POLL: Bungalow - love or loathe?

Comments (85)

craftycountess
The process of extending my little bungalow is underway at last - not a good time of the year though! Already recreating my Ozzy-style with the new fence and can't wait for my open plan lounge/kitchen/diner, albeit on a much smaller scale
4 years ago
susannay
I moved to a bungalow two years ago and I absolutely love it, it's large modern and very spacious, I have an orangery which leads off the kitchen and overlooks the garden and to the side a large wooded area (80 trees) that is covered with bluebells in the spring, we plan to cover this area with wild flowers this year. Everyone that has visited us here loves it as much as we do, bungalows don't have to be little square boxes.
4 years ago
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bagpuss2
If I could pick up my semi detached bungalow and set it down in the town I'm moving to,it would be my dream house. It is like the Tardis, and my partially floored loft has masses of storage. I'm moving to another 3 bed semi - with 15sq m less floor space which costs a great deal more- but is in the location I want to live in, on a major rail route. I do intend to keep my eyes open for a building plot- and a kit bungalow
4 years ago
Janie
Personally I 'don't feel right' unless I've walked upstairs to bed!
4 years ago
Coco Nuts
We built our own bungalow 30 years ago, I was the labourer to my husband a builder by trade. I also designed the house and apart from the wiring it's all our own work. We do have stairs, a spiral staircase leads to bedrooms under the eves and a handy extra bathroom. It's a part of us and we love it.
4 years ago
PRO
Petriiski ltd
I love bungalows!
4 years ago
PRO
Themakerplace.co.uk
Love!
4 years ago
PRO
STUDIO PARKOAR
Interesting concept
4 years ago
PRO
Lambert & Sons Limited
Grew up in a log cabin in Norfolk, best times
4 years ago
PRO
Moosejaw Woodworks Co Ltd
I recommend living in one if you have enough space around it. Great for

customising....
4 years ago
PRO
Nick Thorne ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
Bungalow chic.
4 years ago
Maggie
Our house was described as an Executive Bungalow when we bought it ten years ago - not sure what that is though! Essentially the house is built on a slope, with the living quarters all on one level and the double garage under the far end of the plot where the ground slopes away. I love it as the kitchen and living room are at one end while the bedrooms are away from the hubbub at the other end.
4 years ago
Gerry Rust
I used to be a confirmed bungalow hater but lately I've been changing my mind (and I don't think it's an age thing!) It began after I was laid up with a neck problem, which doesn't sound that serious but was totally debilitating, and I spent the best part of a week propped up watching Homes under the Hammer and any other available home programmes. There were a number of 1920s and 30s bungalows featured and they were rather charming with some lovely period features and full of potential (largely unrealised on HUTH but that's not unusual, I spend a lot of time shouting at the TV when it's on ;) I then saw some very interesting makeovers both inside and out of more (and different era) bungalows online and on design programmes and was forced to revise my opinion. Even some of the rather uninspiring looking varieties usually sit on a good plot and can provide very versatile accommodation with room to extend if needed. I think the days of buying them for the land and promptly demolishing them may be numbered.
4 years ago
PRO
JW Architects Ltd
Bungalows offer varied living but some clients of mine want that additional space.
4 years ago
coolerplanet
Much easier to create that additional space above and to the sides than it is with a conventional town house where other buildings encroach, access is often poor and plot sizes are less generous. The other advantage I think is that the architectural merits of the average UK bungalow are virtually non existent so you can more or less adapt them to your own tastes without feeling guilty.
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
coolerplanet
...and I never thought I would say this but...living in a cul de sac with more than a dozen bungalows of various shapes and sizes, all individually customised by their loving owners and including everything from fake cladding and stone herons to restrained wood and beach house pebble gardens, cheek by jowl, in a way that would horrify the good taste police, actually makes me smile and value the quirkiness of English eccentricity. There is something to celebrate here - freedom of self-expression for example. Planning departments do not seem to care particularly about bungalow-ville. Much more complex and visually interesting than acres of new build grey-blue and larch cladding where one plot is disorientatingly indistinguishable from another.
4 years ago
Gerry Rust
coolerplanet It would make me smile too, I live in a small rural town that is being engulfed by acres of incredibly unadventurous new estates, I can't quite identify the style but as we are supposed to be mostly Georgian I think its meant to be some sort of nod to that. It makes you long for some fake cladding and a heron or two....:D
4 years ago
PRO
Worth & Co Blinds Ltd
I'm on the fence
4 years ago
jelliest
coolerplanet - it really says something about human nature and how perverse our planning 'givens' are in this country. People as individuals from all walks of life crave to express themselves and their individuality, and yet we have to put up with the planning tyrants imposing 'saminess' on every neighbourhood. Why does 'in keeping with the neighbourhood' count more than good design? And why should a bungalow be adjacent to another bungalow, why does a row of houses have to be the same height, shape, materials, etc.? I grew up in South Africa where it is usual for houses (whether single or multiple storeys) to be built one at a time, and any similarity in style is largely down to fashions at the time of building. It allows for a pleasing variety and some great expressions of creativity.

