Would you move to 1920s semi? (London)

[Apostropheaddict]

Hello! We are under offer for our end of terrace Victorian house. It’s large and comfortable and has period features galore plus underfloor heating etc. It’s in a leafy and cool but not ‘nice’ area.

The house we are probably moving to is a 1920s semi with a garden three times the size on an absolute premier road in a far more expensive area. We are buying it for a little more than ours but it’s a wreck so
will need lots of work plus extending as it only has one bathroom. Are we mad? We are mortgage free now but will need a loan. The house is a total bargain as one that is about 10% less dilapidated sold for 800k more over the summer. Loads of lateral space and therefore it’s very light which I love.

My question is: what are 1920s/ arts and crafts houses like to live in? Are they warmer or more damp and draughty than Victorian houses? (It faces the same way as ours). How thin are the walls in general with neighbours? Does anyone have inspiration for how to fall in love with that era and give the house back some grandeur, which is almost effortless in larger Victorian houses?

I love 1920s/1930s houses. All the ones I've been in have lovely bay windows, and are light and airy, although they are usually 3 bed, and the third bedroom is always tiny.

Having said that, I like Victorian terraces too - so not much help. Having a bigger garden sounds good though, particularly if you have DCs.

We moved from Georgian to 20s / 30s and since Georgian has my heart aesthetically and spatially it was a bit of a leap.

I do like Victorian for the reasons you say but what I have grown to appreciate is that this house is square-ish rather than long. We viewed many houses and Victorian was often a bit darker and narrower, but with other good things though.

This house is light, has a bigger garden and is incredibly robust wrt dc living in it.

Personally I’d avoid work but if that’s not the issue it could be nice.

Can we see pictures 😍

I’ve lived in both.
the 1920s seems more robust, less noise from neighbours, a bit sturdier generally.
watch some Poirot episodes for some decor inspiration.

We have an arts and crafts built 1922. We moved from an Edwardian terrace . The Edwardian house had taller rooms and deffo a sense of grandeur that we haven't got now. The hallway and stairs felt imposing and the front bedroom was huge.

But our current home has great outdoor space and off road parking. It was easy to reconfigure and extend the space to get a bigger kitchen and diner and a downstairs loo etc

We have some lovely arts and crafts features such as the panelled latched doors, tiling, inglenooks etc. We've also tried to bring in some period decor. Arts and craft furniture is easy to pick up especially sideboards etc.

We loved both houses. But our current one is more suited to our life

@whytesnow Once we have secured it, yes! Honestly I think people would have kittens if they saw the amount people paid for these houses on that road. @MarshaBradyo That must have been a wrench leaving a Georgian house!! But I totally agree about the narrow length of Victorian houses! Were there structural
issues for yours that you needed to deal with or have you noticed any quirks?

We moved from a victorian 4 storey townhouse to a 1920's 2 storey.

Less house but more garden and I love it. Much better light and just a prettier house BUT it is still cold and draughty! Single glazed windows which are beautiful but not very efficient.

It is similar to the old house in that refurb type jobs always cost more and take longer than we expect but I think that is just old houses generally. Also make sure you have a contingency fund for the inevitable works which you cannot see (and which the survey does not pick up).

We live in arts and craft terrace, love it. It is early 1900s, lots of original features.

My only bugbear is that it is wonky! Putting up shelves is challenging and we have had to have them custom made. When I'm cooking if I put oil in the pan it all tips to back.

People walking past often look at woodwork at the front.

I don't think I would want to take a loans and do a Reno project if I was mortgage free though.

We moved from Victorian terrace to 1930s arts & crafts. I way prefer it. We are moving again soon and will need to look at Victorian terraces again. I will miss our lovely light house with its wide garden and square rooms that aren't full of alcoves, chimney breasts and radiators on every wall so there's nowhere to put the bloody sofa. :)

Our flat is in a Victorian conversion - very high ceilings, massive rooms, beautiful but draughty!

Our home is early 1930s terrace - much more 'human' scale, lower ceilings, solidly built and much easier to keep warm. We took out the PVC double glazed front door that the previous owner had put in, and got a beautiful 1930s stained glass one installed - bad for the EPC but good for the soul! :)

We had more neighbour noise in the flat than in the 1930s house, and more draughts too, but then you'll be giving up underfloor heating which I'm sure would make a massive difference...

It sounds like only you can decide if you want to undertake a massive reno in the current climate - if you do then go for it!! Finding decent trades who aren't booked up for years will be the hardest part, I'd say.

Best of luck!

In terms of giving it back its grandeur - think in terms of art deco coloured glass, wood panelling, horizontally-panelled doors with high-positioned deco handles, lovely arts & crafts furniture mixed with mid century modern, free standing bath with metro tiles or black and white tiling in deco patterns.

Like a previous poster, we moved from a 4 story Victorian terrace to a 2 story double fronted semi that turns 100 this year. Whilst it does have fewer grand features, it is very solid and there’s very little noise from our neighbour or from outside. The rooms are much bigger than our terrace, have large windows and high ceilings so it feels very bright and airy. We also have original doors, staircase, window seat, 6 fireplaces, dados etc so it’s possible to keep or add period detail. Unfortunately it still costs a fortune to heat!

Much depends on the neighbours and their decor.

I have a 20s house, and next door has knocked through downstairs (sitting room, dining room and hallway are all in one) and they have wooden floors everywhere, including the stairs and landing. They also have four kids, ranging from teens to toddlers. The noise is horrific.

Previous neighbours made me think the walls were thick and the house was well insulated against sound, but it is no match for cavernous rooms and wooden floors (and boisterous children).

We bought our 1920s Arts and Crafts house for similar reasons - great location, large garden, well proportioned rooms (at especially in the detached and larger semis) and eminently saleable if we wanted to move. It was a major modernisation piece - windows, plumbing the lot and I won't pretend that was easy or fun with small DC whilst the early work was being done but was absolutely worth it.

However we negotiated a good price and had the money to start the "essential work (new windows, central heating/plumbing etc) within the first months. New kitchen/bathroom/extension had to wait a bit but we ended up with a large family house in a desirable location for a lot less than if we had bought off the peg.

So for me the question would still be - can I get the essentials done in the early weeks/months and how would we manage for day to day living during the build work?

We downsized to a 1929s Art &Crafts cottage with a very long garden. We love the house. Fortunately it had not been modernised too much, but sympathetically restored, with a modern shaker style kitchen. The rooms are square, large bay windows and solid walls. At the time of building, builders would have served apprenticeships and had their own style of embellishments. Our house has panel doors similar to the Victorian style, but being a cottage does not have stained glass.
Putting in good insulation is key to making it cosy in winter, we have two wood burning stoves in each reception room and when they’re on they heat the whole of the downstairs.

1924, not 1929!

Meant to add, if you do buy the house a useful book is The Victorian and Edwardian House Manual. It’s by Haynes the car manual people.
ISBN number 9780857332844.
it explains how the houses were built and how to restore or replace aspects of the building fabric.

Why move from being mortgage free? I'd only do it if you really needed the space.