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Property/DIY

Amazing 1960's Bond Villainesque House

61 replies

Lavendersquare · 24/03/2023 15:13

This amazing house is for sale near me and it's the sort of house I would have dreamed of as a child in the late 60's. It reminds me of all those split level modern houses I used to see in films and I could even imagine Roger Moore coming face to face with a Bond villain in a house like this.

Everything is so well thought out, from the miles of fitted wardrobes to the massive downstairs laundry room. I think the price is a steal, although I imagine that the heating bills would be enormous.

Trying to persuade DH to go and have a look, if we bought I'd leave everything pretty much as it is, apart from the acres of awful green carpet.

www.m2ea.co.uk/details/Llanfrechfa/Cwmbran/Torfaen/25661534/

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BadForBusiness · 25/03/2023 21:33

It's gorgeous but I do worry about the insulation on the windows. It needs to be bought by someone who will love it and not put in a John Lewis kitchen.

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Diyextension · 25/03/2023 21:49

picklemewalnuts · 25/03/2023 18:26

I think you'd need to spend a bomb, before you got to do anything cosmetic.

Windows
Insulation
Rewiring?

Heating? It's air vent, so not sure how that would work with a reduced carbon system.

you wouldn’t need to spend a penny…….just move in and live in all its glory….I think it’s great ……..mid century modern houses are fantastic.

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picklemewalnuts · 25/03/2023 22:06

But without more modern windows, it would be a bugger to heat. It's ok saying live in it as is, but if the electrics need doing, or the gas boiler isn't up to current code, or that damp patch in the master bedroom needs more than cursory attention, then it has to be addressed.

It may not be an easy house to bring up to standard.

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Carlycat · 25/03/2023 22:14

Dated but absolutely glorious. I'd have it!

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steppemum · 25/03/2023 22:21

picklemewalnuts · 25/03/2023 18:26

I think you'd need to spend a bomb, before you got to do anything cosmetic.

Windows
Insulation
Rewiring?

Heating? It's air vent, so not sure how that would work with a reduced carbon system.

yes I think there would be a lot of hidden costs.
If the wiring is original for example.

But I think the windows are so lovely. I love a house with decent windows

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Diyextension · 25/03/2023 22:33

picklemewalnuts · 25/03/2023 22:06

But without more modern windows, it would be a bugger to heat. It's ok saying live in it as is, but if the electrics need doing, or the gas boiler isn't up to current code, or that damp patch in the master bedroom needs more than cursory attention, then it has to be addressed.

It may not be an easy house to bring up to standard.

If you want to bring everything up to modern standards then your looking at the wrong house, doing that would lose it’s character. If you want modern standards then buy a modern house. Someone has been living in it the way it is for the last 60 years so it can’t be that bad.

it’s looks to be in good condition for it’s age and the photos taken in winter don’t help. I think it’s a great buy for 600k

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Itsonlyagame · 25/03/2023 22:52

I absolutely love it.

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picklemewalnuts · 26/03/2023 08:21

I'm not sure you'd be allowed, @Diyextension

My friend's had to have work done on their house recently as codes had changed. Their gas supply would have been cut off if the work hadn't been done.

If you get someone in to fit another socket, or to find out why a light fitting doesn't work, and they condemn your wiring while they are there, your insurance would be invalid etc.

I'm not talking about modernising it but making it safe. If you try and replace a broken oven, for example.

At the moment in wales they are required to have electric safety certificates before renting out a house. I know some apartments that were built to high standards 20 years ago that have had to have work done to get them up to pass standard. Compulsory, expensive work.

I'm not saying it needs twice as many sockets and a new fitted kitchen, I'm saying there's a good chance that you'd be forced to rewire.

And the windows will eventually need replacing and it will cost an arm and a leg to do it sympathetically.

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TennisWithDeborah · 26/03/2023 13:10

It’s a fantastic place, OP. I visited a similar house for a weekend with my parents as a child in the late 1970s in Ogmore-by-Sea…not sure if that’s near where this is.

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Lavendersquare · 26/03/2023 15:14

TennisWithDeborah · 26/03/2023 13:10

It’s a fantastic place, OP. I visited a similar house for a weekend with my parents as a child in the late 1970s in Ogmore-by-Sea…not sure if that’s near where this is.

Ogmore-by-Sea is about 40 miles up the coast from us, lovely place we go there often.

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LimeCheesecake · 26/03/2023 15:43

for the comments about expensive work needed, often properties that haven’t been on the market for a long time need work, anything listed as being with the same owner for all of this century and I’d be factoring in electrical work replacing boiler etc. it’s not a given the people who lived here didn’t keep it in good repair, it doesn’t look like it’s falling apart and while that carpet isn’t to my taste, clearly relatively new.

have you booked your viewing yet OP?!

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sst1234 · 26/03/2023 19:43

That’s an amazing well kid out house. The fact that it has 4 proper bedrooms in a house that size, rather than shoebox sized rooms. It has a lots of potential. A great find.

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Stinkysock · 26/03/2023 19:52

I love it!!!

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BlueMongoose · 26/03/2023 20:08

My goodness, those orange cupboards in the kitchen! 😳That's a blast from the past. Our last house had those when we moved in, just with metal handles rather than wood. We couldn't afford to replace them for many years, so changed the brown flowery wallpaper (I kid you not) for painted walls in a slightly lighter, yellower orange, on the basis that you can't lessen an orange like that, so might as well 'go with the flow'. It wasn't too bad actually- and the quality of the units was far better than most modern ones.

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MosquitoBuffet · 26/03/2023 20:17

I've always wanted a house on lots of different levels.

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averythinline · 26/03/2023 20:25

love it......i bet it has a really good feel...the space is so well thought out... unfortunately my dh likes v old buildings so not an option for us...

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Itsgottobeme · 26/03/2023 21:55

WelshNerd · 25/03/2023 22:33

Love it and love the idea of a Bond movie set in Cwmbran. See also this one in Merthyr:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85953246#/?channel=RES_BUY

Oh I love that.
What is it with Wales having all of these.
My auntie has one on the beach in Wales too
It's.gorgeous.

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olvxska · 26/03/2023 21:57

Is there a shark tank?

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InspectorSpacetime · 26/03/2023 22:02

I love it, it looks like it’s out of A Clockwork Orange! I’m really drawn to 60s houses, so much light and space usually. I’d fill it with some great mid-century furniture and not touch a thing! Except possibly some better carpet…

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standingupforitanywhere · 27/03/2023 18:07

Friend of a friend looked at it.

Ceilings are a fire hazard. Hard to get a mortgage, apparently. Perhaps needs a very big deposit.

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Lavendersquare · 27/03/2023 18:10

@standingupforitanywhere is it a fire hazard because the ceilings have polystyrene tiles? I thought I spotted some in one of the photos.

Did they give a reason for not being able to get a mortgage?

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standingupforitanywhere · 27/03/2023 18:21

Ok, so this is third hand at best.

They couldn't raise enough to get a mortgage on it, because of the ceilings. They couldn't raise enough to cover the extra for the work that needed to be done.

I'm thinking polystyrene tiles, but there's also the asbestos possibility or even the wood.

As you are viewing it, I'd ask the agent about it. They don't want to waste time showing people if there are issues that will stop the sale.

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picklemewalnuts · 27/03/2023 18:23

There should be an EPC- it's been on the market a while. I suspect there could be problems there, too.

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