postbox at either end one has a collection in the morning the other in the evening. The shower and central heating both work well. This is a great bonus as neither was much good in the flat I moved from.
But that flat had lovely views especially of the sunset and I could trace the analemma (hope that's the right word): where the sun set at a slightly different position each day and tracked left, then back to the right, over the year. Plus I got a splendid view of municipal firework displays!

Pallisers · 20/01/2022 15:45

The day we moved in I spotted a sticker on the window of my son's bedroom. It was for OurCity Sail Club. I had no idea there was a sail club on the lakes near us (hardly knew about the lakes tbh as we moved from the other side of the city). We asked our neighbours about it, joined and we've had nearly 20 years of sailing/swim and sail lessons/regattas/hanging out on the lake/events for the kids/meeting new people/July 4th bbqs etc. Dh ended up running the sail programme at one point - to this day he meets young adults who know him from when they were kids sailing on weekend mornings.

It turned out the sticker had been put up by my dd's first grade teacher when her parents owned the house - they were a big sail family (they have a buouy named after them) and to this day we are known in the club as the people who live in the McKensie house.

Our neighbours are a delight - like others posted friendly, lovely, supportive but not intrusive.

MissusConnieB · 20/01/2022 15:45

We have a regularly visiting squirrel family in the back garden (we thought we would be too close to the road for this!)

Manzana · 20/01/2022 15:57

@Nannewnannew we do feel so lucky, especially seeing the baby slow worms, about 10cm long and perfect

Leftbutcameback · 20/01/2022 16:06

Just thought of another one - our house is over 80 years old and we are only the third family to love in it. Our neighbours told us about the first owner who bought it from new and lived there all his life. Then the family we bought it from, and us. Amazing

mangowithasqueezeoflime · 20/01/2022 16:14

Eh. The flat, neighbours and area- all crappier than thought.

However, the neighbours we do like grow some lovely lavender and our nearest nursery that we managed to get a place at is outstanding.

RestingStitchFace · 20/01/2022 16:16

It was incredibly warm in winter. No drafts at all. (After years of living in old houses where drafts were norm in every room, this was a revelation!)

DefinitelySureThatImNotsure · 20/01/2022 16:20

That I’m loved and respected in this house. The house that has damp walls and a too small bathroom, The house that I didn’t really want but had no idea how much I needed.
There hasn’t been one bad day here or one moment where I’ve felt anything other than safe. I didn’t know till the day I moved in and I think I’ll stay forever because of that

Marmelace · 20/01/2022 16:20

That the full moon would glow through my window and totally cover me. I love to moon bathe naked.

justforthis21 · 20/01/2022 16:30

@DefinitelySureThatImNotsure

That I’m loved and respected in this house. The house that has damp walls and a too small bathroom, The house that I didn’t really want but had no idea how much I needed. There hasn’t been one bad day here or one moment where I’ve felt anything other than safe. I didn’t know till the day I moved in and I think I’ll stay forever because of that
how lovely.
Lanique · 20/01/2022 16:40

Original flagstones under carpet
Huge free standing claw foot bath behind the bath panelling

Moneypennysfreedomfund · 20/01/2022 16:40

Covered deck area at the back of the house allows me to dry washing year round
Heat pumps/ air conditioner units in bedroom and living area, so nice especially now when facing nights at 22 degrees
Ramps rather than steps, shortly after moving in DH diagnosed with degenerative disease and the ramps have been invaluable ( ambulance crews also pleased with them when shifting DH out of the house during various emergencies)
Previous owners put pretty gates and
pergolas, separating parts of the garden, means the dogs have the run of main part but orchard area/ front of house is sectioned off from them. Stream is also not accessible so less chance of wet/ muddy spaniel on bed issue.
Love the stream and wooded section, plus off cuts and pruning give great free kindling
Gas hob, had forgotten how great they are
Huge wood store shed, at the bottom of the ramp no nasty armfuls of wood simply pop large wood basket on trolley wheel down to wood shed, job done, also able to properly dry wood offcuts and rotate the wood.
Fruit trees, have merrily spent hours bottling and making jam from beautiful plums, peaches etc…
House is very cheap to run,due to low cost of wood, wetback water heating system which massively subsidises the electric hot water system, energy costs are very low.
Large 1 metre raised vegetable patch running the length of the garden, dramatically cutting supermarket bill.
Our neighbours are very very pleasant and helpful without being nosey idiots.
Garage is very large ( wondered what we would do with it when we moved in… now is fairly full but fits both vehicles in it)
Filtered water tap
Shade sail blinds on deck, in winter keeps wind out and warmth in great for growing stuff and canine sunbathing
Vendor kept every single receipt/ owner manual for everything they had done to the place or bought as a fixture ( even left notes on paint colours and brands) very useful when toilet leaked and I could prove plumber had botched the job as repair was only 18 months old….. we have a cupboard named after the fabulous vendor full of receipts/ owners manuals … we are now very good friends with vendor who went into retirement home…… she now visits us and I make her jam from the plum trees her late husband planted and loved!

I had huge reservations about buying this house but had little choice due to work commitments, so glad we did, even if that makes me a supremely irritating smug git!

Bettybantz · 20/01/2022 16:43

At night I can hear the trains in the distance. Not enough to keep me awake though. It’s really soothing.

My neighbours are all lovely.

BowlofNothing · 20/01/2022 16:50

2 'drawers within drawers' in the kitchen, really makes use of the deep space. The storage....coming from a new build with zero storage we really appreciate it. The pull down loft ladder and large loft hatch. How quiet it is and our lovely neighbour!

Ionlydomassiveones · 20/01/2022 16:54

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn at the poster's request.

transformandriseup · 20/01/2022 16:55

Not too much we didn't already know about as we inherited a family home.

We did find a hidden cupboard that had been sealed off behind the wallpaper in the 1940's though. It's added a lot of space to a small room.

cantkeepawayforever · 20/01/2022 16:59

A beautiful 1920s tiled fireplace, hidden behind a sheet of hardboard.

Didn't find that for YEARS.

CurryLover55 · 20/01/2022 17:03

We moved from an estate onto quite a busy road & were a bit concerned about traffic noise but it doesn’t bother us at all.
This house feels so much more like home than our previous one.

friendlyflicka · 20/01/2022 17:15

We have a well that was filled in and hidden. Someone walked across the garden and suddenly dropped down 3 feet! We had it excavated and it is lovely. Then we found old stone steps that connected the outside cellar to the house that had been boarded up. And then a bit of land that had been locked in between the wall and extension and it is now part of the house. And lots of more mundane things. I love my house