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Original poster

Sigh...lovely detached 16th century cottage

88 replies

Jackydaytona · 05/09/2023 15:49

...has come up for sale near me...

We currently live in a very boring 80s 3 bed detached. It's nice. Got everything we need. But...oh, I'd LOVE to live in period property with a walled garden (which this has)
Price wise, it's probably the same as the current house as it's on a main road and has no parking (I know... I know...!)

Come on, you lovely lot, tell me I'm an idiot. Point out all the issues of period properties... because I've got the "longing"...

Sigh.

OP posts:
delilabell · 05/09/2023 17:25

I thibk I've found it! Does it have an egg chair in the bedroom? Either way I've fell down a rabbit hole and am deciding which child I can sell to have enough money to buy it 🤣

JaukiVexnoydi · 05/09/2023 17:26

Does the staircase have enough width for a stairlift to be fitted if you need it? Is there a way to ensure level access to a loo from a bedroom? Make your forever home somewhere that it is possible for a 90 year-old to live, or you will end up having to move out of your lovely home much earlier than otherwise.

AnnaMagnani · 05/09/2023 17:27

Grade II listing is not a massive problem if the house needs work.

You don't need Listed Building Consent for regular maintenance, like for like repairs such as redecoration, new kitchens or bathrooms.

I have a Grade II building and have done new bathroom, kitchen, wiring, painting, plastering, new roof - only thing that has needed permission was resizing windows and putting in a new patio door.

You do need to know a bit about the crafts involved but 99% of this is 1. The house needs to breathe 2. All plaster must be lime plaster

Findyourneutralspace · 05/09/2023 17:27

Just think about your winter fuel bills

LibertyLily · 05/09/2023 17:30

We currently live in a 400+ year old former mill (that's now a detached cottage) which we've been renovating for five and a half years. Can't wait to sell it but that's more because of location - it's in Wales and we desperately want to move back to England.

Previously we've owned a Tudor house and a Georgian thatched house (neither of which were listed). I loved the Tudor one but hated the thatch with a passion. Both had huge spiders, btw.

We considered somewhere next to a pub (another very old house, previously the village store - that one was listed), but decided against, partly because of the pub.

TotalOverhaul · 05/09/2023 17:32

I understand the urge op. A jaw-droppingly beautiful 16th C manor house with walled garden has just come on the market in the area we are looking and if we put every penny we have into it, we could buy it. Just. It looks so beautiful inside and seems to have been cared for.

We're tempted but we wouldn't have the money to update it. We'd just live in it in shabby genteel poverty until we dropped dead. And DH says it would be a bugger to heat. So back to downsizing to a terraced house to free up some money to actually enjoy retirement...

TotalOverhaul · 05/09/2023 17:34

@CutesyUserName - thank you for your post about £800 per month heating bills and insurance. That has stopped me from wondering if we could... We can't!

Cheeesus · 05/09/2023 17:34

OP, is the age or the century a typo?

LibertyLily · 05/09/2023 17:34

Our 400+ year old house isn't listed although both properties closest to ours (built at the same time) are. Seems different here in Wales!

Silkiebunny · 05/09/2023 17:37

Our heating bill is very average though maybe as we are thatched. Think its lower than Victorian house we had before.

Insurance is about 600 a year but that's the thatch bit, worth getting a quote though just to check. Have to go through a specialist broker.

Justaredherring · 05/09/2023 17:37

If it’s a cottage it might have low ceilings and be a bit dark and depressing. Just trying to put you off!

catin8oots · 05/09/2023 17:47

Dusty

Bugs

Freezing

Wonky

Original poster
Jackydaytona · 05/09/2023 17:51

Oh...actually its the house next to it that's listed

Only part of the one I like is 16th century

OP posts:
Original poster
Jackydaytona · 05/09/2023 17:52

Justaredherring · 05/09/2023 17:37

If it’s a cottage it might have low ceilings and be a bit dark and depressing. Just trying to put you off!

