Floor plan - puzzled!

GDB2222

Annie1612 said:

GDB2222 said:

You can cram a bathroom into a surprisingly small space. Toilet at one end, and a shower at the other, with a basin in the middle. So, it looks like there’d be enough space to make a passageway into bed 4.  

There’s quite a bit of work I’d want to do to that house, and I’m not particularly fussy. Has that been factored into the price? 

You might find that you want to replace the boiler with a combi, so that you can do away with the airing cupboard and incorporate that space  into the bathroom, for instance. 

Yes, it needs a good update. My partner thinks it might need rewiring judging by what he saw. I am also not especially fussy having things perfect. It has been on since April and just been reduced to 375k from 400k. We viewed at 400k but we were not sold at the time and we thought it was way too much money for, really, a 3 bed doer-upper that actually feels a lot smaller in real life than the photos suggest. We are now cash buyers and so thought it might be worth a second look.

I don’t know the area, but there seem to be quite a few attractive homes in Ulverston for the same sort of price.  

Annie1612

baser999 said:

Can’t see it’s been asked already but is the wall between the bathroom and bedroom 4 a partition wall? If it is, that’d suggest it’s perhaps a later modification

Yes it is a partition wall but the door matches the others in the house.

Sarahspangles

If a larger ‘30s house was built with an upstairs bathroom, the toilet was likely to be a separate room. People weren’t used to bathing where they pooped. Lots of configurations for house layout were tried around this time. I’ve lived with several.

I think with this one there was originally a slightly awkward arrangement to separate the two. The room that is now the bathroom was a lavatory with a toilet and sink, and the study was the actual bathroom, with a freestanding bath and a sink. When the lavatory was remodelled it lost part of its internal wall and its door was reused/moved to open off the upstairs hallway. The room may have been given a larger window too, having previously had a narrow one like the ground floor room below.  The cylinder/airing cupboard would have originally opened off the upstairs hallway.

The lavatory would have been positioned over a ground floor room marked scullery with a dolly tub and wringer, because clothes washing moved indoors at the same time. If the lady of the house was older, I bet she appreciated this, it was warmer in Winter, but missed having a pantry. The architect gave her two cupboards off the inner hall as compensation.

The entrance hall is generous too. As you walked through the front door, coats would have gone on the wall to your right. The space immediately facing you would have had a telephone table, the kind with a dedicated seat and a little writing surface so you could tick things off when you called the butcher or grocer. All mod cons!

Annie1612

GDB2222 said:

Annie1612 said:

GDB2222 said:

You can cram a bathroom into a surprisingly small space. Toilet at one end, and a shower at the other, with a basin in the middle. So, it looks like there’d be enough space to make a passageway into bed 4.  

There’s quite a bit of work I’d want to do to that house, and I’m not particularly fussy. Has that been factored into the price? 

You might find that you want to replace the boiler with a combi, so that you can do away with the airing cupboard and incorporate that space  into the bathroom, for instance. 

Yes, it needs a good update. My partner thinks it might need rewiring judging by what he saw. I am also not especially fussy having things perfect. It has been on since April and just been reduced to 375k from 400k. We viewed at 400k but we were not sold at the time and we thought it was way too much money for, really, a 3 bed doer-upper that actually feels a lot smaller in real life than the photos suggest. We are now cash buyers and so thought it might be worth a second look.

I don’t know the area, but there seem to be quite a few attractive homes in Ulverston for the same sort of price.  

We are struggling to find anything to suit us and have been looking since last spring. Wouldn’t normally be hugely interested in this (overpriced) house but finding something in a good location with drive, garden, 3 beds and preferably 1 bathroom that isn’t a Victorian terrace or tiny or a new build or high risk for flooding isnt easy. They don’t seem to come on the market often.

Annie1612

Sarahspangles said:

If a larger ‘30s house was built with an upstairs bathroom, the toilet was likely to be a separate room. People weren’t used to bathing where they pooped. Lots of configurations for house layout were tried around this time. I’ve lived with several.

I think with this one there was originally a slightly awkward arrangement to separate the two. The room that is now the bathroom was a lavatory with a toilet and sink, and the study was the actual bathroom, with a freestanding bath and a sink. When the lavatory was remodelled it lost part of its internal wall and its door was reused/moved to open off the upstairs hallway. The room may have been given a larger window too, having previously had a narrow one like the ground floor room below.  The cylinder/airing cupboard would have originally opened off the upstairs hallway.

The lavatory would have been positioned over a ground floor room marked scullery with a dolly tub and wringer, because clothes washing moved indoors at the same time. If the lady of the house was older, I bet she appreciated this, it was warmer in Winter, but missed having a pantry. The architect gave her two cupboards off the inner hall as compensation.

The entrance hall is generous too. As you walked through the front door, coats would have gone on the wall to your right. The space immediately facing you would have had a telephone table, the kind with a dedicated seat and a little writing surface so you could tick things off when you called the butcher or grocer. All mod cons!

Great information - thank you. I am trying to picture how the house might have looked. I have looked for images online but there aren’t many of the interiors.

bouicca21

How much value would it lose if turned into a 3 bed.  I’m wondering about shifting the bathroom into bed 4 and using the space vacated for a laundry room.  Then the downstairs laundry room could be reconfigured with a toilet and washbasin to open off the hall.

Annie1612

bouicca21 said:

How much value would it lose if turned into a 3 bed.  I’m wondering about shifting the bathroom into bed 4 and using the space vacated for a laundry room.  Then the downstairs laundry room could be reconfigured with a toilet and washbasin to open off the hall.

I honestly don’t know about value. I only get a sense of it is overpriced at the moment. I would definitely get rid of the 4th bed if I bought it. Your idea of the upstairs laundry room is great! I was thinking the downstairs laundry would become the pantry though. The kitchen is very small so it needs one. Downstairs loo is a problem…

bouicca21

A friend installed a loo in the cupboard under the stairs, one of those macerator ones.  Liquids only as they go wrong easily!  Not sure from the diagram whether there would be room under those stairs.  

Sarahspangles

Annie1612 said:

bouicca21 said:

How much value would it lose if turned into a 3 bed.  I’m wondering about shifting the bathroom into bed 4 and using the space vacated for a laundry room.  Then the downstairs laundry room could be reconfigured with a toilet and washbasin to open off the hall.

I honestly don’t know about value. I only get a sense of it is overpriced at the moment. I would definitely get rid of the 4th bed if I bought it. Your idea of the upstairs laundry room is great! I was thinking the downstairs laundry would become the pantry though. The kitchen is very small so it needs one. Downstairs loo is a problem…

You see, losing a pantry was more of an issue than 1930s architects and builders imagined!

You also have the option of a family bathroom, and en-suite to the third bedroom, but that would be unusual as it’s a smaller room.