TO RETIREMENT
9448 Bungalow
By 1995 Miles had once more left home, and we no longer had children on our hands. Instead, as is the modern fate of middle-aged couples, we had my parents to consider. Accordingly, we bought a bungalow which had the potential to incorporate a ‘granny flat’ for them.
In fact the process was much more complicated than that. We had already started looking when Pat developed a problem with her knee and decided that multi story houses were unsuitable for her lifestyle. At that time we had found this rather run down bungalow, and put in an offer. It was, incidentally, at the time when the property crash was headed down to its lowest point. Our existing house was well on the way down from the £125,000 we had paid for it (and its peak value of £135,000) towards the £85,000 we eventually sold it for. Our offer on the bungalow, of £85,000, was accepted.
The problem was, we found out, that the seller didn’t actually own it! It was owned by a trust which had been set up for her son, who had been very badly injured in a car accident. So they had to take the matter to the high court, for the trust to be broken; and we forgot all about it.
A year later, after much persuading on our part, my parents came around to the view that they could live with us; and we started to look for accommodation for them and us. To our surprise we found that the bungalow was back on the market, and – due to it being the lowest of the market - for only £75,000 (though our own house had also declined in price). The owners had massively extended the house. It was something like twice the size of the original, but it was in terrible decorative condition. Not least, they seemed to use the back garden for all their refuse. In addition, they made no attempt to help the sale. I remember showing my parents over the place as the owners had all their relatives at a party; and we had to pick our way between the various members of the family who were lying all over the floor. Even worse, from the owners point of view, they delegated everything to do with the sale to their solicitors! They, in turn, had only one objective; to get rid of the bungalow as soon as humanly possible. As a result, we – the only buyers who could see that it was structurally sound and a real bargain – were finally able to knock the price down to £65,000.
The bungalow itself was one of the very first new houses built in Milton Keynes; at a time when the only houses otherwise being built were in the crescent of ‘temporary’ estates built for the construction workers; though, like so many temporary structures they are still with us.
Built in 1971, it was meant to be an up-market enclave for the new managers; the head of the Development Corporation lived in a house at the bottom of our garden. As such the bungalows, which were the only ones ever built by the Corporation for private sale, were expensive luxury homes. From our point of view, indeed, their specification was superb; with enormous rooms and solid brick walls.
They were ‘architect designed’ by the Development Corporation’s own architect, and were in line with leading edge architectural design at the time. They were link-detached, flat roofed, with gardens interpenetrating the living spaces; each main bedroom had its own walled garden. These were all in line with the ‘modern’ design parameters of the time; though 35 years later all are now out of fashion with buyers.
[the background to all of this is described, in detail, in the series of pages I developed for MK Heritage]
Over the following years, indeed, everyone forgot about this enclave and the prices paid for bungalows on it plummeted. This wasn’t helped by the fact that almost all sales were ‘distress’ sales, by people who had to move out. Those who could, stayed; since the bungalows offered so much to their inhabitants. Recently, in common with the price of other bungalows in Milton Keynes (which have escalated ahead of house prices), prices have increased dramatically. On the other hand, we have spent almost as much on modernising the bungalow as we spent on its purchase. We first of all had to put it into good decorative repair and split off the granny flat; and that cost £10,000. Then we had to put on a pitched roof, remembering that this covered 3,000 sq ft (probably at least six times that of the average house); at a cost of £25,000. Then there was the new kitchen and some tiling in the bathrooms; £10,000. And there was the cost of paving the gardens, when my heart problems meant my grass-cutting days were over, and the 1,000 sq ft of block paving for the parking; costing all told more than £15,000. Add all these together and our ‘additions added another £60,000; making the total cost £125,000!
Mind you, it may now be worth three times as much as that!