I read once that when bungalows came into vogue in this country it was with some kind of aspirational nod to the star-studded Californian dream of the movies. However the execution of that concept in this country has been appallingly prosaic. Bungalows are not per se awful - some can be amazing (though you usually have to go abroad to see them) - but it's just the way they have been done here over and over again with total lack of imagination or flair that has given them a bad name. If planners were less draconian and planning law less stifling, imaginative well-designed houses and bungalows alike would be built.
4 years ago
Jo DP
Here! Here! , cooler planet & jelliest.
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
PRO
Teamwork Tenterden
Love
4 years ago
PRO
STUDIO PARKOAR
Just to put our oar in........

Agreed that the planning system here can be seen as inflexible, but like any system, once it is understood it can be modified to accept variations to normal expectations.

We have found that if proposals are presented clearly and all planning policies addressed then a planning officer can often support some rather Maverick solutions. Obviously a full planning application and supporting documents are required to argue persuasively, but the cost can me mitigated if approached in the correct manner.

Rules are there for the unimaginative.....but if fully understood they can be the key to achieving dreams.
4 years ago
coolerplanet
...so I've travelled a bit and have yet to stand I the middle of a modern development anywhere and think 'how beautifully homogeneous these matching houses are with their tony rooms and token gardens and crazy price tags...' Much prefer to up cycle , re purpose and reimagine what we already have, (such as all the abandoned gorgeous ness I can see above the shops in the westcountry town where I am currently drinking coffee...)
4 years ago
Gerry Rust
As a long time lover of all things house related I have spent many hours watching programmes about renovating, building, restoring (you name it I'll watch it!) houses and sometimes the air is blue with my views on the various planning departments involved. Whilst I fully appreciate the need to have some restrictions, particularly in conservation areas, sites of outstanding natural beauty or on listed buildings, they often come across as excessively interfering and sometimes both pedantic and irrational. I am particularly incensed when someone takes on a building of historic interest that is at the point of collapse, they fully intend to do their best by the building but not unreasonably would like some autonomy on how to turn it into a family home and end up driven to the brink of bankruptcy and a nervous breakdown by the planners etc who are still insisting on details that they simply can't afford. It would seem that losing the building forever is preferable to allowing any alteration they do not feel is sympathetic. Small wonder so many incredible buildings are still on the at risk register, as one woman emphatically said after an epic rescue that cost millions (and who wasn't even allowed to put in the kitchen floor of her choice) when asked if she would ever take on a listed building project again 'NEVER' .
4 years ago
Jo DP
Gerry, were we separated a birth ?
4 years ago
PRO
STUDIO PARKOAR
Dealing with regulatory bodies is about using the correct language specific to that body.

I have also seen the programmes referred to but I must say that my experience over the last 24 years dealing with all the regulatory bodies is that if properly presented most projects can be realised.

This approach has enabled me to be in the position to say that none of the projects in which I have been involved have been refused wether it be by Planning Authorities or Conservation Bodies.
4 years ago
Gerry Rust
STUDIO PARKOAR In that case if I'm ever applying for planning permission I will enlist your help, I suspect the specific language I might end up using would not be at all conducive to getting my project passed :D
4 years ago
PRO
Real Focus
After photographing a beautiful contemporary bungalow, I am now seriously into lateral living spaces..
4 years ago
PRO
Acres Architecture
Love
4 years ago
anneowl
Bought my bungalow a couple of years ago and am nearly finished renovating, well on the inside at least! Spent half of my life living in bungalows and half in houses, so had the best of both worlds. Never thought that I'd actually buy one though but when I decided to move I came spotted this bungalow, it was dated but had good bones and space outside.

