What do you like and dislike about your period property? Any regrets?

[luckycat888]

Considering a period (Victorian) property

We have damp that just will not go away. We've spent thousands trying to prevent it, but I don't think we'll ever have lovely, dry walls. I desperately want some wallpaper, but it always rots.

Love the two up, two down floorplan of the original part of the house (mid Victorian terrace). Not being a fan of open plan or large rooms, the smaller spaces feel cosy and are easier to keep warm. Also quite solid and has good bones.

Down side is the wonky nature of it, floors aren't quite flat, ceiling height varies from one corner to the next. I have to keep battling the humidity which is often above 60% (no mold or damp but it could easily appear if I don't keep my eyes out).

We're renovating it so encountering lots of issues but after getting to know our neighbours, we're told to expect a constant battle with maintenance after we're done.

Yes me too I miss window sills for plants / photo frames etc

I have secondary double glazing so the house is warm never feel the cold - but the downside is that there’s not great circulation and we end up with a lot of mold in winter so have to make a big effort to open windows every day and not have furniture against walls and we need a dehumidifier etc

Early Victorian farm cottage that's probably much, much older. I love the cool stone flagstones in hot summers, the exposed red bricks with the local makers stamp, the stable door that means I can get the post without letting the dogs out, the timber beams that must be centuries and centuries old, the sense of living in a place that breathes with us and has seen hundreds of Christmases.

I find it harder to love the draughts, because none of the doors and windows are standard size (although it's amazing how warm you can make a house with sheep fleece insulation), the fact that half the house is built directly onto the ground and is stubbornly and irretrievably damp, the non-mains drainage (floods are baaaaaaad news), but I can put up with all of that because I love living inside history.

Nothing is ever straightforward. Whether that's due to the Edwardian builders or the DIY of the 70s and 80s or both I'm never sure. Just changing a light fitting means actually you need to do 3 other things first, two things afterwards and is never just one trip to Wickes.

I adore my 1910 house. I love the solidity and space. It has taken some serious thought and money to make it warm in the winter but I feel we have got there (solar panels, battery, complete revision of the heating system, a ton more insulation). We’re lucky that it isn’t listed or in a conservation area so we can do what we need to do without major issues.

I'm in a pre-Victorian farmworker's cottage. I love the beams, the thick walls (never hear neighbours and I'm in a mid-terrace), the character and history of the place, the cosiness and the randomness.

Don't love - no hallway (front door opens straight into the living room, although I have built a hallway using Kallax units. The downstairs bathroom (am contemplating making another bathroom upstairs, but it will be in the understairs cupboard and minute), very small windows which make it dark unless the sun is shining directly in (although the kitchen has a HUGE window and is a very light room).

Overall, I prefer my old place to my DS's new build, but that's because I love history and I live alone and can therefore ignore some of the minor inconveniences which other people in larger families might hate (almost no storage space).

Love the fireplaces, picture rails, bay windows, random features like curved ceilings, round windows etc. I’m it feels solid, like the higher ceilings. It’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Dislike the asbestos and lead paint. Is no one else bothered about the lead paint? We had our asbestos removed and much of our lead paint during some building work, but there’s still a little lead paint covered up with special paint to contain it

Victorian stone built terrace on 3 floors, 4 with the cellar.
Love the space, the remaining original features, the high ceilings, the look of it from the outside.
Hate painting said ceilings off a stepladder not quite high enough, heating in the winter expensive and ineffective if the house gets cold, east facing bay window that is freezing in an easterly wind, little garden

I hated my old victoriana house, cold, draughty, attached and a rat problem that still gives me nightmares, lawns effectively one big lawn with the whole terrace so when one had leather jackets we all did.
Sold up and bought a 60s house, it's a dream in comparison.

Pretty much this.

This is a wonderful thread, the perfect antidote to mourning the loss of a gorgeous Georgian apartment we just failed to buy. I adored the huge glamorous rooms and enormous windows, but did not like the small kitchen and bathroom, and I reckon the challenge of keeping it warm enough for OAPs and the expense of constant maintenance would have palled fast.

I still love our southwest facing 1980s house overlooking an estuary in an AONB, built by an excellent builder for his own family, and we have improved on his plan over the 30 years we've been here with better heating/water systems, upgraded double glazing and nicer kitchen and bathrooms. But it's time to relocate: we want to be closer to friends and family -- so it is on the market.

