Newbie saying hello...........

[childrenanddogs]

Hi all!

Well, after much lurking and rabid reading over the past few months, we now own our own period property so I feel I can finally say hello.

We finally completed last week on the Grade II* listed Georgian (ish) farmhouse that we first saw last October, and are now living in the luxury of a static caravan with two young kids, dog and two cats (thankfully the chickens can go outside).

Pictures are possibly attached, if I've done it right, as I know from my lurking that I shall be told to go away if I don't provide them! As you can see, we're very lucky as the house just needs a lick of paint. Oh, and a refurbished roof, windows, heating system installed, insulation, rewiring, replumbing, etc, etc. So a bit of a project! We've had the lovely and knowledgeable Stephen Boniface here today to do a historical survey which was good, so we can now get underway with some of the work required.

Look forward to getting to know you all during our labour of love.

 

[Feltwell]

Welcome! And a very nice introduction.

What a lovely place - so how long do you reckon, 4 weeks or 6 weeks to get it all done? :wink:

Others on here have done the "entire family in a static caravan" thing and lived to tell the tale. Mrs F wouldn't entertain that idea with the kids - 6 months in a cr@ppy rented tiny "Barrett Box" house was more than enough for her - so you're braver than us!

Nice to see all the original windows on that place. There's been some strange goings on with the roof round the back - What's going on with that "dormer-without-a-window"? And the odd bit of brick infill and roof slope next to the left hand chimney stack, as viewed from the back?

I hope that stairs carpet is on the listing. Not many of those left you know!

 

[MdB]

There's been some strange goings on with the roof round the back - What's going on with that "dormer-without-a-window"? And the odd bit of brick infill and roof slope next to the left hand chimney stack, as viewed from the back?

Finding answers to these sorts of questions is half the fun of having an old house.

Nice carpet by the way (and welcome!).

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Welcome, good luck and what a lovely house--- you have also had the best advisor to start you off!! Keep the pics coming!

 

[Pford75]

Welcome - what a charming house. Thanks for sharing the photos and I wish you well on the project ahead.

 

[Flyfisher]

Welcome to the period property madhouse, and what an exemplary introduction and first post complete with pictures.

It's a lovely looking house, though clearly in some need of love itself. I also wondered about that rear dormer window; it seems a very odd way to close it up, but that's period quirkiness for you.

As others have noted, that stair carpet is a beauty - could it be the reason for the 'star' in the listing? :wink:

Exciting times ahead!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

A very warm welcome C&D and many thanks for the pics.

What a lovely house and what fab windows - it's going to be an interesting project and I'm sure very handsome when complete (I use the word carefully in case Mrs FW gets the idea that this state is ever achievable!)

Incidentally, if you need any spare patches, I removed a very similar carpet from my dining room... I think I have some in the outbuildings somewhere - the synthetic fibre and rubber backing are great for starting bonfires!

Did Stephen have some interesting feedback? I don't know why I think this, given the Georgian love of symmetry, but I think the brickwork to the right of the doorway (especially upstairs) is different to the rest of the house. And I can almost convince myself there is something similar going on on the roof around about the second chimney....?

 

[Schoolmarm]

Fantastic!! Fingers crossed that you don't mean to replace the windows. It just says windows in the list, but not what you are doing........

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Here we go - almost a complete match!



Sadly, the fake beams have now all gone - but kept us warm for a couple of winters!

 

[Feltwell]

FW, I am concerned that you seem to have sawn the rear legs off that yellow smiley children's chair. That's a cruel trick, I do hope the FW juniors didn't hurt themselves.

Top carpet by the way. Almost in the same league as our giant plastic ceiling fan that wobbled alarmingly when switched on. Much hilarity at the first house party firing party poppers at the thing, before it went to the skip!

 

[JoceAndChris]

A very appealing house from our new member, and a warm welcome to her and family! It looks like you've gone for the most exciting kind of property to my mind - the one with lots of period features buried under grime, rot, and unsympathetic decoration - rather than the great bulk of period properties out there which are all done up but probably not to your liking! Can I be nosey and ask what gave it the star? Thanks for pandering to our demand for period property porn, but we want more!
I hope that high on the list is the repair of those lovely sashes, and also that you won't strip the newel posts, banisters, or that nice panelling in the hallway - which look very old, and ought to stay painted to look their best?
I am very bossy in my opinions I'm afraid. :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

Looking again at the hallway, the staircase arrangement looks a little curious in that the height under the stairs (where they turn) looks too low to walk through easily, yet there seems to be a door beyond. Presumably it's a door into another room, as an under-stair cupboard would surely have a door at the front of the staircase?

Or perhaps it's an illusion from the camera angle?

