Bungalows in need of modernising

But I live in the countryside, no near neighbours, no noise, absolute peace and quiet. I bet you can’t tick those!

I guess there's bungalows, and then there's bungalows. My friend in the south of France has a gorgeous bungalow. The bedrooms and bathrooms are all down one corridor, separate from the living and dining area. Outside each bedroom is a little patio overlooking a soothing waterfall. The kitchen at the end of the dining room isn't huge, but it is hexagonal shaped and is light with windows on all sides. The plot, like most bungalows, has a compact garden all round.
The value of the property is only 1/3 of that of my old poky London townhouse which just about had a pocket handkerchief sized garden at the back.
Here in Devon, bungalows fly off the shelf and are often more expensive than houses. We bought one a couple of years ago and transformed it on a modern coastal theme. Everything, including new kitchen, is natural pebble colours with splashes of blue. No clutter, double width garage, large kitchen/diner with marble table leading onto light blue decking ourside. I love it, but now inspired by the works of Klimt, I'm about to try some golden arty décor in the bedrooms. The thing about smaller rooms in bungalows is that you don't need as many rolls of wallpaper, so can go all out and spend more on something nice!!

I wanted to buy a bungalow years ago in fact I was tempted by one when I was still young and fit .
It had an incredible garden .
If I buy one I won't be stripping the interior out and painting it grey .
I far prefer a separate kitchen and rooms that I can close off .

Two bungalows near me have been converted to 5 bedroom houses. They are next door to each other, leaving no garden space other than a couple of metres and a driveway and a green strip alongside it (I know lots of people don't want gardens). Someone certainly had some imagination - they're looking for approximately £1M each I think. I'm looking forward to seeing who would pay that sort of money to live on top of someone else.

Germanshepherdsmum

But I live in the countryside, no near neighbours, no noise, absolute peace and quiet. I bet you can’t tick those!

Nope because we don't want to! We wisely live in a small, busy thriving village with decent shops, GP surgery and bus service to the nearest town, we all read the stories of retired people trapped when they can no longer drive. We are not there yet, may never be, but are future proofed.

PamelaJ1

As GSM pointed out look at the floor plans. I’ve just looked at what is available in our nearest town. In one bungalow you have to go through the hall into the kitchen then turn right into the sitting/dining room.
So add the price of a door from the hall into the sitting room, knock down the wall between the kitchen & dining room and then build a wall to divide that ‘new’ room from the living area.
Now it’s perfect (for me) but at what price?

Yes, look at the floor plans
Then wonder what on earth were people thinking when they added that extension, conservatory, porch etc 🤔

I'd not pay for somebody else's idea of what decorations make a house nice!
Ideally I'd like to move to a place that has combi boiler, good drains, and enough insulation. I prefer to choose my own bathroom arrangements ,flooring, and colours. I saw one recently on Rightmove that had been done up and which looked more attractive when it had its old lady decorations.

HousePlantQueen

I just don't understand why some people have this sneering attitude to bungalows, ours is spacious, on a large established plot with mature trees and hedges, and in a mixed road of houses dating from Edwardian semis through to 1960's detached, the road was sold off aeons ago as plots so all of the houses are different. Certainly not 'God's waiting room'.

Ooh, where - and are you thinking of selling?

We’re not there yet either HPQ, and don’t want to sacrifice our quality of life any earlier than we have to.

I don't think you'd have to sacrifice your quality of life, it's just finding the right home.

Callistemon21

I don't think you'd have to sacrifice your quality of life, it's just finding the right home.

Indeed! No sacrifice here, we have a lovely home which we have lived in for ten or so years and suits us fine. We are fit and able, thankfully, but should the future be otherwise, at least moving home won't be something we have to deal with.

