What do you loathe?

[JunoJunebug]

What type of home would you NEVER want to live in? Why?
For context. I love so many styles of houses I don’t know how to narrow my search.

I always said I wanted a character property, beams, fireplaces, wonky stairs... I looked at three and they left me cold. I reluctantly agreed to look at a new build identikit town house, which was always the bottom of my list, and I fell in love with it almost instantly!

Saying that, anything with an open plan kitchen/living room, stairs in the living room or a front door that opens straight into the living room is straight off my shortlist.

I thought I liked modern builds. My first property was a brand new flat (London).

Twenty years on, when looking for a house this time I realised all of the houses I fell in love with were older.

I like large rooms, quirky layouts - anything other than the identikit homes which are all absolutely the same.

I like exposed brickwork. I like houses with a corridor rather than just rooms that flow from one to another. Having said that, I've just bought a property which will be completely open plan so figure that one out haha! Upstairs does have a nice hallway though.

Small kitchens. Hate small kitchens. Dark houses - I like lots of light and air. And proper outside space is essential, not just a small square courtyard.

Ooh yes! As @FatherDougalsBlueJumper says, anything without a proper hallway downstairs is a complete no-go. I've spent 15 years living in a house where the front door opens straight into the kitchen and I HATED it.

Also wouldn't want to live in a little 1700s cottage with ceiling beams and wonky rooms, would feel really oppressive

When I was house hunting, I definitely wanted a cottage. They all had poky rooms and weird bathrooms - either the size of a cupboard or massive and larger than the sitting room.

Bought the first one I saw with an open plan space.

You. Can't. Heat. It.

Specifically- spiral staircases!! Absolutely hate them, won’t even consider a holiday cottage with one.
More generally- after living in a dormer bungalow I’d now say dormer bungalows OR loft conversions. The space isn’t practical, temperature control is non existent and there’s no loft to use as storage space. Also - again this is based on my current property - no unconventional layouts- random rooms tacked onto other rooms etc. My next house I want a lovely flow and a central hall with a nice wide staircase from which the rooms (nice spacious rooms, no poky dark rooms!) come off.
Started this post thinking I wasn’t fussy but as I type I’m starting to think I am more fussy than I realised!!

We just moved out of a 3 storey. I hated it so much being on 3 floors and the top unbearable in summer.

Either the early 2000s ‘new builds’ - with tiny tiny rooms and no storage - or a thatched cottage, which are fire hazard money pits.

Ideal is a detached Victorian house.

A new build and a house with stairs in the living room.

Flat roofs
Integral garages
No hall/entrance way
No drive
No garden
Conservatories (shame that I have one!)
Open plan/Barn conversion
Glitter anything, but especially worktops
Anything beige, rose gold, pink, orange or yellow
Corner baths
Wallpaper with any of the following on; flamingoes, lemurs, birds or palm trees
Multi level floors
Ponds

I'm honestly not that hard to please usually! 😬🤭

Oh yes, spiral staircases or tiny thatched cottages
Ugh
No

I have previously lived in a big 1970s individually designed ‘modern home’ type house and was quite fond of it but generic housing estate 1950s-1970s wouldn’t be my preference. I think this is a fairly common way to feel and is why these houses tend to be cheaper. I did live in a new build briefly when my children were small and the number of other children around and constantly having them at the door was really not for me.
i like Victorian/Edwardian so I’d focus a search on what I do like rather than trying to rule out what I don’t if I ever moved again.

Anything in a town or city, I'm a country mouse 🐭
Anything open plan, too modern, white clinical kitchens.

We're awaiting our new build, which is on a small estate in a very pretty location. It's really nice quality, built in local stone and with a small garden.

Open plan too!

Always had old properties which came with stacks of expense and work needed and I cannot tell you how lovely it'll be to have a brand new, economical, easily managed house that has a 10 year cover on everything.

That said, I've enjoyed every house really.

I also don't like exposed brickwork or old cottages. Possibly because I'm arachnophobic and I associate old buildings with spiders.

Other things that I don't like are galley kitchens, houses that open straight out into the street, or houses that open into the living room. I like a hallway and decent sized front garden.

I also wouldn't like a bathroom off the kitchen or at the front of the house.

I would not buy an old house again. My house is 120 years worth of shit DIY jobs.

I'd love a new build but the ones that I've seen in my price range seem to have tiny bedrooms, tiny gardens, and an open plan kitchen/diner/lounge

I've also noticed that many have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Who needs two bathrooms in a tiny house that only has two bedrooms?! Why don't they put an office or storage space in instead?!

I would never want to live in a tower block. Actually wouldn't want to live in a flat/ apartment at all.

I love the 'fresh' feel to new builds, but would only want to live in one with decent sized rooms and a good sized garden- if such a thing exists!

I’d absolutely love a Georgian house! A mansion would be nice (joke).
Lived in an Edwardian semi-detached and loved it.
Had to leave for a semi-detached bungalow- overlooked on every side, in the middle of an estate (same village) - it’s dirty and disgusting and I’m not allowed to change it because we are applying for a grant to have it adapted for our disabled DD.
so.. no new builds.
No bungalows
No being overlooked
No housing estates added onto nice villages..
chance would be a fine thing

No garden or that hideous plastic grass.

was gutted to leave 300 year old cottage for ugly 1930s, but we have more space and a proper garden so here we are. If money was no object I’d have an 1800s stone cottage in a huge rambly garden every time. The difference between heating a big room with a bay window vs a small room with 3 foot thick walls is drastic 🤣

Anything terraced , no off street parking , shared drives , downstairs bathrooms .

No to new builds, cul-de-sacs or estates. Definitely not bungalows, dormer or otherwise. Give me a Georgian semi on a main road or a cottage at the end of a country lane (my actual home) please.

I really dislike a cramped hall. You even get gorgeous period houses with big rooms but long thin hallways. A tight hall that can't be improved is a major turn-off for me

Lack of off-road parking

Cramped roads with cars all over the place, making everything look ugly and feel tight to drive around

I also hate when people have big motorhomes dominating a small plot, it looks awful. Probs an unlikely one but I do hate it!

Agree with doors opening straight into living rooms. Also, houses that you can't leave on foot, usually as they're on a busy rural road with no pavement - the thought of having to get in the car every time I want to leave the house makes me feel claustrophobic.

A terraced house. I'd hate to have neighbours on both sides.

I don't like small older houses with a living room straight off the street or a downstairs bathroom.
As I live in an expensive part of the south east, the idea of only having a detached house with off street parking, which many people say, seems a very expensive luxury.
I liked the idea of a modern house until I started viewing them. They were all poky, particularly claustrophic upstairs with gardens the size of a living room. Newer ones had open plan kitchen/living room and most were next to a railway line.