Another how old is this house thread?

[HouseHistoryHunter]

Shamelessly copying another thread, I’ve been trying to find out the history of this house that DH’s parents owned and we’re now renovating. Looking at it I thought it was late Victorian/ early Edwardian/ Arts and Crafts- but following a fantastic tip on another thread something seems to have been on the site in 1852. I just wonder if that was the same property.

No paper deeds given on transfer, I think the bank have misplaced them, so nothing forthcoming and I’ve been useless with finding info on Ancestry etc. I wonder if the house name has changed over the years..

It’s in East Yorkshire, so guessing not at the cutting edge of architectural innovation at the time, but what do I know?

I'm guessing around 1890.

Our house is similar to this. It has parts looking Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian arts and crafts and Art Deco.

It’s a real mishmash and the people who built it picked all the bits from each era that they liked and put it all together. It is a beautifully crafted house.

If you didn’t spot the arts deco details which are small and give it away you would think it’s a much older property. It was actually built at the end of the 1920s

1880's?

You say no paper deeds on transfer, everything is digitised now at Land Registry unless a property has never been registered but as it has been transferred to you it sounds like it would be. I think a copy of deeds is about £4 and you can buy them online direct. I found my house was 1935 that way and we are the fourth owners of the house. Not sure if ot works differently for older properties.

I agree. It looks Edwardian to me. Our house is from 1820 and it is a very different style. I would guess a previous house has been knocked down to build this or that possibly has been enclosed into the existing building? Are there any weirdly thick walls anywhere?

Where abouts in East Yorkshire? If Beverley there is a brilliant Facebook group with old pictures where you might get some clues, and there are loads of local people with a really good knowledge of local history.

I think it’s Edwardian/late Victorian. There definitely some arts and crafts styling in there, which makes me think it’s not earlier. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Yes it feels like Arts and Crafts movement so 1880-1920. I wonder if it was originally built like that or extended. As others suggested I'd look at os maps and census data online then trawl through planning archives if really interested.

Houses get remodelled, rebuilt, updated, changed over the years. Windows / fittings like fireplaces etc are not a good marker of the age of a house broadly speaking. Although if they are part of a row of similar ones all the same of course they can be.

My house is 1903. Yours seems slightly older than that with more Victorian influences. I would guess at around 1880- 1900.

The Local History Library for the area would be a good place to start.

You could also check the census entries online to see if anyone was recorded living there in 1881, 1891 and 1901. Might be trickier if the property had a name/changed its name though.

It looks Edwardian to me, not older, and has a lot of fussy details thrown in.

Pictures around the incoming gas, electricity and telephone and the drains, could be informative. A local building expert might identify the bricks and roof tiles.

Street directories used to list houses in the right order as they are on the street, and by name or number. You look up the street.

They were printed very frequently. They give the name of the occupant and their title and profession too.

You would easily find this house in one.

The name of a famous directory is Kelly’s, and I think there is another too.

The many paned top sash windows are part of Queen Ann Revival Style I think. The urge for an eclectic mix Edwardian probably.

Certainly not late 18th century. At least 100 years later.

I'd agree Arts and Crafts. Looks similar in places to this house - www.penraevon.co.uk/. 1852 house would have been more Italianate in style, I think.

I would say 20s or thirties, some deco/ arts and crafts features, especially around the window bays. Check the deeds, or look around the neighbourhood , if there are lots of similar properties it is likely they were all built around the same time so unlikely to be much earlier.

viques· Today 11:08
I would say 20s or thirties, some deco/ arts and crafts features, especially around the window bays.

Semi detached ‘Tudorbethan’ would be 20s and 30s.

In my opinion this is more late 19th C or 1900s. The windows panes on the tower. The romantic, slightly French chateau-like tower.

So many replies, thanks so much for the comments. A few answers:

@viques and @PettsWoodParadise Sadly the paper deeds are lost and the digital deeds only go back to the fifties, I have asked my IL's bank/ mortgage provider if they’re in a dusty cupboard somewhere but not holding out much hope.

@bellswithwhistles - it’s in Brough, in the Victorian conservation area. Lots of biggish properties were built for merchants after the station was built in the mid 18th C. So something with the same footprint was probably put on the site then, but it may have been rebuilt or remodelled.

I totally agree that it has Arts and Crafts and late ~Victorian elements and as PP have said, it’s probably a melange of lots of different styles.

Thanks @Aknifewith16blades and @NCGrandParent for the comparisons, I definitely think it looks Arts and Crafts in lots of parts, and the railings ( the few bits that are left) also look Edwardian.

The inside is rather institutional and a bit shabby, unfortunately. It needs some love. A few rooms have been chopped up and the decor is like the places I used to go to on school residentials. I’ve attached a couple of the fireplaces anyway.

Off to check Kelly’s, the library and the other resources- really appreciate the tips!

It looks like the house in American Horror Story, the portal to hell. So on that basis, probably very old... 🤣

😂Maybe I can offer it as a location for the sequel to pay for the renovation !!!

Brilliant plan! 😁

These should help you see some of the changes in Brough between 1888 and 1909
maps.nls.uk/view/125645165
maps.nls.uk/view/125645168

The fireplaces won't help as they might not be original. They look small for the rooms to me.

Thanks for those links- very interesting. The house is named on both of those maps, a property of the same shape is also marked in 1852 but not named.

It does seem to pre-date all the smart Edwardian houses on Cave Road, so maybe they made some renovations to keep up with the neighbours!!!

Oooh- just spotted, on the second map the house has a slightly different shape and you can see the rounded porch area. So either the later cartographer had a better eye for detail, or they put on a few Arts and Crafts fiddly bits between 1892 and 1908

It is interesting that there is one gable end and another end is a hipped gable. Are there any other houses in the area that have that mixture?