Nearest to Victorian style houses in Adelaide??

[Petal38]

Hi folks,

 

I'm a sucker for old style Victorian houses (although not the cost of maintaining them!)

 

A lot of the houses I see on real estate websites are single storey and modern. We were over earlier this year to activate our visas and only had a couple of days to look round. I was really struck by the massive assortment of housing types and styles from one street to another - guess coming from the UK i'm use to seeing estates or terraces of the same style house!

 

I wondered if there are specific parts of Adelaide where a variety of two storey houses exist - and any areas where Victorian style houses are available?

 

Many thanks

[Diane]

You need one of the older sections of Adelaide, where the houses were built on the traditional quarter acre block, with high ceilings and thick walls. Depends where you will be working but there are some lovely places around the inner suburbs, such as Norwood, Goodwood, Unley, and North Adelaide, plus places like Walkerville, Prospect, places like that. As you get further out from the centre, the developments are newer so the houses are less traditional, so you will need to look closer in to find an older style place, generally speaking

[beckdownunder]

I agree, some of the older houses here are lovely. Think you will struggle to find a two storey one though.....they are all generally single level still.

 

Lovely high ceilings, plaster cornices and ceiling roses and stained glass doors etc though.

[Anne B]

Heres a few, most of them megabucks unfortunately ............

 

 

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-grange-111948387

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-semaphore-112104959

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-townhouse-sa-semaphore-111927463

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-semaphore-110237813

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-north+adelaide-112302099

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-north+adelaide-107562389

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-north+adelaide-111823863

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-north+adelaide-111902607

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-glenelg-112214523

 

Suburbs in the west where you will find some older character properties are:

 

Grange, Glenelg, Henley Beach, Semaphore, Birkenhead, Glanville, Port Adelaide, Alberton, Cheltenham, Woodville, Thebarton, Largs Bay, West Croydon, Torrensville, Mile End.

 

Obviously there are some loveley old cottages in the city and North Adelaide. In the east you have St Peters, Payneham, Norwood etc - basically the suburbs closest to the city. Old 2 storey houses are few and far between.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Anne B

[Toni]

Thanks Anne. I have a friend who used to live in the top one at Grange. Quite a few years ago now. He used to rent it and it was quite "cheap" back in those days and it hadn't been done up. It is directly opposite the Grange beach and looks fantastic at night too when it is all lit up.

[Anne B]

Thanks Anne. I have a friend who used to live in the top one at Grange. Quite a few years ago now. He used to rent it and it was quite "cheap" back in those days and it hadn't been done up. It is directly opposite the Grange beach and looks fantastic at night too when it is all lit up.

 

My husband has always dreamed about owning one of these, we know someone who lives in one of the middle ones but have never been inside! He says he wants to buy it if we win the lottery, but it's right next door to Grange Surf Club (who are planning to demolish and rebuild their club rooms) so I wouldn't fancy living next-door to a building site for months on end. The position is fantastic though. They were built in the style of British seaside terrace homes and are very rare in Australia. If we win the lottery I think I prefer the sea captains villa in Semaphore!!!

[NicF]

There was a lovely two storey, old character home in North Adelaide in the paper on the weekend. Haven't checked Anne B's links above so I don't know if it's one of them. Can't remember the price but it's probably a lot more than what we'll ever be able to afford without a win on the lottery.

 

ETA - I think it was this one

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-sa-north+adelaide-112302099

Edited November 20, 2012 by NicF

[Petal38]

Hello Anne and other forum members,

 

Thanks for your replies - much appreciated! I also hear from a friend who lives in Adelaide that the price of property is coming down - obviiously this is positive to hear when you're likely to be buying a house in the next year or so, but i'm interested to hear why this is? Had the property market simply reached it's peak or is it due to the impact of the financial climate elsewhere?

 

Petal X

[Guest nakigirl]

We are renting in Parkside and the house is from the 1850's, beautiful bluestone cottage. There are lots around this area and the adjacent suburbs of Unley, Hyde Park, Malvern. Can be expensive to buy if they have been renovated. Many have modern extensions added on at the back but I think there are restrictions on the look of the street view. There are a few two story places about but not as common, North Adelaide has more and also the areas around the East End around Hutt Street.

[John Browning]

Hi folks,

 

I'm a sucker for old style Victorian houses (although not the cost of maintaining them!)

 

A lot of the houses I see on real estate websites are single storey and modern. We were over earlier this year to activate our visas and only had a couple of days to look round. I was really struck by the massive assortment of housing types and styles from one street to another - guess coming from the UK i'm use to seeing estates or terraces of the same style house!

 

I wondered if there are specific parts of Adelaide where a variety of two storey houses exist - and any areas where Victorian style houses are available?

 

Many thanks

 

(Careful what you wish for: "Victorian" invariably refers to a place not a period in Australia

 

 

Have you considered looking at "Federation Style" as an alternative (technically these came very late in the Victorian Period, but they are usually in better condition, are much easier to maintain, and better suited to the climate).

 

Curiously they are still being built in that style with all the advantages of raft foundations and in- built termite proofing etc.

 

If you do buy anything older than 1940

 

-double check the foundations( and not just for cosmetic cracking)

.....Adelaide is mostly built on reactive clay soils that move around a great deal

 

-also double check for termite damage

 

-if you need to install new (or upgrade existing) airconditioning, then you may well need to put in a new heavy duty electrical circuit, as well.

 

John B

[srg73]

Due to the climate in Adelaide, houses are built in a way which seems very short sighted compared to the uk however the easier climate simply means lighter weight materials can be used. In UK we build new houses generally on piled foundations down to depths circa 10m+ 1 because the uk also has reactive or (plastic) clay which also suffers period of wet and dry conditions, 2 most building sites in UK are either poor or brown field sites and the foundations need to go beyond the site issues.

 

UK for some reason has a love for old houses which should have been pulled down years ago. Old houses do have a charm but are expensive to maintain, run and have many issues. New houses are cheaper to build, run, require little maintanance and give the space for modern living. Adelaide developers have picked up on this resulting in high land prices, higher density and better housing stock although small gardens and interestingly houses becoming higher just as UK following the change in planning legislation (increase in population density) passed by the beloved Prescot meaning 3 and 4 story town houses are normal for new builds with small gardens.

 

I have a whole load that I have got to learn about Australian buildings, building codes and practices before moving over. Anybody know where I can get my hands on the building codes?

 

S (yes a chartered surveyor)