I can see why some bungalows would get bad press but with a bit of imagination they can be transformed. One of the first things I did was remove two internal walls, so instead of having a tiny entrance lobby (you would have to pin yourself to the wall so someone could enter in!) and a small kitchen before entering into the living room, I now have a good size kitchen which is open to the living room. It's given me so much more room & light.
4 years ago
PRO
BH Garden Solutions
Ok, generally lots of space in the garden but seems pointless only having one floor
4 years ago
Jan Johnson
Most houses in NZ are bungalows, before that there were villas, large with very high ceilings and a nightmare to get warm. we have cottages with man sized doorways so no need to bob down. we have townhouses which go up instead of out, (very popular) we have two story bungalows beach shacks and all sort of wonderful creations. I live in a converted 105 yr old villa where the ceilings have been lowered,
4 years ago
PRO
Use Your Space Design & Build
loathe
3 years ago
PRO
Alexander & Thomas Architects
Getting the right height for the site is important - and essential for people with mobility problems
3 years ago
PRO
Bluesuntree
LOVE! ...it completely depends on how you use the space you have and fill it with the things you love!
3 years ago
PRO
Sophie Nguyen Architects Ltd
Stahl House, Los Angeles, an amazing 'bungalow'- designed by Pierre Koenig in 1959-60
3 years ago
PRO
Gale & Snowden Architects Ltd.
Use of landscape
3 years ago
PRO
Ashley Carr Photography
Bungalows, Who enjoys vacuuming stairs!
3 years ago
simonne15
Yes I have a bungalow for sale close to seaside in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, U.K. Its with Embleys estate agents and an absolute dream, ripe for either amateur or prof designer to mould to taste. I dropped the price because there's no point me changing kitchen, bathroom and decor to my taste. Its a snip! Enjoy!
3 years ago
PRO
Aine Sweeney
Narrow hallways in bungalows can be a real design problem
3 years ago
simonne15
Thats one advantage of mine; wider hall than othets locally, big rooms, 2recetion rooms and 3 bedrooms. The builder was constructing for his own family.
3 years ago
PRO
CRSH Architects
Great bungalow
3 years ago
PRO
Blueprint Carpentry and Construction
Great work!
3 years ago
PRO
Solarspot Daylight Systems
We love bungalows if they are filled with natural daylight.
3 years ago
PRO
Ascent Architecture Ltd
Great scope for natural lighting from above. Bungalows often detached too, which is ideal in terms of a 'buffer' space around you. Often scope for vertically extending and creating a contemporary aesthetic, so many opportunities presented by bungalows!
3 years ago
Jenny Organ
Bungalows are great, no fiddly stairs to clean and going upstairs to forget what you went up for! We are looking for a bungalow to retire to, partly due to my wonky knees but the majority of bungalows are ssssoooo ugly! Why can't someone design an attractive single storey dwelling?
2 years ago
PRO
Hand Built Designs
Further to my original comment, the only disadvantage with bungalows of a certain vintage can be horribly narrow corridors. Luckily ours is generously wide. In the eighties, there seems to have been an obsession with maximising bedroom sizes at the expense of a decently proportioned passageway.
2 years ago
coolerplanet

Yes that was one of the issues with our place. Narrow corridors, poorly lit. But by rearranging the access to key spaces, blocking some doors and creating a new double width doorway to the principle room, what was a narrow hallway is now integrated and useful. By converting the large loft, we now have a stairwell lit by two velux windows which also throw light into the heart of the building. Lastly the old underhouse garage is now a studio, glazed with full height blue-grey aluminium windows and a door. Our originally depressing, generic

ittle bungalow on a sloping site has become a four bed live-work space on three levels that is beginning to feel more like our home
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
PRO
Quirk & Colour Ltd
I've actually got my eye on a Bungaow in the country at the minute. Out of my price range right now, but it's always good to have dreams!

There's scope to potentially build up... although I like the idea of one level and having separate "wings"!

In the past I think Bungalows were seen as for the elderly who had difficulty using stairs- imagine not having to hoover stairs though!
3 months agolast modified: 3 months ago
J.J.
We moved into our bungalow four years ago and absolutely adore it. Needed doing up and we completed it within six months. Fairly large at around 2,200 sq ft so don’t feel at all cramped. Here to stay.
3 months ago

United Kingdom

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POLL: Bungalow - love or loathe?

Comments (85)

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