Ah yes no storage space in this place either! Attic has been converted. No garden, so no shed. Where do people keep all their stuff?

Sounds like period houses are generally cold in the winter but cool in the summer. I’d rather that than be baking in the summer with the heatwaves we’ve had. My last place (1930’s) was unbearable in summer.
The cold can be fixed by blankets.

My cottage dates from 1740, then was remodelled in Victorian times.
Loves -
The character and history of course
Thick walls - can't hear a peep from the neighbour
How solid it feels and the quality of the old workmanship
Just how beautiful and lovely it is, it's easy to make it feel homely and cosy - it has the most fantastic open fire place
Not loves -
No straight lines anywhere, makes doing things like fitting kitchens tricky
Not easy to insulate
Heating bills could be lower - it's hardly an eco house
It's going to need some bits fixing up in the near future

Ours is a 1920’s house so not sure it counts as a period property.
I would say it is solid and well built but previous owners have done some work on the property which is of poor quality so unexpected expenses sometimes crop up putting things right.

My new build is fab. Insulated to within an inch of its life and really fuel efficient. It had normal shared rooms that are a decent size. I loved my old tenement but it was fucking freezing the heating didn’t work well due to it not being a properly designed for central heating the plumbing was old and it was a weird bloody shape.

We have a semi detached 1906 Edwardian house.
It was practically derelict when we bought it, had been used and abused as an HMO and then crudely split into 2 flats. No water or heating upstairs. Damp and a gas leak we only discovered after moving in along with dangerous electrics and a plumbing ‘system’ like spaghetti junction.
Now it is 80% renovated mostly by ourselves and it is a truely beautiful house. Luckily it’s corbels, decorative coving and fireplaces survived years of neglect.
It isn’t cheap to heat but we are never cold here. It is big and spacious with a beautiful wooden bannister that I love, and a large mature garden which to me is priceless in London.
There is still a lot to do, and whether we will ever truely finish it is unknown, but generally all the muck, dirt and stress has been worth it for us to have a house big enough for both kids to have a good sized bedroom each, and to be able to host large gatherings of friends and/ or family in.

Do you sometimes find your new build gets too warm? This was my son's complaint about his new build this summer - he and his wife had just had a baby and they could not get the upstairs temperature lower than 28 degrees. My living room with its tiny windows was lovely and cool (but is also nice and warm in winter because of the 2 ft thick walls).

Not really, it is designed to keep the temperature even. I live in Scotland so need a well insulated home as I get older. I used to feel like the cold and damp was in my bones .

I can see how that works, if temperature is nice and stable. Enjoy your lovely snug home!

For years we lived in a 3-bed Victorian terrace. Very pretty from the outside - as a pp mentioned - and some m nice period features inside, but in the end I really disliked the narrow hallway and pokey back yard.

My current house is a 4-bed Edwardian. Fabulous, big hallway. Gorgeous fireplaces in every room. High ceilings. Good sized garden. But so, so dusty! Apparently it’s something to do with the type of bricks used - brick dust seems to accumulate within 24 hours of a deep clean on floors, windowsills etc. Drives me mad. But I’ll take it for the good stuff.

Victorian covers a huge range of properties and build qualities. We sold a Victorian mid terrace last year. I hated that we could constantly hear everything going on next door both sides more than anything. It also had the downsides others have mentioned - all the walls/floors were wonky, 150 years of other people’s bad DIY, damp in winter, boiling in summer, and it didn’t even have any period features or character to redeem it - they aren’t a given. We bought it for the price and location. We’re in a 1970s semi now which is much better built. It would have to be a very special/beautiful home to be worth it for me, and I don’t think I’d risk another mid terrace.

Oh @Myremoteislost this will be solvable. What have you tried? Where is the damp?

Pros: High ceiling, large well planned rooms, a wide staircase with a beautiful banister leading down to a even more beautiful stain glass internal door which makes me feel a bit like I'm living in princess Belle's castle. All the quirky features. The fact it genuinely suits lovely bold paint colours. Huge chunky brass wear on the front door. It's lovely and cool all year.

Cons: All the maintenance which tradesmen really struggle with as nothing is even or flat. It's very cobwebby and dusty all the time. The yard is small and on a slant. The neighbours. The fear of the bay window leaking again. On street parking with permits. The lack of a downstairs toilet.