We bought a smelly, scruffy bungalow in a great location on a big plot - with views. Garden was also neglected - a mess & overgrown. (We left our lovely family home of over 30 years for this). Within a year - all was totally renovated to our own design. We love one floor living & the fact it’s unique. Visitors often say “Wow “when they walk in. We know we’re fortunate and have never regretted moving

In our area they are often bought by developers who may extend, knock through so it's one living space and block pave the front. Everything is then painted white. They are often bought by families who to then buy lots of pots to put out the front.

Here most old bungalows are demolished and a larger new one built, they are of course expensive but they sell quickly.

Esmay

I wanted to buy a bungalow years ago in fact I was tempted by one when I was still young and fit .
It had an incredible garden .
If I buy one I won't be stripping the interior out and painting it grey .
I far prefer a separate kitchen and rooms that I can close off .

Yes. I don't know how it is "extending the living space" to knock two rooms into one. The arithmetic doesn't add up, there are still exactly the the same square feet of space. You just lose a room where you can leave sewing stuff all over the table while sitting in a tidy room that takes less heating and feels cosier, and itself can be closed off to grandchildren's toys and sticky fingers but is available for instant adult relaxing once the children are in bed.
As for sacrificing your quality of life to live on one level in a bungalow - I detect a touch of prejudice there against suburbia, where a large number quantity of middle-class people live lives of excellent quality. Your life quality is whatever you make of it, not the shape of your home.

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This is what you get for £1 million near us. It's nice, but I wouldn't say anything special. Still needs things doing.

You could buy Buck House and still have to do things to it.

Elegran

You could buy Buck House and still have to do things to it.

Now that would be a dream project, though the facade isn't very appealing imo.

You misunderstand me Elegran. I love the peace and quiet here, nothing but birdsong and the occasional tractor. Suburbia suits many but it’s not for me - I have always lived in the countryside. I would be extremely miserable if I had to live amongst people, as opposed to wildlife.

Elegran

You could buy Buck House and still have to do things to it.

At least the roof's fixed now, I think.
It was in a terrible state with the leaky roof.

We did this 2 years ago. Bungalow hadn’t been touched since mid 1990’s when it was built. The owner had died. We have done the whole place up, new kitchen, bathroom, fitted wardrobes, new flooring, replaced some doors/windows, skimmed artex ceilings, new boiler and decorated throughout. Had to move out for a few days twice when floors were being laid and we had no working bathroom. New area is lovely and more convenient than our previous home. Husband has retired and I work part time - suits us perfectly

If you like the upheaval of renovating and can afford it: go ahead.

If not, look for a property that is more in line with what you want.

Renovating a run-down property is not a paying proposition, as the cost of the renovations will not be recouped when or if you sell.

Not everybody has this amount of choice at their fingertips. Some of us plodding on in pokey little dark terrace houses.

Definitely, we bought a bungalow on behalf of my very elderly parents, close to our house . It was a perfect design but hadn’t been touched for decades . As soon as we got the keys , we gutted it . My son , an architect, redesigned the tiny kitchen to create a kitchen diner with a wonderful utility . All artex walls were re plastered , new everything, internal doors are now beautiful natural wood, everything is easy for parents . It’s light , airy and they LOVE it . It must have cost £50 K to do up . I project managed and got in a fab team who created a lovely home for my parents . Hard work but so worth it .

We acquired a bungalow about six years ago. We looked at a lot of horrors, but feel we were really fortunate to find a bungalow which had been totally refurbished and extended by an excellent local builder who lived it in while doing the work. The only thing we changed was one of the bathrooms which had a huge roll top bath and no way a shower could be fitted. We now have a very large kitchen diner with room for a sofa,a large laundry, a smallish snug and four bedrooms, all a decent size, and two bathrooms. A manageable very private garden. However, there’s always a downside! It isn’t in a road we would have chosen. I think you need to prioritise what you want and make a list, the most important at the top. Our number one was off street parking. I don’t think at our age we could have coped with living here while a huge amount of work was being done, one bathroom was enough! Our second house was totally gutted over a period of time when our children were young. Once was enough!