House Preference and why ...

[wolfie]

Our present home, (moved in 15 years ago), was built around 1880 with all the features you expect of that era; our previous home was a little younger, but still with almost the same period features. We love old houses, despite all the work that they entail with regards to upkeep and maintenance costs.

The upkeep of such properties is not to be ignored; within the last 2 years we have had new sash windows fitted, including bay windows,(!!!) all round, and the roof redone with the original slate, as we are, or may soon be, in a conservation area. Each year I have a list of things to do and things to upgrade and keep on top of; it keeps me busy since I took early retirement and I enjoy being a project manager. 2013 list is well on the way to completion and the 2014 list is being compiled.

The only downside of our present home is the size of the garden which accompanies such a house and I am now on the case for a man who does, and takes the stuff away, rather than our man who did, and I had to take it away!!!!

Love your apartment Spud.

[oldbluefox]

Wow, Alan, what a beautiful place!!

[Silver_Shiney]

Wow, Alan, what a beautiful place!!

Frankly, Foxy, I feel privileged to be there

[The Monocled Mutineer]

Modern or period, is not important to me. Location (in both senses) and privacy is. We have both.

One piece of advice: It is always better to have a view from your home of a thatched cottage rather than live in one. All the benefits (scenic) without the costs (insurance), worry (fire), darkness inside (with a few exceptions) and bruised head (walking into the exposed beams)!

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[qbman1]

Sue, you'd like where I work - built in the 1850s by the Fry's chocolate people as their family home, then sold to the Wills tobacco family. http://www.cruise-community.me.uk/galle ... lbum_id=99

Lovely - but where's the scanner ?

[Silver_Shiney]

Sue, you'd like where I work - built in the 1850s by the Fry's chocolate people as their family home, then sold to the Wills tobacco family. http://www.cruise-community.me.uk/galle ... lbum_id=99

Lovely - but where's the scanner ?

behind the door to the left of the grandfather clock

[Silver_Shiney]

Wow, Alan, what a beautiful place!!

I've just added some photos of the gardens, if you're interested.

[arcadialover]

We only like and buy new houses. Went yesterday to look at a show house, 3 storeys high with a fabulous kitchen. It has 6 bedrooms (there are only 2 of us) and I want it. Going to ring the estate agents tomorrow to get them to value our house and take it from there.

[Delboy]

We only like and buy new houses. Went yesterday to look at a show house, 3 storeys high with a fabulous kitchen. It has 6 bedrooms (there are only 2 of us) and I want it. Going to ring the estate agents tomorrow to get them to value our house and take it from there.

Each to their own, but totally impractical for us, unless it had a lift to each storey, but the extra bedrooms would come in useful for storing our rubbish, rather than at present the two we have plus the loft.

[Silver_Shiney]

I'd knock three bedrooms into one and build that fantastic model railway I've always promised myself!

[qbman1]

Don't think I would ever buy a show house. I have a pet theory that the builders throw the show homes up as fast as possible so the sales team have something to offer. Whilst they look good on the surface, it is often just window dressing and several people I know have found that things start to fall apart quite quickly.

[Dark Knight]

the show house can be good value , if the builders want to be off site and have finished the rest of the builds then there is a good deal to be done, however if you have to wait for it, then it could be 1-2-3- years old and the you will also be stuck with the fixtures, fittings and decor they put in at the start
Show houses tend to have every extra thrown in and this can add tens of thousands of pounds onto the basic price
the show home on our development is phenominal but has £40,000 of extra's on top of a £270,000 basic price

[suespud]

Wow, Alan, what a beautiful place!!

I've just added some photos of the gardens, if you're interested.

Love the pics !!
That greenhouse is fab too... if only... lol

[Silver_Shiney]

Love the pics !!
That greenhouse is fab too... if only... lol

It's in the corner of an old Victorian walled kitchen garden - most of it has now been given over to lawn though.

[suespud]

Love the pics !!
That greenhouse is fab too... if only... lol

It's in the corner of an old Victorian walled kitchen garden - most of it has now been given over to lawn though.

So is the greenhouse Victorian too?

[Silver_Shiney]

I THINK it is.... I'll try and find out

[Silver_Shiney]

Love the pics !!
That greenhouse is fab too... if only... lol

It's in the corner of an old Victorian walled kitchen garden - most of it has now been given over to lawn though.

So is the greenhouse Victorian too?

Sue, I've had a chat with the old chap who lives in what used to be the coach house and does the gardens. He's fairly sure the greenhouse is from the Victorian era.

