Planning a Victorian Cottage renovation can be an exciting time but what’s important is that the finished project should be all you want it to be and, depending on what you want done, achieving that may need the knowledge, skill and experience of an architecture, engineer and interior designer, as well as the skills and commitment of your builders, turning the design into reality.
We provide our top Victorian Cottage renovation tips and answer some key questions:
What’s Special about Victorian Cottages?
Architectural style changed a lot between the Georgian period and the Victorian one and a higher proportion of Georgian buildings are listed, so making changes to them is more restricted. Also, in Victorian times, population was increasing and there was huge migration from rural villages into the new industrial towns. Both these factors caused an enormous amount of house building to be done so it’s much easier to find a Victorian house that isn’t listed than an older one. Fortunately, if you also like village or small-town life, in many cases the passage of time has changed what used to be industrial towns in Victorian times into small country towns today.
Why Renovate?
So, you like larger rooms, higher ceilings, a bit of decoration in things like plaster covings, decorative architraves, panelled doors and even the brickwork. In short, you like character and individuality rather than a modern square box.
But you don’t like the lack of insulation, only one bathroom and a tiny kitchen, so to turn that lovely individual old building into a comfortable home suited to modern life, you’re going to need to renovate it.
Looking at items as basic as the insulation and heating, the number of bathrooms (no en suites at all) and getting a kitchen big enough for a range of modern appliances plus family and friends gathering there – of course you’ll need professional help and if it all needs improvement, it’s going to be a big project. Getting the right professionals and the right builder who want to build it your way is key to ensuring the finished job will be what you want it to be with your own personality stamped on it.
Where to Start?
Preparation for a big job is very different from preparation for a minor one, so why not look at our step-by-step extension and renovation guide. It commits you to nothing and provides key tips for a Victorian Cottage renovation.
Look at some of our previous projects on our Renovations and Listed and Extensions pages, too. They include a Victorian Cottage Renovation in the Buckinghamshire village of Speen.
Victorian Renovation Costs
The cost of your Victorian cottage renovation will of course depend entirely on the amount of work done. That’s a very good reason for getting a fully itemised quotation so that, if anything needs to be postponed, you’ll be able to see exactly what the saving would be. Saunders Brothers’ prices are always fully costed and presented to you in detail. By the way, renovating an old building to make the structure sound and the accommodation fit for the 21st century is normally a very sound property investment.
Saunders Brothers have enormous experience of renovating buildings from ancient to modern, including Victorian ones. We always seek to provide clients with what they want their houses to be and our record of success in doing so is very good.
As a consequence, a number of excellent architects like to work with us and if you don’t already know which architect you want for your design work, we’ll be happy to recommend one. Anyone we recommend will design to make your wishes for your home a reality.
Please contact our friendly competent team via mail@saundersbrothers.co.uk or call us on 01844 273783, whether you have a Victorian cottage renovation or other building work in mind, we’ll be only too happy to help.
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