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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Lets talk Bungalows

18 replies

rebl · 20/08/2009 20:33

I'm thinking outside my box here in an attempt to find a house!!!

Are they really just the domain of the blue rinse brigade or can they make good young family homes?

What works in a bungalow and what doesn't?

Are they sellable or are they a nightmare to sell (large ones with large gardens we're talking about)?

What do you all think?

OP posts:

Amaris · 20/08/2009 20:40

I grew up in a bungalow and there were other young families also nearby in bungalows (I guess this might be the key thing). It was big enough not to feel we were living on top of each other and I didn't really think anything of it.

AholaLoadOfTrouble · 20/08/2009 20:41

Cold, cold, cold.
Great for toddlers though

trefusis · 20/08/2009 20:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Barking · 20/08/2009 20:58

We're just in the middle of buying (hopefully) a bungalow after having looked for the past year. It will give us lots of space and privacy that we just couldn't find elsewhere.

We have to completely renovate, and I've been rather inspired by some of the straw bale bunglows, we're going to replace all the aluminium/pvc with reclaimed timber etc.

here

I've seen some lovely ones while googling, folkart/cabin in the woods type thing.

We're use to living in old cottages, so the style thing is going to be a challenge... while googling listed bungalows I saw a lovely one that was a lodge, depending on where it is and the age, you could add an old style veranda which can transform the appearance.

FritesMenthe · 20/08/2009 21:02

Don't the ones with large gardens sell for a premium because of the development potential?

BikeRunSki · 20/08/2009 21:04

Friends of ours had one, was great for toddlers as no stairs, but the bedrooms were far apart - 2 on one side of the main room, 1 on the other, so the DCs and parents were seperated. They had a some dormer bedrooms and stairs put in when DC4 was on way. DC2 asked "When we have stairs, will we have a naughty step?".

It is very stylish building - art deco, huge garden.

HouseHunting · 20/08/2009 22:42

I call bungalows villas, makes them seem less old fogey What springs to mind when I think about villas is not being able to have your windows wide open when it is hot (I am a sticker for security) but I do know you can have grills or window restrictors so that you can still allow fresh air into the house. Have you seen a bungalow you like?

QOD · 20/08/2009 22:49

we had one from when dd was 7mths to 6ish and it worked great. She could hang her head out the side of her cabin bed and look in the lounge LOL
WHen we movd to our house, oh my word... she was incapable of walking UP the stairs without falling down them! She had been on stairs, of course, at nanna's but my mum lives in a bungalow too, the nursery was on the level and downstairs only at the childminders and school!
It was a bit scary but quite funny.

abdnhiker · 21/08/2009 09:17

We love ours and everytime one comes for sale in our area it's bought by a young family or a couple wanting to start a family so not blue-rinse at all.

I love that the kids bedrooms are on the main floor. It means that they can have their friends in to play in their rooms (my oldest is three) and the mums can be in the kitchen and still be accessible. Toys do migrate into the rest of the house though, but having all the space on one floor makes the whole living area feel bigger.

Other posters have commented on views into bedrooms - I think it depends on layout. All our bedrooms are around a corner from the front door so it's fine that way. The only negative is that there's a higher potential for kids to get into my bedroom - which I'm not keen on. (I let DH sleep there but in my head it's mine! The only girl-space in the house!). However DS1 now knows it's off limits when friends are over and it seems to have solved the problem. My kids are of course more than welcome in my room when I'm there, I just don't want to find them playing trains all over my bed with half the neighbourhood.

Original poster

rebl · 21/08/2009 11:46

Thank you very much. You all sound so positive about them and I do wonder if I've been very shortsighted in my house hunting in the past and my view of bungalows.

We've not seen one that we like per se, but we have seen quite a few in the right location and affordable. But we've not yet done drive by's let alone viewings. We've been concentrating all our efforts, fruitlessly it would seem, on a house that was too good to be true. And the problem with it turned out to be someone who didn't want to sell living in it. So we're back to square one and looking again and so thought I would start with a fresh look and start at hte beginning again and consider everything.

Sounds like layout is important for privacy. I don't mind toys migrating over the house, it happens now anyway even with stairs so thats not going to change!

OP posts:

noddyholder · 21/08/2009 11:50

have helped in a renovation of one and it was lush.Am definitely going to buy one as my last house in about 5-10 yrs as they can be stunning and usually have decent plots and views.

edam · 21/08/2009 11:54

I'd like a bungalow - always a bigger plot, for obvious reasons (I dream of building my own house, if we had a bungalow I could dream even more although practically wouldn't have the money to knock it down and rebuild anyway).

Currently live in a townhouse and hate having to go up and downstairs all the time!

TopSop · 21/08/2009 12:06

We have one, but it has had the loft converted into two bedrooms and stairs put in - so we have the best of both worlds. Large room sizes, big garden with huge mature trees and the extra space utilised upstairs. Okay we only have a downstairs bathroom at present, but the plan is eventually (as our neighbours have done) to extend out the back upstairs on top of the flat roof kitchen extension, to create another bedroom and bathroom up there. Our bungalow (strictly a dormer bungalow, I suppose) has v little "kerb appeal" but is like a Tardis inside, goes back and back, and then there's the garden. The day we saw it we fell in love with it!

Original poster

rebl · 21/08/2009 12:30

TopSop - Do you think the kerb appeal would hinder selling it?

OP posts:

noddyholder · 21/08/2009 13:16

You can give them kerb appeal!

faraday · 21/08/2009 17:16

I lived in bungalow for 5 years til 3 months ago and it worked for us!

The only issue was privacy for the bedrooms when we had visitors. I had a few nosey ones assume they were 'open for inspection' because they were on the ground floor- people who'd never dream of heading upstairs to have a shufty!

It also had a huge garden and I personally found it was easier to heat than the house we'd had previously.

I too am now in a 3 floor townhouse working on my buns of steel...

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 21/08/2009 17:25

We live in a bungalow and again whenever the other bungalows in the street have come up families have bought them while the hosues with stairs linger on the market for longer.
We have an L shaped hall so that when you walk in you can only see the living room and kitchen.
It is great as the children can go off to their room and ds being only 3 can go off and I can still hear him and see him easily which can also help where the toys are kept I don't have to have loads lting around the reception rooms like I did in my old house with stairs.
I love it.

Ixia · 25/08/2009 21:56

I would never have chosen to live in a bungalow, but we've rented them twice during OH's job relocations. I've been converted!

They're so flexible, ie a dining room, or an extra bedroom.

No more carting washing etc upstairs.

Your bedroom can open onto the garden.

It's easier to keep an eye on the kids as theY can't slope off upstairs.I could hear LO in the bath,as I cleaned the kitchen.

Kirsty and Phil love them, because of the development potential, bungalows often have huuuge lofts.

My OH however hated the bungalows, he likes to sleep with the window open and is paranoid about security.

Also with a toddler, it was harder to keep her out of other areas of the house and her mess spread everywhere.

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