Show us your vintage home!

[Gin&Tonics]

WOW!

"Enoch" is a resplendent home! Absolutely breathtaking in every detail. I can't believe such a big beautiful house goes for so cheap down there! You'd probably pay at least 700k if not far more where I live. Thanks for sharing!

 

[lolly_loisides]

Thanks for posting the link JGS. Your home is lovely. I like the garden too & wow what a shed! I haven't been there for years, but Junee is a nice place.

 

[Seb Lucas]

WOW!

"Enoch" is a resplendent home! Absolutely breathtaking in every detail. I can't believe such a big beautiful house goes for so cheap down there! You'd probably pay at least 700k if not far more where I live. Thanks for sharing!

Lovely place. Down here, like anywhere else, it is all location. If that were in a "nice" Melbourne suburb it would cost well over a million. My one bedroom flat cost that much.

 

[Stearmen]

Victorian Decision

I need a little help from the members of this forum. I was offered this house, a 1890 Victorian. The problem is, some one subdivided the lot and built a small house off the ally. This leaves me with a small lot, I would like to build a garage, but it would eat up a lot of the back yard. It is a beautiful house, should I just go ahead even if it does take out most of the back yard?

 

[Gin&Tonics]

I need a little help from the members of this forum. I was offered this house, a 1890 Victorian. The problem is, some one subdivided the lot and built a small house off the ally. This leaves me with a small lot, I would like to build a garage, but it would eat up a lot of the back yard. It is a beautiful house, should I just go ahead even if it does take out most of the back yard?

"Small" Is a relative term. It would be very helpful if you could provide a rough sketch, perhaps on grid paper, which somewhat accurately shows the relationship of the house to the lot, and the proposed size of the garage you wish to build. You would also have to check with your municipality to see if you even would be allowed to build said garage; you may not be. Also, it would help to know your needs in a house; a family man has different space requirements than a confirmed bachelor or widower, for example.

The house is very charming though. Even my not-so-vintagely-inclined wife walked by just now and said how cute it is!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

All depends what's more important to you. Personally, I'd take a garage over a yard any day, but I'm a car guy. Someone who likes to spend time gardening would think the opposite.

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

All depends what's more important to you. Personally, I'd take a garage over a yard any day, but I'm a car guy. Someone who likes to spend time gardening would think the opposite.

Tom I like Both. That being said I have become more interested in Gardening in small spaces and you can still do lots of gardeing in front yards and vertically so if you really like to garden and really like to have a garage and want the house you could still make a lovely victory garden in the front or work out some vertical gardening in what is left of the back yard.

 

[dhermann1]

Maybe this is crazy, but if you put a STRONG flat roof (I know you get plenty of snow out there) maybe you could put a roof garden. Just a crazy New York City type of thought.

 

[St. Louis]

What are the winters like where you live? I had to decide between a garage and a yard, too; in St. Louis, all the older houses have such tiny garages that they're not useful for vehicles. I finally decided I'd leave it alone for a few years, and work on the garden for a while, in order to see how I felt about it. I learned, in the meantime, that my garden contributes so much to my everyday quality of life, and I regret the absence of a garage so rarely, that I'm really glad I decided to wait.

My garden provides exercise, fresh air, privacy, and a beautiful view when I'm working in my back office. Birds, butterflies, squirrels, cats, possums, and racoons come visit (and I don't mind those critters.) Sure, in the winter, or during a hail storm or tornado warning, I really wish I had a garage. But then -- I've never owned a car younger than 15, so I suppose a few hail dents don't make too much of a difference.

Two years ago we had a brutally icy winter here, though, and I must admit that I yearned for a garage the way a wanderer in deserts yearns for an oasis.

 

[Stearmen]

Great View

I have the variance for the garage. I do not think this is as simple as X=Y, it's more an art problem. With an old house such as this, you are a conservator and not just an owner! I may be able to change the driveway, thus freeing up some more land. Unfortunately, the owner has rented it to some friends and they are not cooperating, even though I have made it clear they can stay until October when their lease is up. As a teaser, here is the back yard, and the view out of the front upstairs window.

 

[jamespowers]

I have the variance for the garage. I do not think this is as simple as X=Y, it's more an art problem. With an old house such as this, you are a conservator and not just an owner! I may be able to change the driveway, thus freeing up some more land. Unfortunately, the owner has rented it to some friends and they are not cooperating, even though I have made it clear they can stay until October when their lease is up. As a teaser, here is the back yard, and the view out of the front upstairs window.

Sounds like you are in for quite a ride if you sign on. Consider that when you negotiate price. Proceed with caution. In older homes you never know what you are going to get into. I suppose having a home inspection would be an excellent idea---you choose the inspector.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I am all for doing both, especially if you can make it work. If I had to choose one over the other, I'd pick a garage lol I tried to grow a flower garden the past two years. Last year, it was so rainy that it flooded and killed everything off, this year, it was so dry that it killed everything off. I'm just gonna build a garage I'm seriously going to keep those garden ideas in mind, if I buy a house with a small yard, though!

Tom I like Both. That being said I have become more interested in Gardening in small spaces and you can still do lots of gardeing in front yards and vertically so if you really like to garden and really like to have a garage and want the house you could still make a lovely victory garden in the front or work out some vertical gardening in what is left of the back yard.

 

[Stearmen]

Tomorrow, I am going to look at a couple more houses with much bigger lots. A four bay would be nice, that way I could seal one off and heat it, maybe some airconditioning to. I seem to have gotten my Grandfathers green thumb, I can make just about any thing grow, even in Adobe soil. It must skip a generation, my parents had brown thumbs!

 

[Stearmen]

Sounds like you are in for quite a ride if you sign on. Consider that when you negotiate price. Proceed with caution. In older homes you never know what you are going to get into. I suppose having a home inspection would be an excellent idea---you choose the inspector.

Yes, defiantly an inspector. I am most worried about the basement, It has a sump pump, never a good sign! I think it is coming in at the sunken backdoor, if that is the case, a storm cellar door would take care of that. If it's coming up from the floor, well, no thanks. The price is right, so I can afford to fix up the kitchen and main level bath, they are 80s ugly! I am lucky, I can do electrical, plumbing, paint and tile my self, so saves big time.

 

[MarkIsTheCleaner]

We live in a house built by William Stephen Vanderbilt in 1889. I have some great pictures of the outside but cannot find them.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I am all for doing both, especially if you can make it work. If I had to choose one over the other, I'd pick a garage lol I tried to grow a flower garden the past two years. Last year, it was so rainy that it flooded and killed everything off, this year, it was so dry that it killed everything off. I'm just gonna build a garage I'm seriously going to keep those garden ideas in mind, if I buy a house with a small yard, though!

Are you going to build one with a little apartment upstairs like the one where Fonzie lived?

 

[JollyGreenSlugg]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

Stearmen, those are wise words. There are a number of places here where sections of tin ceilings are being used to panel fences. Crazy, given its rarity today. Mind you, they're pretty corroded so they'd be unusable now. As to the lovely house you're looking at, I'd be inclined to go with a shed rather than a big garden. But that's just me!

Kampkatz, the previous owners did use the fireplaces, although there's a bit of work there to come. I picked up a beautiful Mountain Ash Art Nouveau fireplace mantle, and want to bring it back to original finish and fit it in the lounge room. The big repro mirror and Victorian mantle were fitted fifteen years ago and aren't in keeping with the style. Then we'll get the fireplaces going. As to the bathrooms, there are only four of us, so the kids have one bathroom while my wife and I have the other.

Gin&Tonics and Seb Lucas thank you. Similar houses in Melbourne and Sydney (suburb-dependant, of course) seem to be priced anywhere from $700,000 to $2m plus. We're also fortunate that the previous owners carried out a great deal of work inside and in the yard, but hadn't got around to the outside of the house. Had that been done, I reckon the price would have been a good bit more. No worries though, it gives me something to do!

Lolly_loisides, cheers! Junee is a pleasant place, but i think the Blue Mountains are pretty special too!

Cheers,
Matt

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My parents have been looking at a property with an old farm house and 20 acres. The plan was to split it into two ten acre parcels. I would get the old farm house and 10 acres, and they would build a new house next door. My sister chimed in that they needed an apartment above the garage where Bobby (my brother) could grow old. It's been a running joke for some time now lol

Are you going to build one with a little apartment upstairs like the one where Fonzie lived?

 

[Stearmen]

My parents have been looking at a property with an old farm house and 20 acres. The plan was to split it into two ten acre parcels. I would get the old farm house and 10 acres, and they would build a new house next door. My sister chimed in that they needed an apartment above the garage where Bobby (my brother) could grow old. It's been a running joke for some time now lol

If either you or your sister has kids, then your brother can be the crazy uncle above the garage! :der:

 

[Stearmen]

Another One

Great, now my realtor sent me this house! It's a little out of my price range but maybe doable. It has a 10,000 square foot lot and a 2 car garage already on it. I may not survive this house hunting at this rate.