The other day I had the chance to go through a 3 bedroom, brand new house on my own and I used the chance to snap a few pictures for you all. What follows is a quick photo walk through of a typical, brand new, modern British home.
Some interesting general points I’ve found about British housing:
- almost all homes are covered entirely with brick
- although housing design is period from the outside, in the inside usually homes are furnished in a very modern way (think IKEA) which is absolutely gorgeous
- most are attached on one or both sides to another home, especially if you live in a town
- houses are much smaller than they look from the photos. This house, for instance, comes out to around 1000 square feet – which is fairly typical and not at all small
- but if you live in a period home (and pay for it), you can find very large estates with plenty of room
- a stove is called a hob in England
- appliances are usually much smaller than what we are used to
- but kitchens are very beautiful and modern
- the washing machine is usually in the kitchen
- you must pay a tax if you have a telly (to support the government’s television channels such as the BBC)
- the road you live in is probably very narrow; perhaps so narrow that only one car can fit down it at a time
- if you have a garage, almost always it is a one car garage and often is not attached to the house
- your yard is called the garden, even if it is only grass
- you might have a conservatory, which is a glass-enclosed patio sitting room
- if the bathroom has a shower, it is often electric
- hot water is expensive and people often turn off the water several times during a shower to conserve energy
- often, master bedrooms do not have a master, or en-suite bath and you share one bathroom with the rest of the family
- Oh, and your bathroom is not called a bathroom at all. If you need to go to the bathroom, you ask for the toilet or loo
- bedrooms are usually just big enough for a bed and a dresser
- usually in a three-bedroom house, one of the bedrooms is a single, meaning that only a single bed will fit
Overall, the British style is both period and modern, and very beautiful. Enjoy the tour!
“if you are lucky enough to have a dryer, you must pay an environmental tax”
That’s a new one on me (a native, so to speak). You mean a dryer for your clothes?
Dan, that’s something I heard along the way – it sounds like I was informed incorrectly, though. I’ll modify the post – thanks for letting me know.
Very nice blog, by the way. From the masthead I almost mistook you for my brother, also named Dan, and was going to be very shocked to know that he had a blog (and another daughter!) that I did not know about.
Cheers.
I spent a semester in Wales during college, and stayed in student housing. I had two days of cold showers before someone finally showed me the hot-water switch next to the shower.
I thought it was a light switch that didn’t work.
That semester I was also introduced to the all-in-one washer/dryer, in a cottage in Ireland. I’ve been pining ever since, especially considering the behemoths we have in the States. I don’t care how ‘efficient’ they’re supposed to be: no one needs to wash twenty-three bath towels!