I completely agree with Joce about the hall paintwork and would not consider stripping it all back to bare wood (except, perhaps, as preparation for new paint), though I'm not bossy enough to mention it. :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

I thought it was steps and a low door down to the basement?

 

[Matt Green]

My word, haven't you done well.

I'd love to know what happens to the rainwater when it runs off that very good looking rear roof pitch. :wink:

 

[Nigel Watts]

Fascinating and beautiful house no doubt with a complex building history.

Hall and stair are stunning but I am also a little puzzled. The large fielded panels, the three-per-step elaborately turned bannisters, the heavy architrave-like hand rail, the lovely swoop of the stair at the bottom all point to high class early 18th Century work, but why does the paneling crash into the soffit of the second part of the staircase like that? If the stair and panels were installed at the same time I would have expected the panels under the stair to have their top rails angled to match the stair. Instead the panels must continue behind the stair, suggesting the paneling pre-dates the stair or that the stair was later altered.

The back suggests that the original building is significantly older than the Queen Anne/Georgian front so some oddities in proportion here and there are almost inevitable as the 18thC builder meshed the two parts together.

 

[childrenanddogs]

Thank you all for the very warm welcome.

To try and answer a few questions (I'm sure there is a clever way of multi-quoting, but it's a bit beyond me at the moment):

Not sure about the 'dormer without a window' bit, although there did used to be a window there that we hope to reinstate (the window is still in the room). It's on the staircase up to one of the attic rooms. There are also two of the big sash windows that have been bricked up which we hope to reinstate, at the side of the house.

Stephen said that he thinks the majority of the house dates from the early 1700's, although there is apparently a medieval timber frame hidden under it all somewhere.

We will be replacing some of the windows, mainly ones that are currently UPvc (thanks to the previous owners that seem to have had no clue about what a listed building means, or bothered to find out), and a couple that are so rotten that they are beyond repair (the house has been empty for around 10 years and not looked after at all in this time). The rest are being refurbished, although we've yet to find a tradesman for the job - had a local company that specialise in sash windows come to quote yesterday but they said it's too big a job for them and they wouldn't touch it! Got another guy coming this afternoon so we'll see what he says.

The '*' on the listing is apparently due to the Jacobean staircase and panelling, both of which need restoring. Amongst the previous owners crimes against the house were painting all of the panelling in one room with bright purple gloss. Yes, you did read that right! There are four rooms with panelling, plus the hall.

The door at the rear of the hall is down some steps, it's actually a normal sized door but you just can't see it all. It leads in to a big scullery, which will become our kitchen/breakfast room in time. Then off the scullery there are another two small rooms (study and utility room we're thinking), and another door with steps behind it down to two large cellar/basement rooms.

Oh, and Feltwell, I'd be surprised if it takes us as long as 4 or 6 weeks - I reckon we'll be moving in in a couple of weeks. :lol: Make that a couple of years if we're lucky.............

I've attached another couple of photos - one to show the hall from the other angle so you can see the door in to the kitchen bit, and the other just to show off another spectacular carpet (please try and contain your jealously peeps) and delightful 1970's fireplace. No doubt a lovely Georgian fireplace was removed to put that monstrosity in. The mind boggles sometimes doesn't it?!?

 

[skier-hughes]

Oh, and Feltwell, I'd be surprised if it takes us as long as 4 or 6 weeks - I reckon we'll be moving in in a couple of weeks. :lol: Make that a couple of years if we're lucky.............

A very warm welcome from me, it looks beautiful, but Oh dear, 1 year in of living in our house, which thankfully was livable, we started work, 5 years later the kitchen and bedroom are nearly finished Everything is always to be done by Easter......... just don't say which year

 

[Nigel Watts]

Jacobean staircase and panelling

It really doesn't look very Jacobean to me, especially if the Jacobus in question is James I. A James I stair would be very different and a James II stair would be chunkier I think, although the paneling could be of that period. Those turned, triple bannisters are, according to one of my reference books at least, characteristic of the early 18th C ie Queen Anne or early Georgian.

 

[childrenanddogs]

Jacobean staircase and panelling

It really doesn't look very Jacobean to me, especially if the Jacobus in question is James I. A James I stair would be very different and a James II stair would be chunkier I think, although the paneling could be of that period. Those turned, triple bannisters are, according to one of my reference books at least, characteristic of the early 18th C ie Queen Anne or early Georgian.

Interesting. We'll have to see what Stephen says in his report, but certainly the listing description says the staircase is Jacobean. Will let you know!

 

[Flyfisher]

I thought it was steps and a low door down to the basement?

Well spotted Joce. I was clearly not totally awake when I posted. :roll: