Would you live in a Bungalow?

BJV

I think that the main problem is that the moment that you label something as " for the aging " it becomes un desireable for the rest of the population.


TBH I have just bought well in the process of buying, waiting to exchange complete etc on a big victorian house but was very tempted by an amazing bungalow. Swimming pool, immaculating decorated, fantastic garden etc.


Bungalows are not just for the old and infirm and can instead be a real design feature and statement with loads of open plan space.


Would I live in one ? Yes if the right one came along.

mumps

Davesnave wrote: »

Why are they less likely to be extended? Mine's been extended twice and now I've gone into the integral garage as well, so that's 3 times.

The depth of the typical bungalow can be a problem when extending, but it's just a matter of being careful not to create dark internal areas. Plots are often large enough to cope, but of course there are bungalows without space to expand, just as there are houses in that situation too.

I obtained planning permission to go up a floor, but looked at dispassionately, the sloping ceilings in the chalet we'd have created were not making that a great value-for-money option. It also looked none too special, so I screwed up the plan and went back to using what we had more efficiently, by moving internal walls and using the garage instead.

Lots of bungalows where I live and lots of them seem to get loft bedrooms added, conservatories at the back etc. So I agree with you that they often do get extended.

I think the dark area thing is becoming less of a problem as people are going so open plan, or is that just where I live?

Lily-Rose_3

mumps wrote: »

I never quite get the chalet bungalow thing, if it has two floors to me it is a house and chalet bungalows are a house with some bedrooms downstairs. Funny how we can look at the same thing and see something different.

I agree. When I googled 'bungalow,' pictures like this came up.




This is not a bungalow. (IMO)

THIS is a bungalow (to me anyway.)



Although when I googled 'bungalow meaning' it said

a low house having only one storey or, in some cases, upper rooms set in the roof, typically with dormer windows.

But to me, a bungalow is a house with just one floor, and no upstairs.

Waterlily24

I agree about the chalet bungalow being two storey house. We live in a chalet bungalow though lol. We have the sloping ceilings upstairs in three bedrooms - two in one, one in the other two but the bedrooms are good sized doubles so it doesn't matter. Plenty of headroom in all of them. The master bedroom is downstairs.

We were really disappointed when we couldn't get the planning permission we needed to keep it as a bungalow, we are getting on and hubby has difficulty with stairs.

I could never understand why they wouldn't let us increase the footprint more. We have a large garden and no very near neighbours and there were no objections.

We were lucky to get planning as they didn't like the height of the roof even though the two nearest properties are two storey houses, they are on the other side of the road though.

lazer

I would love to live in a bungalow, much easier to clean, much easier to move around and quieter, I would prefer to walk down a corridor to bed, than go upstairs to bed, where the bedroom is above the living room, kitchen etc.


I recently tore ligaments in my knee, so getting up and down the stairs was difficult (And I'm only 32!).


This is my ideal house, if I could afford it, I would buy it tomorrow!


http://www.propertynews.com/Property/Castlewellan/JWP673424/61-Wateresk-Road/




I also find it strange when people say a bungalow or a house, to me a bungalow is a house, and a two-story house is also a house. I would just call one a bungalow/1 story house and the other a 2 story house

chris_m

I also find it strange when people say a bungalow or a house, to me a bungalow is a house, and a two-story house is also a house. I would just call one a bungalow/1 story house and the other a 2 story house

But not as annoying as estate agents describing park home chalets or, even, mobile homes (aka big caravans) as bungalows.

Davesnave

mumps wrote: »

I think the dark area thing is becoming less of a problem as people are going so open plan, or is that just where I live?

I don't know. I don't like open plan myself, but there are those sun tubes which one of my friends has used for lighting in the centre of his extended bungalow.

We've knocked down 6 internal walls in the past year, but we put most of them back, just somewhere else!

When I looked at this place for the first time, I thought, "Roof trusses, so we can shift walls around at will."

I didn't realise then just how many we'd be moving though!:rotfl:

mumps

I'm not that mad on open plan myself but it definitely seems to be the "thing" to do where I live. I particularly like to be able to close the kitchen door on the chaos within until I am ready to deal with it (usually when the Archers is on.)

lazer

I hate open plan, I want to be able to close the door on the kitchen, no food smells in the living room, can't hear, dishwasher, kettle, extractor fan etc from living room.


If cooking for guests, they can sit in the living room until dinner is ready.


I have also never noticed bungalows dark, there generally tends to be a corridor with a outside door (with glass)or window and then doors leading into into the rooms rooms, where each have windows, whereas my semi detached "house" has a dark staircase. My parents mid terrace bungalow has no dark corridors

Waterlily24

I also hate open plan.

If we had kept the original bungalow as it was we would have lost a window in one of the rooms when we put the extension up, we made two bedrooms into one with an en suite but the en suite doesn't have a window which is OK but would have preferred a window.

We have a dark bit in our L shaped hall but it's not too bad.

I always think of houses as two storeys and bungalows as one but know they are really all houses. Is there a specific name for a two storey house?