Our project - pictures

[Fizzer]

We're close to actually getting the house (I think) and up till now we've been very nervous about counting our chickens etc.etc. You never know until your actually got the keys in your hands I guess.

However I can contain my enthusiasm no longer - I've attached a couple of pictures of the house. I can only hope it all goes smoothly and we actually get to move in.

We guess that the core of the house is pre 1805 from old maps and the huge chimney, there's an old Wattle and Daub wall too. We even have a picture of the house from somewhere between the wars. It was extended and re-roofed in 1960 we're sure that some of the original external walls are original. It's a bit of a bitsa!

It's got a 60's Mansard roof!

Raised ground levels

A couple of beams and a 60's chimney-in-chimney feature

An old W&D wall

Any ideas why there's a windows between two rooms?

And an old garden wall pushing the tiles off

 

[Jill]

At least the decor is plain and simple - not like mine, I've just posted some photos of our house - parts of it are really awful. Hope all goes well with the purchase.

 

[alice]

Re: the window between two rooms.

I have one of those. The scullery in the kitchen (which I had talked about in the "Can I have a Loo off the Kitchen" thread) was chopped into a loo, hand sink room, and bathtub room. The bathtub room has a nice big frosted glass window looking into the kitchen. There was never an outside wall there, or a pass-thru, both of which would make sense. So all I can think of is that someone thought it would provide light and ventilation.

Maybe that's what your mystery window is for.

alice

 

[DaveBrigg]

That's a huge fireplace! It's interesting to see the old interior behind a modern-looking outside. We also have the internal windows, one to let light onto the cellar stairs, the other in a wall of the stairwell to let light into a box room. We were told that some houses had a glass panel in the roof above the stairs as a light well. You are sure to find further interesting details when you (hopefully) move in. Good luck.

 

[Nemesis]

We have the glass panel above the stairs. My mother has a tiny window from a bedroom internal wall onto hers. It's really sweet and it opens - no idea why!

It's called a stolen light.

 

[Fizzer]

It's called a stolen light.

What a cool name!

We're a step closer to purchasing, having had the final asking price agreed. We're also a bit further along the line with our budget and have now worked out how far our tiny budget won't go!!!

I can really appreciate it now when people say 'it's never finished' - it's going to be a real money pit but we love the house so much and want to do things properly, it looks like we're in for the long haul...

I also can't wait to see what things look like 'underneath' - one of the potentially nice things will be to see if there's a correspondingly large fireplace on the other side of this one in what will be the kitchen

Also there may be some more 'old wood' in the ceiling of the living room, that beam looks quite shallow so I'm wondering (read - hoping) that there's just plasterboard nailed to cross beams here.

 

[Fizzer]

That's a huge fireplace!.

Yeah, it's big isn't it. We thing the floor level has been lowered donwstairs by 8-10 inches to give more headroom, I don't think the ceiling would have been this high originaly. I think that makes it look a bit bigger.

Good luck.

Thank you!

 

[andrew gayton]

I call them 'borrowed' lights.

 

[Nemesis]

So does the conservation glossary:

http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/research/glossary/borrowed.html

but I've always known this as being 'stolen' light - no payback!

 

[charlie-ia]

the terrace we live in has the old external window now into the kitchen extension, which has since also been extended. the loo has a tiny window into the back of the kitchen cupboard!
you have my heartfelt wishes that all goes well. we too are waiting for the keys. we think this place is ours, but its not too late for our dreams to be puverised into smithereens by some mercenary capialist (or act of god). you keep your fingers crossed for me too?

 

[Penners]

stolen light.

borrowed light.

Borrowed... stolen... not much difference really.

Unless we're talking neighbours and lawnmowers.

 

[Fizzer]

you keep your fingers crossed for me too?

absolutely!

it's a tenuous wire we hang our hopes on when we buy houses, a protracted process deliberately designed to cause most discomfort I think.

 

[Fizzer]

Unless we're talking neighbours and lawnmowers.

:lol:

 

[Jill]

The dream of us buying the house next door to us lasted over 20 years for Paul and about 10 for me. It was for sale for over a year at a ridiculous price before it was lowered enough for us to have an offer accepted - without me even going inside! When I did my first thought was " On my god what have we done" - but there have been no regrets. (This point was before we had actually had the keys handed over so we could have backed out) If its meant to be it will happen - I really do hope it goes well for both of you.

 

[charlie-ia]

keep hoping -we've not heard anymore yet, but the estate agents website now says "Sale Agreed"!!

i just hope its us theyre agreeing with!':shock:'

 

[worms]

Is it possible the mystery window is in place of where there used to be a door? I think it is fairly common to see this where two cottages are knocked into one or a later extension has changed the position of the doors to the building.

 

[Nemesis]

We used (in a previous house) to have a window looking from a bathroom into a kitchen - a rather good Yorkshire sliding sash - that was because the bathroom was once the scullery, the yard was roofed over and became the kitchen. Handy for passing through a mug of tea to whoever was in the bath.

 

[Penners]

Handy for passing through a mug of tea to whoever was in the bath.

Dine sithe it tends to be a glahss of chilled chablis, dahling.

 

[Nemesis]

In those days it would have been a glass of my homemade rhubarb, which actually is very like chablis!

 

[Penners]

Oh yeah! Cynic that I am, I'd need empirical proof of that.