As the plans below will show, it is an enormous dwelling. Built on a ¼ acre plot, in itself something of a miracle so close to the city centre, it covers something like 3,000 sq. ft. – almost three times the size of the average house (where our previous 4 bedroom house had only been 1,000 sq. ft.)! With a total of more than 20 ‘rooms’, it has 5 bedrooms (three of which are greater than 150 sq.ft. in size), 5 living rooms (with two greater than 200 sq.ft. and the main living room 27’4” by 12’2”). In addition there are three bathroom/shower rooms (along with a cloakroom) and two full size kitchens (one 27 feet long). To get a feel for the way it works, it is best to consider it split into separate ‘wings’:
Entertainment – this comprises the entrance hallway and conservatory – with a 100 sq ft ‘store cupboard which in turn provides access to the main loft which is 65’ by 6’ - which lead to the hall. Off this hall is the kitchen and the living room (as well as the cloakroom). In turn off this is the main conservatory/dining room and the study.
Family Bedrooms – off the study are bedrooms three and four. Bedroom two is off the inner hall at the far end of the living room, as is the main bedroom (together with its dressing room and en-suite). Also off this inner hall is the family bathroom and access to the atrium in the centre of the house.
Granny Annex
– this is also off the hall, and contains its own hall, off which are a shower
room, a kitchen/dining room, a living room and a bedroom.
Even the smaller rooms tend to be at least 10’ by 10’, so it is very spacious. However, with my father dead and my mother – who suffers from Alzheimers – in a nursing home, we now only use three of four of the rooms!
Taking the sections in turn:
Entertainment
The entrance is unusual, in that it dramatically takes you through a conservatory dominated by bougainvillea climbers. The star of the show is, though, the living room; which is 27’ long, with a ‘real’ flames gas fire. The kitchen, also at 27’ and built as an extension to the original bedroom four, is not far behind; being fitted with a large quantity of cupboards and worktops (in Swiss pearwood), with all the usual built in electrical equipment and a five ring gas hob. Our favourite room, though is the conservatory, which is filled with tropical plants and has full length patio door windows overlooking the garden.
Family Bedrooms
Bedroom three was converted from the garage and the study was the original kitchen. Both were converted before our time – as was bedroom four, which was carved out of the interior garden, leaving a small atrium to let some light into the new rooms. The second bedroom, which I actually use as my office, and the main bedroom were constructed in the walled garden off the original main bedroom – which is now the dressing room and en-suite – again all before our time. The family bathroom is just about the only room to remain unchanged; though the previous occupants had, even here, fitted a whirlpool bath.
Granny Annex
This is, in fact, the major feature; in that it comprises a full size bedroom, living room and kitchen/diner; along with a large shower room and its own hall. As such it must be one of the most spacious granny annexes in Milton Keynes. It looks out over the secluded rear garden, which is another feature of the property. The whole property is ‘wheelchair friendly’, with a ramp into the back garden.
Rear Garden
The main bonus here is that it is totally secluded, not overlooked by any other property. It is filled with mature trees and shrubs and split by an ‘L’ shaped pergola covered in roses and grape vines. At one side there are raised beds and a lily pond; again designed for use by the disabled if needed.
Raised beds The pergola in
summer
Looking towards the
conservatory
Looking out of the The front conservatory The front garden in the spring
conservatory
Out of all our homes, this property was the one which got closest to Le Corbusier’s dictum that ‘a house is a machine for living in’. This is a view I have always supported, and this bungalow matches it.
Thus, it is set up for my main occupation; that of writing. I write (or dictate) my initial material at a desk in the living room during the winter, at a table in the conservatory during spring and autumn, and at a table in the garden during summer. I then edit it in my office (in ‘bedroom 2’). The great virtue of this bungalow is that it is versatile enough to allow for this; and for me occasionally to dedicate bedroom 4, which we normally use as our formal dining room, to collating the large amounts of material I have to handle.
In terms of future-proofing, the ‘granny flat’ was the ideal solution to the problem of caring for the old which is becoming a major factor in our lives.
Overall, the design of the bungalow met the principles of ‘buildings which learn’ which became the ideal of some architects in the 1990s. It has the space and construction to allow it to change to meet our developing needs. This is best shown by the fact that the 30 or so bungalows in the road were originally built to just two basic designs (three or four bedroom), though the townscape was varied by how these were linked. Now, 35 years later, almost all of these have been customized so that none looks exactly the same as any other.
The back garden attracts large numbers The back garden in winter
of wild birds
hits