Apparently, this was part of a 17-acre site with a Jacobean mansion taking centre stage. There was also some sort of tower (a folly?) - the foundations can still just be seen in the shrubbery. It seems that, when Mr Fry bought the land around 1850, he had the Jacobean house demolished (and the tower/folly) and this house erected in its place. Much of the land had since been sold off, but we still have a very large garden. The accommodation part of the coach house used to be the hay loft, with garage space underneath (now workshops/laundry room) for the coaches, and behind it a cobbled courtyard (now tarmaced and roofed over) for the stables. The museum is in what used to be the kitchen and we recently found the architect's plans for the house. Underneath the museum is a large space, completely sealed off, and we've been wondering what on earth it is. It seems most likely that it, and the room adjacent to it, was a cistern, with water being drawn from a well, the remains of which are still outside the museum window. In the unsealed room, there is a circular opening in the ceiling, which would come up in the floor of the old kitchen, so we think this, too, was part of the cistern, that it was fed from the well, and they'd drop a bucket through this hole in the floor to draw the water from inside the house.

We don't know if the Fry family lived here - we do know they let it at some point to Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Crawfurd. Mr HO Wills, the tobacco baron, bought it in 1864, selling it to Thomas May, a tea merchant of this parish, in 1871. Richard Dalton bought it in 1907 and renamed it from Park House to Dalton House. The side of the house was extended around 1910, to put in a new kitchen, and also the conservatory and grotto. The Bible Churchman's College purchased the house in 1931 and used it as a ladies' bible college until we bought it in 1958.

In the early part of the 20th century, the greenhouse was used for growing orchids.

It's a voyage of discovery, working here, we're constantly finding out more about the history of the place.

[suespud]

Love the pics !!
That greenhouse is fab too... if only... lol

It's in the corner of an old Victorian walled kitchen garden - most of it has now been given over to lawn though.

So is the greenhouse Victorian too?

Sue, I've had a chat with the old chap who lives in what used to be the coach house and does the gardens. He's fairly sure the greenhouse is from the Victorian era.

Apparently, this was part of a 17-acre site with a Jacobean mansion taking centre stage. There was also some sort of tower (a folly?) - the foundations can still just be seen in the shrubbery. It seems that, when Mr Fry bought the land around 1850, he had the Jacobean house demolished (and the tower/folly) and this house erected in its place. Much of the land had since been sold off, but we still have a very large garden. The accommodation part of the coach house used to be the hay loft, with garage space underneath (now workshops/laundry room) for the coaches, and behind it a cobbled courtyard (now tarmaced and roofed over) for the stables. The museum is in what used to be the kitchen and we recently found the architect's plans for the house. Underneath the museum is a large space, completely sealed off, and we've been wondering what on earth it is. It seems most likely that it, and the room adjacent to it, was a cistern, with water being drawn from a well, the remains of which are still outside the museum window. In the unsealed room, there is a circular opening in the ceiling, which would come up in the floor of the old kitchen, so we think this, too, was part of the cistern, that it was fed from the well, and they'd drop a bucket through this hole in the floor to draw the water from inside the house.

We don't know if the Fry family lived here - we do know they let it at some point to Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Crawfurd. Mr HO Wills, the tobacco baron, bought it in 1864, selling it to Thomas May, a tea merchant of this parish, in 1871. Richard Dalton bought it in 1907 and renamed it from Park House to Dalton House. The side of the house was extended around 1910, to put in a new kitchen, and also the conservatory and grotto. The Bible Churchman's College purchased the house in 1931 and used it as a ladies' bible college until we bought it in 1958.

In the early part of the 20th century, the greenhouse was used for growing orchids.

It's a voyage of discovery, working here, we're constantly finding out more about the history of the place.

WOW.. That is an amazing history. How exciting for you to be finding all this history.
Thank you for sharing this.

[arcadialover]

We can't buy the show house because it isn't for sale as yet, but there are 2 other plots we are interested in. 6 bedrooms, just think of all the room I would have for my cruise clothes.

[Andrea S]

Arcadialover,

6 bedrooms allows plenty of space for your cruise clothes . You could have 1 room for your shoes and turn 1 into your own boutique.

You could keep 2 for B&B guests which would pay for even more cruises and more clothes and shoes

On the other hand you could decorate each bedroom in a different theme and then each week sleep in a different room That would be like having
on -going holidays

[arcadialover]

Arcadialover,

6 bedrooms allows plenty of space for your cruise clothes . You could have 1 room for your shoes and turn 1 into your own boutique.

You could keep 2 for B&B guests which would pay for even more cruises and more clothes and shoes

On the other hand you could decorate each bedroom in a different theme and then each week sleep in a different room That would be like having
on -going holidays

I think I can sell this idea to my partner, thanks.

[Silver_Shiney]

Arcadialover,

6 bedrooms allows plenty of space for your cruise clothes . You could have 1 room for your shoes and turn 1 into your own boutique.

You could keep 2 for B&B guests which would pay for even more cruises and more clothes and shoes

On the other hand you could decorate each bedroom in a different theme and then each week sleep in a different room That would be like having
on -going holidays

I think I can sell this idea to my partner, thanks.

I sense a conspiracy here!!

[arcadialover]

Us girls must stick together.

[Silver_Shiney]

no you do not

[Silver_Shiney]

anyway, to get back on topic, I'd like a big kitchen with plenty of space to move around, a utility room, a lounge that is big enough, and has doors and windows located in such a way, for a surround-sound system, an en-suite wet-room and an integral garage (our garage is down the street).