To feel uncomfortable about comments on our bungalow...

[boogieboogie]

So we moved into a detached bungalow
2 years ago. I love living here, our road is wide and we have a field behind us in a semi-rural area.
It's 3 bed with an en-suite off our bedroom and a large living room.
DH and I are both 35 and DD is 3 - what's upset me on a number of occasions is comments from people such as
"Why have you gone for a bungalow!?"
"Isnt that for retired old people?"
"That's a funny choice for a house"
And many more...

I had no idea until we bought the house people perceived bungalows in such a way, to me it's just a detached house - anyone else out there in the same boat?

I'd love to have a bungalow and I'm determined to get one! Lucky you OP.

@Redundantmum22 where's the one in your neck of the woods....?

My first house was a bungalow, I loved it and I was only 19.

I love bungalows! They always seem to have amazing gardens all the way around. And most seem to have a really big entrance/hallway.

My mum just sold a massive bungalow in Norwich, 4 bed huge garden. Now a house with stairs but 400 miles from Norwich. Was a lovely house I’ll miss it but nice to have her close. She manages the stairs fine. They aren’t pigeon holed for anyone, yes handy for accessibility of course but ignore the weird people op. Enjoy your lovely home

I think there is quite a Californian vibe to bungalows. My sister is 32 and lives in one, loves the way the space flows.

I have brackets fitted on my downstairs bedroom windows which prevents them from opening fully, like high rise flats have. I also have extra air bricks to allow more air flow.

My bungalow has three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, large kitchen, lounge, dining room and study ( or craft room in my case!) My friends call it a Tardis as it’s so large but does not look it from the front.

Bungalows were an import from India after the Raj I thought. Some fabulous ones where my mother lives - listed and notable.

However everyone I know who bought a dated bungalow, maybe 20 years ago, now has a wonderful 4/5 bed two storey house in a fab road having got planning permission for another floor and tripling their original capital.

Bungalows are lovely. My parents bought theirs when I was 11 so I grew up in a bungalow. Only problem with kids in a bungalow is its hard to ground them as can jump out of windows easily, which I may have done a fair bit 🤫

I listen to the SMA podcast and Chris Ramsay mentions that he used to own a bungalow that was nicknamed the "one story glory"!

Just looked for bungalows for sale within a 5 mile radius of my house.

Cheapest is a tiny, dated 1 bed semi detached one on a tiny, hilly, plot for £210,000.

Most feasible to house a family is a 3 bed for £420,000

Most expensive is a 4 bed detached on a large plot in a v nice part of town for £1.4m!

Unfortunately for the value of my house I'd have to swap it for a 3 bed bungalow compared to my 4 bed house. Definitely come with a premium price tag!

My sister lives in a bungalow, tbh it isn't really that suitable for an elderly person, has a large garden with a stream that runs through it and is in a fairly isolated village.

I don't like them but I would never be so rude as to say that to someone. We have some near us which are very popular and keep being extended to the roofs - constant works going on. They are on the main road but does not put people off.

Just laugh at them when they are in negative equity.

I have a friend who earns north of £300K a year and lives in a lovely bungalow with his family!

I would probably have thought the same as your friends a while ago - I always thought bungalows were kind of funny and a weird retirement thing, sort of to be laughed at. Twee. Mini houses that are missing out. I now know I’m very wrong! Have several in-laws (of all ages) with bungalows and I now see you get lovely big gardens with them, detached, and hugely convenient as they get older, also v flexible. Got to say I still find it a bit weird to have bedrooms on same floor as all the other areas, but I’m certainly won over to the advantages.

My first property at 21 was a bungalow. I loved it.

The second was another bungalow with rooms in the attic.

There is something lovely about the larger property footprint and having garden view or access from every room.

If you are surrounded by other bungalows you are not overlooked and there is plenty of light. Often older people choose bungalows so it's quiet on the whole too.

A huge roof spaces for storage is usual.

I'm in a house now I'm approaching retirement and would love a bungalow again .

Bungalows are more expensive than the same house over two storeys so it is a strange choice for someone young and healthy. I wonder if they had been diagnosed with an illness that will later impact their mobility, because buying a bungalow when you do not need it makes no financial sense.

This is a weird UK thing yeah? Referring to any single story house as a bungalow?

I hate stairs, I'd never buy a two story house.

I can understand two stories being desirable when you have minimal land and need to squeeze on as much house as possible, but if land isn't an issue, I can't comprehend why you'd build multi- over single story.

We built our dream country home on our 100 acre property, and never even considered double story. I don't know anyone out here building multi-story, it just doesn't happen.

Odd.

@sausage767 Building land in the UK is expensive. That means single storey dwellings are always more expensive than two storeys with the same number of floor space. It is why largely only those who need no stairs buy these houses.

@Noteverybodylives what they mean is that in Australia, New Zealand and some other places. A “bungalow” is just a regular house that you can see on any ordinary street. No one would even think to question why you choose to live in one. It’s just a house.

I live in a bungalow but no one laughs because the whole estate is bungalows.

Noteverybodylives
In Australia they’re called houses

What is a house called in Australia then?

They're sometimes called townhouses, which is not the same as UK townhouses at all. I've just looked on Domain for houses, and it's all single-storey, i.e. a house. I'm in Australia and would gag for a "house". At least mine is a renovated house, i.e. it still has ground-floor bedrooms and a bathroom from the core of the old house. They are like gold dust where I am.

Townhouses are usually semi detached though, not free standing.

Why are bungalows called bungalows?

Because the builders ran out of bricks and they had to bung a low roof on.

Well that's what my Dad always told me :-)

This is so weird. Here in australia we call them houses and many people including us with our young family live in them. People renovate to add on second stories to add more space while keeping the garden for playing. But if you’re in the country with large blocks why would you build two storey when you can just have a large one storey house (‘bungalow’ apparently) and still have lots of garden? I’m not going to add an upstairs until my dc can clean up after themselves, because one level is very convenient.