Today we completed the purchase on our new house!!!! YAY! It was a bit touch-and-go there for a few days. We feel a real sense of relief now that it is over because the British real estate system is a minefield and one that does not protect a buyer's interest at all. This has been a seriously high learning curve for us.
I'll explain a little bit about the history of this house.
It's an old Victorian terraced house. In American English we would refer to this style of house as a "row" house or "brownstone", similar to those in the historic areas of Philadelphia, Boston & NYC.
Our house was built in the late 1800s. It began as a private residence, but unfortunately was later turned into a children's home. We're not sure if it was technically used as a small orphanage or simply a mini-shelter for children. For this purpose, the house was enlarged and dug out into its basement area or lower-ground level (LGL). The owners added a front entrance into this LGL, thereby creating a second unit to the house. After its use as a children's home, a property developer purchased the property and stripped it completely of any and all remaining original Victorian features (i.e. cornicing, original fireplace surrounds, doors, brass detailing, skirting, sash windows, etc.). Not only did this company/owner decide to brick up all 9 fireplaces, but they decided to chop the house into small rooms and many bathrooms. We currently have 5 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 1 large utility room and 6 bedrooms with horrible UVPC (plastic) windows! The only original cornicing that remains is in what would originally have been the main reception room in the raised ground floor level. Unfortunately, many sections have fallen off or simply been removed. The only real original piece remaining in tact (we think) is the original Victorian banister. It was boarded up by one of the previous owners and we have yet to fully uncover it to reveal the spindles. I think we'll wait to reveal this once the renovations are in the advanced stages.
My favorite place on the property is the back garden. It is about 90 feet long and enclosed with original old London Stock brick walls. It is in desperate need of some TLC, but once it is cleaned up and a veggie patch is planted, it will be an absolute gem!
Needless to say this house is going to be an enormous renovation project because we are stripping the house back to it's bare bones, but we are really looking forward to it! I've created this blog so that family & friends can see our progress as we go along.
I hope you all enjoy the photos.
hugs,
Tami
This weekend we plan to begin our initial stages of demolition within the house.