Thank you!
Keep it coming:)

OP posts:
Pleaseme · 05/09/2023 17:56

Money pit, cost of heating, parking.

SnapdragonToadflax · 05/09/2023 18:05

I wouldn't live next to a pub. I lived opposite one in my early 20s... thought it would be brilliant, but it's amazing how many people are sick outside the pub on random week nights 😬 Plus people standing outside smoking and talking until the early hours, especially hot summer nights when you can't shut the windows. I was very glad to move away.

Would love a cottage with a walled garden though, I would be tempted!

Original poster
Jackydaytona · 05/09/2023 18:06

SnapdragonToadflax · 05/09/2023 18:05

I wouldn't live next to a pub. I lived opposite one in my early 20s... thought it would be brilliant, but it's amazing how many people are sick outside the pub on random week nights 😬 Plus people standing outside smoking and talking until the early hours, especially hot summer nights when you can't shut the windows. I was very glad to move away.

Would love a cottage with a walled garden though, I would be tempted!

My thoughts too

OP posts:
Ringpeace · 05/09/2023 18:08

Former colleague inherited his family farm in North Yorkshire about 15 years ago. The farmhouse is listed. Nothing grand, but pretty large, old and original - and It's even got a priest hole!

He's had to sell off loads of land for the upkeep. It's like playing a ruinously expensive version of whack-a-mole. He'd never have bought it if it hadn't been his inheritance - but he'll never sell either.

Original poster
Jackydaytona · 05/09/2023 18:09

Ringpeace · 05/09/2023 18:08

Former colleague inherited his family farm in North Yorkshire about 15 years ago. The farmhouse is listed. Nothing grand, but pretty large, old and original - and It's even got a priest hole!

He's had to sell off loads of land for the upkeep. It's like playing a ruinously expensive version of whack-a-mole. He'd never have bought it if it hadn't been his inheritance - but he'll never sell either.

Oh, love North yorkshire
❤️

OP posts:
borntobequiet · 05/09/2023 18:10

A busy road would put me off any property, however beautiful and charming it was.

Alycidon · 05/09/2023 18:18

Say goodbye to the idea of adopting rescue cats or dogs if it's right on a main road.

Regularhumanbartenderr · 05/09/2023 18:30

My house dates from 1579, listed with a thatched roof and it is just beautiful. Similar to others, rewired and re plastered and re plumbed and re insulated and damp proofed in the first year here to up the standard of ‘modern’ living and there’s not been too much to do to keep on top of it since. Getting permission hasn’t really been an issue - all listed buildings consent applied for has been granted.

However:
-it’s cold
-it’s full of spiders, cobwebs, dust seems to be neverending due to all the wood and nooks and crannies
-insurance is insanely expensive
-constant worry about what might go wrong
-pests - no mice yet but a couple of wasps nests in the roof!

We’ve had a surprise baby since moving in and now trying to sell as we need more space, so add ‘not very child friendly’ to the list!

Fizbosshoes · 05/09/2023 18:31

We rented an air bnb in a city centre once, I thought it would be good because it was convenient for everything. It had no parking and nearest carpark was extortionate so ended up parking about 10 min walk away! It was opposite a pub and it was really noisy with people chatting etc until late at night and with lorries delivering stuff or collecting bottles early in the morning!! That definitely put me off any houses next to or very near a pub.

smooththecat · 05/09/2023 18:36

No way would I choose to live on a main road, there would be no peace. Lorries shaking the house etc. Not everyone feels the same, clearly, as lots of people live on main roads. Often, the nicest old houses are on main roads, which is sad.

poetryandwine · 05/09/2023 18:40

DPiLs had a 16th c listed house next to a pub. A lovely garden but not walled, so it isn’t yours. This is in a naice village outside of a prosperous city and the pub is really a gastropub k own for the food.

Perhaps 4-6 times a year there would be a late, noisy night and the owner would warn our family in advance. In hot weather the noise would be disturbing. But the walls of the house were about 2ft thick so otherwise it wasn’t a problem